Harwell: Village for a thousand years

Menu
  • Harwell Book – Full text of ‘Village for a thousand years’
    • Introduction
      • Contents
    • Beginnings – The Beginnings of Harwell
      • The Beginnings of Harwell
      • The Charters
      • Close
    • Middle Ages – The Late Middle Ages
      • Harwell Church
      • The Medieval Manors
      • Cruck Buildings
      • Close
    • Tudors – Tudors to Charles II
      • The Tudor period
      • Berkshire Farmers and their Homes
      • The Harwell Mug
      • Harwell: The Family Name
      • Trade Tokens
      • In the Civil War
      • Close
    • Charities – Harwell Charities
      • John Loder
      • Christopher Elderfield
      • Poor’s Orchard
      • William Wells
      • J. King
      • Frances Geering
      • Matthew Eaton
      • Robert Loder
      • Bag(g)’s Tree
      • An Old Harwell Recipe
      • Close
    • 19th C – Harwell in the Nineteenth Century
      • Enclosures
      • The Great Fire of Harwell
      • Fire at Didcot Station
      • Harwell and the Early Posts
      • Close
    • People – Some Nineteenth Century Families, Houses and Personalities
      • The Manor of Bishop’s Harwell, or Lower Manor, after the Middle Ages.
      • Bob Lay, Bob Lay, Bob Lay
      • The Bosley Family
      • John Lay of Prince’s Manor 1815 – 1888
      • From a book sold for the Blewbury Village Organ Fund in 1874.
      • Thomas James Pryor
      • The Day Family
      • The Hitchman Family
      • Other Old Harwell Families
      • Pillar House, Harwell
      • A Country Doctor (Dr Richard Rice)
      • Kelly’s Directory reports on the Harwell of 1891
      • The School
      • A Pictorial Miscellany
      • Close
    • 20th C – The Early Twentieth Century
      • Stanley Day
        • The Turn of the Century
        • A Visit to Harwell
      • Tape Recordings
        • A Houseboy at Harwell
        • Eliza Hutchings
        • Harwell Bakeries
        • The Eggs
        • Old Neighbours
        • Fire at King’s Farm (c.1908)
        • Will It Light?
        • Miss Irene Clarke’s memories.
      • Poem by H.S. Baker
      • Close
    • WWII – The Second World War
      • Guinea Pig Club
      • Eric Greenwood
      • Harwell in Wartime
      • School Life in Wartime
      • The Harwell Players
      • Close
    • 1945 -1985 – The Post War Years
      • The Atomic Energy Research Establishment.
      • Harwell Parish Council
      • Water and Sewage
      • Nursing Service
      • School Life after the War
      • The Winterbrook Youth Club
      • The Public Houses
      • The Whit Monday Feast
      • Wild Flowers of Harwell
      • The Bee Orchid
      • Village Footpaths
      • St Matthew’s Church Today
      • Harwell Women’s Institute
      • Harwell Bowls Club
      • Harwell Football Club
      • Close
    • Cherries – Harwell Cherries
      • Robert Loder
      • Cherries (1965)
      • Gordon Bosley
      • John Masefield: The Cherries
      • Close
    • Appendices
      • Appendix I the Harwell Charters
        • Introduction to The Harwell Charters
        • Charter No 1
        • Charter No 2
        • Charter No 3
        • Appendix I Charter References
      • Appendix II Buildings
      • Appendix III Glossary
      • Appendix IV Contributors
      • Appendix V References
      • Close
    • Close
« Harwell Parish Council
Nursing Service »
You are here: Home / 1945 -1985 / Water and Sewage

Water and Sewage

Wells remained the main source of water in the village until the 1920s when the first piped water supply was constructed. Many of the wells still exist although several were filled in during the 1960s.

The fire service in the village was on a voluntary basis until it was transferred to Abingdon about 1926, following the introduction of motorised hand operated fire engines and piped water supplies. The voluntary service used a fire engine that was housed in the Fire Station on the corner of Broadway and Wellshead.

Later the Fire Station was rented by Mr Swanborough to repair bicycles as a business, after the Second World War and before he moved to Didcot to start a taxi business. The Station was then used to house the bier, and as a garage by Lt Col Mortimer who lived opposite. In 1973, the Council allowed the building to be demolished in order to improve the corner.

Whenever water supplies are improved it is necessary, because of the increased water usage, to improve the sewage system. There are still unused privies at the bottom of some gardens in the village. The first sewage beds in the village were on the site of “Elmwater” in Burr Street. The new sewage beds were constructed further down the stream in 1926, and the Council leased the old beds from the R.D.C. and converted them into a swimming pool that was used until the Second World War. Nearer the road was a children’s play area with swings, until the R.D.C. took back the lease in the 1960s. Later the sewage from Chilton was piped down Holloway to the Harwell beds.

09-02
Figure 9.2 Harwell Swimmers at the Pool, 1932.
Back row: Joan Titcombe, Beryl Whiting, -.
Front row: Madelaine Wright, Muriel Hitchman, Margaret Hoare, Barbara Hitchman, -.

09-03
Figure 9.3 Muriel Hitchman in the pool.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

« Harwell Parish Council
Nursing Service »

Harwell is a village in south Oxfordshire, England, although until 1974 it was a Berkshire village. Harwell was first mentioned in 985, before the Doomsday Book.
This website presents the full text of the book (ISBN 0 9510668 0 3 ) published in 1985 to celebrate the village millennium.
"Harwell ~ Village for a thousand years"

Additional information about Harwell Village (History Notes, photos and more) can be found at harwellvillage.uk

Website © 2005–2022 maintained and managed by David Marsh on behalf of Harwell Parish Council
Copyright © 1985–2022 in the text of the book is vested in Harwell Parish Council