Editing Dorking (section)

===Utilities===
[[File:The Old Pumphouse, Dorking, Surrey.jpg|thumb|The Old Pumphouse, Archway Place{{refn|The Old Pumphouse dates from the early 19th century. It is built on the site of the first water pumping station in Dorking, which supplied fresh water to the town from the Pipp Brook. The new building includes the original cellar, which still contains part of one of the original pumps. The Grade II listed building bears a plaque, inscribed "R. P. Waterworks erected 1738". The initials 'R. P.' reference Resta Patching junior, the son of a prominent Dorking Quaker, who was responsible for the scheme.<ref name=Overell_1991_pp45-47>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=45–47}}</ref><ref name=Tarplee_Water>{{cite journal |last1=Tarplee |first1=Peter |year=2007 |title=Some public utilities in Surrey: Water supply |url=https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/sites/default/files/Surrey%20History%207-4.pdf |journal=Surrey History |volume=VII |issue=4 |pages=219–225 |access-date=10 January 2021 |archive-date=5 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205224313/https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/sites/default/files/Surrey%20History%207-4.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{NHLE |num=1378074 |desc=Brookside, Archway Place |fewer-links=yes |access-date=9 January 2021}}</ref>|group=note}}]]
Until the early 18th century, local residents obtained drinking water either directly from the Pipp Brook or from wells. In 1735, a [[pump]] was installed to lift water from a [[spring (hydrology)|spring]] on the site of Archway Place, which was then distributed via wooden [[Pipe (fluid conveyance)|pipes]] made from bored [[trunk (botany)|tree trunks]]. Local dissatisfaction over the [[water tariff|charges]] levied for the supply prompted the vestry to reopen a well in the town centre and to install a [[hand pump]] there in 1780.{{refn|The location of the hand pump in the town centre, installed in 1780, is unclear, but it thought to be at Pump Corner at the intersection of the High Street, West Street and South Street.<ref name=Overell_1991_pp45-47/>|group=note}} The Archway Place spring became polluted by sewage in the middle of the 19th century and the works closed.<ref name=Overell_1991_pp45-47/><ref name=Tarplee_Water/><ref name=Bright_1884_pp37-38>{{harvnb|Bright|1884|pp=37–38}}</ref>

The Dorking Water Company (DWC) was formally established in 1869, following the passing of the Dorking Water Act 1869.<ref>{{cite news |title=Dorking Water (Provisional Order) |work=The London Gazette |date=6 November 1906 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/27964/page/7486/data.pdf |access-date=9 January 2021 |archive-date=31 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131220210/https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/27964/page/7486/data.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The company dug a {{cvt|90|m|ft|adj=on|sigfig=1}} well on Harrow Road East from where water was transferred by a steam-driven pump to a [[reservoir]] on Tower Hill.<ref name=Tarplee_2009_p1>{{cite web |url=https://www.leatherheadlocalhistory.org.uk/2009.htm |title=Early Water, Gas and Electricity supplies in Surrey |last=Tarplee |first=Peter |year=2009 |publisher=Leatherhead & District Local History Society |access-date=31 January 2021 |archive-date=14 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150914061509/http://www.leatherheadlocalhistory.org.uk/2009.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>{{refn|In the 1880s there was a proposal to supply [[seawater]] to the town from a conduit between [[Lancing, West Sussex|Lancing]] and London.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3016667/3016671 |title=.SEA.-WATER SUPPLY.&#124;1880-12-11&#124;The Cardigan Observer and General Advertiser for the Counties of Cardigan Carmarthen and Pembroke – Welsh Newspapers |website=newspapers.library.wales |access-date=14 December 2019 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102009/https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3016667/3016671 |url-status=live}}</ref>|group=note}} In 1902, a new pumping station was built on Station Road and, in 1919, the old one was converted to housing. The second pumphouse was replaced by a new works with [[borehole]]s on Beech Close in 1939.<ref name=Tarplee_2009_p1/> The DWC was absorbed by [[SES Water|East Surrey Water]] in 1959.<ref name=Crocker_1999_p111>{{harvnb|Crocker|1999|p=111}}</ref>

The Local Board of Health created the first sewerage system in Dorking and opened the treatment works at Pixham on the River Mole in 1888. Four years later, some 1360 houses (around 92% of the town) had been connected, necessitating an extensive rebuilding of the works in 1893.<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp81-82/> The sewerage system became the responsibility of the [[Thames Water Authority]] under the [[Water Act 1989]].

The town [[gasworks]] were built in 1834<ref name=Bright_1884_pp37-38/> by the Dorking Gas Light Company to supply [[coal gas|gas]] for street lighting. From 1849, the [[coal]] required was delivered by train to Dorking West station and then transferred to the works by [[horse-drawn vehicle]]. The company was merged with that of Redhill in 1928 and became part of the East Surrey Gas Company when the [[Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946|industry was nationalised in 1948]]. After gas production ceased in 1956, the site of the works became part of the Dorking Business Park on Station Road.<ref name=Crocker_1999_p111/><ref name=Tarplee_Gas_Electricity>{{cite journal |last1=Tarplee |first1=Peter |year=2007 |title=Some public utilities in Surrey: Electricity and gas |url=https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/sites/default/files/Surrey%20History%207-5.pdf |journal=Surrey History |volume=7 |issue=5 |pages=262–272 |access-date=10 January 2021 |archive-date=5 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205224313/https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/sites/default/files/Surrey%20History%207-5.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

An [[power station|electricity generating station]] was opened in 1903 in Station Road, close to the town gasworks. Initially it was capable of generating 180&nbsp;kW of power, but by the time of its closure in 1939, its [[nameplate capacity|installed capacity]] was 1&nbsp;MW.<ref name=Crocker_1999_p113>{{harvnb|Crocker|1999|p=113}}</ref> Under the [[Electricity (Supply) Act 1926]], Dorking was connected to the [[National Grid (Great Britain)|National Grid]], initially to a 33&nbsp;kV [[electric power transmission|supply ring]], which linked the town to [[Croydon]], Epsom, Leatherhead and Reigate. In 1939, the ring was connected to the [[Wimbledon, London|Wimbledon]]-[[Woking]] main via a 132&nbsp;kV [[electrical substation|substation]] at Leatherhead.<ref name=Crocker_1999_p118>{{harvnb|Crocker|1999|p=118}}</ref><ref name=Tarplee_Gas_Electricity/>