Cup and Saucer Erddig House Wrexham

The Cup and Saucer, at Erddig house, is the inflow to an hydraulic ram that uses a small drop in the river to raise a small proportion of it to a greater height

The ram, made by John Blake Ltd of Accrington, was installed in 1899 and used the power of the water, Black Brook, to work a pump to draw 10,000 gallons per day of pure spring water up 90 ft to storage cisterns in the roof of the house. It was made by John Blake Ltd of Accrington. The distinctive thud of the mechanism became known as the "heart of Erddig". The water is still used today to power the fountains in the garden.

The Cup and Saucer cascade was designed by William Emes in 1775. The brook (named black brook due to its origins in the coal mines, gathers in the circular basin, falling over the central weir and exiting through a tunnel a few yards away. It was designed to help prevent erosion by lowering the brook quickly.

Eames designed the unusual 'Cup and Saucer Waterfall' (1774), The 'cup' being a hole in the middle of a large disc - the 'saucer' - into which a flowing stream disappears creating an internal cylindrical waterfall. The stream emerges a few yards away under a bridge-like arch.