Newcastle and Gateshead Water Company (1845 - 1974)

Initially called the Whittle Dean Water Company, the company was established in 1845 to supply fresh drinking water to Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead. Richard Grainger (builder), Thomas Sopwith (civil engineer), William George Armstrong (industrialist), with the support of the Duke of Northumberland, proposed a plan to build a reservoir at Whittle Dean, about 11 miles west of Newcastle, with the capacity to hold a year's supply of water. This was authorised by an Act of Parliament (8 & 9 Vict. c. lxxi). George Cruddas and Armorer Donkin, along with other local businessmen, were partners in the company, which leveraged hydraulic technologies developed by Armstrong. In 1863, it was renamed the Newcastle and Gateshead Water Company. It became part of the Northumbrian Water Authority in 1974, when UK water companies were nationalised. This was privatised in 1989 and is now Northumbrian Water Ltd.

Whittle Dean Waterworks Act 1845

An Act for supplying the Borough and County of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and the Borough of Gateshead in the County of Durham, and the Neighbourhoods thereof, with Water, from Whittle Dean in the Parish of Ovingham, and other Places in Northumberland.

Whittle Dean Waterworks Act 1854

An Act for enabling the Whittle Dean Water Company to extend their Works, and to obtain a further Supply of Water from certain Rivers and Streams in the County of Northumberland, in order to afford a better Supply of Water to the Inhabitants of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Gateshead, and other Places in the Counties of Northumberland and Durham; and for consolidating and amending the Acts relating to such Company.