Bridge on the Vyrnwy, Llanwddyn

During the 1870's, the Liverpool City Council began searching for a suitable site to build a new reservoir that could supply more water to the ever expanding population of Merseyside. George Frederick Deacon (1843 - 1909), Liverpool city engineer, designated Lake Vyrnwy as potential location for such a project. He presented his findings to the Liverpool Corporation on 27 November 1788 and the Liverpool Corporation Waterworks Act was passed by Parliament in 1880. The first stone was laid on 14 July 1881 and the village of Llanwddyn was demolished in the approaching years. By 1892 the first water flowed into the City of Liverpool. This watercolour along with five other watercolours and an oil painting (also in the Walker Art Gallery collection) were commissioned around 1885 to commemorate the event. They were exhibited at the Liverpool Autumn Exhibition in 1885 and purchased by the Walker Art Gallery the same year.