The pure untreated water at this most prolific spout is piped directly from a group of three natural springs on the hillside, to the south of Hayslad Quarry. Although in 1898 a 100.000 gallon reservoir was built above the spout to supply households in West Malvern, some years ago the spring water supply was diverted back solely to the spout and since then Severn Trent Water have filled the reservoir quite separately from their treated water supply at the Wyche.
In the mid 19th century “Hayslad” was described as ” a fault spring associated with a small bog containing several rare plants”, slad meaning a marshy area. In 1893 a stone trough for the use of man and animals was built at road level to make access easier but this was regularly vandalised, probably by locals squabbling over its ownership or by the downhill residents of Colwall and Mathon who relied solely on this supply. A legally binding agreement still operates today, which now determines the minimum fixed amount of spring water that must be allowed to flow down to these two parishes.
As Hayslad is the most popular water collection spring, people often have to queue to get to the single spout. The walls, path and pillars will be restored in 2007 and the MSA have designed a double, or ‘bifurcating’ spout head attachment, which we hope will ease congestion by allowing more people to fill their containers at the same time.
RG 2007