Conduit Mews, Paddington

This colorful terrace of houses in Conduit Mews is ‘tucked away’ within a stone’s throw of Paddington Station. Common in London, terraces like this one were once the stables and coach houses for substantial homes where the stable boys and other workers used to reside. Although Paddington does not have as many instances of these structures as London does, this is for the simple reason that many upper class people did not want to live there. Mews terraces are more likely to be found in Belgravia and Chelsea, hidden away from view of the more stunning homes owned by the wealthy and their great frontages on the street.

Tree trunks were cut down, and a hole was drilled through the entire trunk using a big, long hand auger. If you imagine a pencil as a representation of a tree trunk, the hole through the centre of the pencil would be the black lead. The tree trunk was split along the middle, with one end being shaped like a funnel and the other like a point (almost like a pencil point). Each tree trunk was placed into the one behind it to create a lengthy "pipe" that could transport water over a mile of land. Since there were no contemporary sealants back then, a lot of the water probably flowed out of the poorly constructed seams.

Location: south side of Praed Street, in Paddington