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THE WATERWORKS The First Water Undertaking During the 19th Century, villages such as Youlgrave instigated methods of providing drinkable water for domestic use to points where it could be distributed. These schemes over the years, in most cases, were superseded by larger water undertakings and then by national bodies formed after the Second World War. Youlgrave, unlike many small villages, has retained its own undertaking. Prior to the foundation of the undertaking, water was drawn from the River Bradford and a number of wells, which were situated on the village (north) side of the river. Much of the sickness and many of the deaths occurring amongst children during the fever months of July and August were thought to have been the result of contamination when river levels were low. The initiative for the undertaking came mainly from the Friendly Society of Women founded in 1827. A fund was set up by the society to meet the cost. Benjamin Staley, a local man, was employed as surveyor. He produced a scheme to bring water from a spring at Mawstone (Mallstone) on the hillside south of the village and the Bradford Dale (SK225618). The issues from the permeable millstone grit and the shales of the Yoredale Series which overlie the carboniferous limestone. The water was piped from the spring to a cistern with a capacity of 1,500 gallons situated in the centre of the village via a two-inch diameter cast-iron pipe; this was a distance of about 1100 yards from the spring, at a cost of £252.13.101/2d. The cistern, known locally as the fountain, filled up overnight. A waterkeeper paid by the committee unlocked the tap at six o'clock each morning. The Second Water Undertaking 1869 By 1869 corrosion and furring up of the two-inch pipe to the cistern seriously restricted the water supply. The committee raised subscriptions to: finance the connection of an additional spring from Bleakley, renew pipe work to the cistern, and provide mains in the village to supply ten taps, known locally as tap spots. The 1922 edition of the Ordnance Survey 1:2500 scale shows the positions of the taps provided in 1869. Each able bodied man was requested to pay for three days' labour or work for three days on the project. The scheme was finished in November 1869 at a cost of £381. A day of celebration was held in the village and the ancient custom of well dressing was revived. By 1926 heavier demand and lack of pressure to the higher levels of the village compelled the Waterworks Committee to consider upgrading the system again. A survey of the properties was taken, shown below. Domestic facilities and water rates 1926. Note 68% of households still relied on the public taps.
Grateful thanks to Gordon Coupe for the loan of his dissertation 'Youlgrave A Southern Peakland Village'.
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