Brighton Corporation Waterworks Boundary Posts
Before reliable plumbing, keeping Brighton's rapidly growing 19th-century population supplied with clean water was a massive logistical headache. The Brighton Corporation Waterworks built large pumping stations like the one at Goldstone. They also bought up thousands of acres of downland to prevent groundwater pollution. To clearly mark the edges of these protected catchment areas, they installed heavy boundary posts.
This particular obsession started when Mark found a few of these original markers. He shared the details with our group chat: a circle of friends who spend their weekends hunting down OS Trig Pillars, completing parkrun challenges or geeking out over various other obsessions. I was in Brighton recently to tick off another Sussex parkrun and track down some Trig Pillars. While doing so, I stumbled across several more of the Waterworks posts.
Mark and I are now on a mission to find and document every remaining post and identify the exact locations of the ones that have disappeared over the years. We are relying on the community to help fill in the gaps. If you know where one is, comment below or use the contact form linked here to send me the location. I will credit your find at the bottom of this page and donate £1 to to one of the outdoor causes that I support for any contribution published.
Boundary Post Locations
The map below shows Brighton Corporation Waterworks locations that Mark and I have visited or identified. Green and purple pins show ones that Mark and I have visited. Brown pins are potential locations to be verified.