Tucked away underneath an unsuspecting housing estate lies an enchanting surprise for the wizarding world. Away from the grey and mundane life of muggles sits a spellbinding real life Chamber of Secrets.
Constructed in 1875 the large underground reservoir was once the main water source in Edinburgh. The large space has high ceilings and huge archways, adding to its resemblance of the famous Harry Potter book-turned-film.
The underground building once served as a 15 million gallon tank, which was part of the Alnwickhill waterworks. When the waterworks closed a lot of buildings were demolished and replaced with new homes but the disused reservoir was preserved.
When pictures were released showcasing the stunning space, councilors came up with several ideas on what to do with it. Architect Kieran Gaffney suggested the chambers could be used as a Festival venue.
He commented: “It’s an amazing space, I wondered if it could become a venue of some sort - a theatre venue or a dance space,” Edinburgh Live reports. Unfortunately, the tunnels have never had a taker, with many councilors saying it'd be a very expensive project.
When the waterworks were originally built, the total cost added up to £547,000. After considerable agitation surrounding the scarcity of water in 1868, the new scheme saw water flow to the city from lochs and burns around the area. This included Portmore Loch, as well as the South Esk burn - both of which provided water to reservoirs to be filtered and carried to Edinburgh.
In February 1876, The Scotsman told readers: “This important portion of the works for increasing our water supply is to be constructed on a triangular shaped field to the south-east of the Alnwick Hill Reformatory, in the parish of Liberton. The service reservoir, which will receive the water from Gladhouse, will occupy an area of about five acres and will be capable of containing four days' supply of water to the city, or 22 million gallons.”
Sitting at a depth of 22 feet, the chamber passed water into the city through Causewayside. Within the first few decades of Edinburgh’s ambitious new water supply, issues did arise.
The Dalkeith Advertiser in 1897 published an article stating: “The water supply of Liberton was very inadequate. A few houses as Stenhouse had been without water in the house for six months, while it was discovered that the water was impure through the mingling of a sewerage drain with the reservoir.”
In 2012, the Alnwickhill waterworks were placed by a system at Glencorse. Reportedly supplying 175 million litres of water per day, the Water Treatment Works serve up to 450,000 customers in parts of West Lothian and Edinburgh.
