Imagine
Did You Know?
The Seething Wells Filter Beds is a unique example of early Victorian civil engineering – built in 1852 to provide the city of London with clean drinking water after the 1838 cholera epidemic.
Decomissioned in 1992 and sold 1995, the site has not been used for 30 years and is now a unique habitat: 75 species of birds, 11 species of bats and species of reptiles have been recorded at the site.
It’s the last area of ‘dark Thames’ in London, a priority ‘open-mosaic’ wetland habitat. a SINC (Site for Important Nature Conservation), a MOL (Metropolitan Open Land), and part of the strategic Green Chain Network.
The Seething Wells Filter Beds may currently look like an industrial wasteland, but actually, its potential is incredible.
This site of national historic importance covers 13 acres of standing open water (the largest in the borough) that is home to a great number of birds, bats, invertebrates and reptiles, and is a rich community resource for anyone interested in nature, Victorian architecture, enterprise and public health.
Rather than seeing habitats destroyed and the filter beds developed for private housing, we are endeavouring to work with the current owners of the site – with support from the Royal Borough of Kingston council – to protect and enhance this valuable community asset for public access, biodiversity, history, climate, health and well-being, leisure and learning.
To imagine a better future for the site that does justice to its importance for nature and heritage, and be beneficial for people and planet.