The Rundle

Rebuilding Bottesford drainage 1991/92

By David Middleton

The opening of the Bottesford by-pass in 1989 made it possible to plan the rebuilding of The Rundle – a Victorian drainage system carrying the Rundel Beck eastĀ  to west through the village. Built before the roads carried heavy good vehicles its structure had been weakened by the pre-by-pass tonnage carried by A52.

High Street was closed a section at a time for the period of the rebuilding in the winter of 1991/92.

The engineering required the use of large hydraulic shutters to avoid the collapse of the trench. This was dug in short sections (two shutters in length) and filled in as the work progressed. Previous major engineering works in the 1960’s to replace the main sewers is reported to have run into major problems given the underlying geology of running sand. Fortunately the rebuilding of culvert was carried out without any problems.

The Victorian culvert was a D-shaped in section with brick arch of about three feet in diameter. It was quite an impressive structure. (If anyone has pictures please do get in touch – I was unable to record it before it was destroyed). It was replaced by pre-cast square sectioned pipes.

The sump at the Barkestone LaneĀ  – High Street junction necessitated the digging of a very large hole. (Again if anyone has pictures please do get in touch).

Before the opening opening of the flood-gate one of the contractors is said to have used a skate board down to pass along The Rundle to test the gradient and check the joints.

The whole system takes dyke water from Granary Lane under the High Street to the West End where it joins the open dyke on Long Hedge Lane.

Unfortunately despite enlarging the Rundle culvert’s capacity the High Street was flooded in July 2001.

This page was added on 17/01/2007.

Comments about this page

  • Recently I was discussing the Rundel system with my nephew Richard Bradshaw.
    I remember in my early days the 1950s in Bottesford when the dyke was open and ran along the front of the V C hall coming from the Devon at Easthorpe, just upstream from the mill and there was a manually opening sluice gate which from memory was opened periodically by a local resident of Easthorpe, I think a Mr Coy who was employed either by the river board or the Parish Council. It was during early day I think it used to carry sewage and other unsavoury liquids, eventually entering the Winterbeck the otherside of the railway crossing on Long Hedge Lane, the back road to Orston.
    Also during this period the Army camp also used it to get rid of all there effluent as well. Regards Michael Bradshaw old Bottesfordian

    By Michael Bradshaw (26/10/2018)
  • Hi Michael, it’s good to hear from you. We hope you and Liz are in good shape and having a whale of a time down under. I remember Mr George Waudby telling me of the open Rundle that flowed past the old VC Hall but was later covered over. In fact, you can still see it as the open channel alongside the path known as Granary Lane. This channel heads for the village hall, but disappears underground just before the entrance to the carpark at the side of the hall. It must connect to the Devon somewhere, but I have not seen where this is. All the best, Neil.

    By Neil Fortey (28/10/2018)

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