Conduit Head is a property located on the western outskirts of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. It is owned by Sir Peter Lachmann, Sheila Joan Smith Professor of Immunology in the University of Cambridge emeritus, a fellow of Christ's College, and his wife Sylvia.
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Relation to Darwin
The house was built in 1910 as a wedding gift from Francis Darwin (3rd son of Charles Darwin and Emma) to his daughter, Frances Crofts Darwin, for her marriage to Francis Cornford.
Derivation
A centuries-old conduit head still stands in the woods behind the house. It was constructed in 1324 and served as the main water source for Franciscan monks that resided in a monastery in the centre of Cambridge. The monastery has since become Sidney Sussex College of Cambridge.
The roof of the conduit head reveals the age of the structure. It pre-dates the discovery of tiled roofs as it is constructed with slabs of stone that are fastened in their slopes form by iron pegs. Within the Conduit Head sits a 19th-century lead water container.
The water from the conduit head used to flow into central Cambridge in wooden pipes that passed underneath the river Cam. Though the water was legally owned by the Franciscan monks, others would steal some of it along its route.
Since the 16th century, the conduit head and the water has been owned by Trinity College, Cambridge. An archaeological dig several years back discovered a Roman settlement nearby with paths in the direction of the conduit head. It is believed that in Roman times and perhaps earlier this source of water was some sort of holy well that was used for ritual purposes