The Conduit House, built 1617 over a shallow well, to take clean water from the springs at North Hinksey to the Carfax Conduit, a fountain in the city centre.

This roofed conduit house is a remarkable survival of Oxford’s first piped water supply. Built during the early 17th century, it was part of a system designed to take clean drinking water from the springs at North Hinksey to the Carfax Conduit, an extravagantly decorated fountain in the centre of Oxford. Resembling a miniature fortress, the conduit house covered and protected a 20,000-gallon lead cistern which continued to supply water to the city until 1868. On the walls are some beautifully chiselled graffiti dating from the 17th to 19th centuries.