The History of the Undertaking

St. Caenar's Well, Wall Grange

 The Formation of the Water Works Company

There is nothing in the records of the Water Works Company to link its formation with the Buccleugh Commission's report issued in 1844, but it is surely more than a coincidence that the opening pages of the Company's First Minute Bookrecord an account of a meeting held in the Town Hall, Hanley on the 23rd October, 1845. This was a "meeting of the subscribers to the fund for obtaining a survey and report by a competent Engineer as to the capability of the district to afford a sufficient supply of water for the Townships of Hanley and Shelton and such other districts of the Staffordshire Potteries practicable".

A leading Waterworks Engineer, Mr. Thomas Hawkesley, was asked to make the survey but, owing to Parliamentary engagements, was unable at the time to undertake the work. The Committee resolved that "the exigency of the case not admitting of further delay" they engage a local Engineer, a Mr. Liddle Elliot. Mr. Liddle Elliot accepted the appointment. His report to a meeting of the Committee on the 27th July, 1846 stated that the spring of water called Cere's (St. Caena's) Well at Wall Grange on an Estate of the Duke of Sutherland would afford a supply of excellent quality sufficient for the Potteries towns wanting water, and there was good reason for believing that His Grace would sanction the project. The Committee determined that in so important a matter another opinion was prudent. The Waterworks Engineer, Mr. James Simpson, at their request investigated the project and confirmed Mr. Elliot's report.

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