An area of 400 hectares (1,000 acres) west of Woodville Road was reserved by Governor Phillip and then passed to the Church and Schools Corporation.

John Thomas Campbell, administrative assistant to Governor Macquarie in 1823 also received a grant of 400 hectares (1,000 acres) of land.

[1] A Commission was appointed in 1867 to resolve the problem of water shortages which had been exacerbated by the region's increasing population and periods of drought.

After years of debate, this particular scheme was sanctioned by the English civil engineer W. Clark, who had been employed by the government to assess the various options.

According to technical documents from 1884, the Pipehead Basin was to be a "simple reservoir built of brick with a mass concrete floor, on a roughly square plan with rounded corners".

It would have a strainer which spanned its width supported by the reservoir walls and 5 pylons and included a wrought iron grating to prevent course matter from reaching the water supply mains.

The first was originally built for the caretaker probably c. 1880s as a "typical unpretentious working class residence" with four rooms, timber cladding and a bull-nosed verandah.

Documents for this show a "spacious house plan, characteristic for upper middle class residences in outer suburbs of the time".

[1] A 1915 survey plan of the Pipehead Site showed the 0.45-megalitre (100,000 imp gal) elevated tank and original cottage (situated to the north of the screening basin) had, by this time, been demolished.

[1] The Pipehead Site was again expanded in 1928–9 with acquisition of four land allotments (c. 3.0 hectares (7.5 acres)) between Albert, Bowden and Frank Streets.

The 1951 aerial photo shows addition of several auxiliary structures near the 1906 cottage and a large new building with a hipped roof east of the Canal.

Sydney Water Corporation's 2005 conservation management plan says the elements to and from the Pipehead Site and the Screening Chambers completed in 1929 "are generally in their configuration as at the time of construction".

Other historic elements such as the woodstave main, boosting and pumping stations and the pre-1913 screening facilities are no longer identifiable in the landscape.

The scheme was the first of its kind in NSW, harvesting water in the Southern Highlands and transporting it via canals, aqueducts and pipelines.

[1] The Pipehead Complex is situated off Frank Street, Guildford, at the termination of the Lower Canal from Prospect Reservoir, at 75.24 kilometres (46.75 mi) from the commencement of the Upper Nepean Scheme.

[1] The complex also retains several items, which specifically relate to the supply of water to Sydney under the original Upper Nepean Scheme.

Most notable amongst these is the Pipe Head Deck, comprising the basin and screening chambers, located at the end of the Lower Canal.

2 chamber on the south side was "retained for emergency stand-by" and remains essentially in its original configuration with timber-framed plate screens, which are lifted by two travelling jib-cranes.

This was formerly the inlet for the 1,100-millimetre (44 in) woodstave pipeline, constructed in 1927 to amplify the supply between the Upper Canal, Pipe Head and Potts Hill.

There is also a steel "trash rack" and stop-board grooves across the Canal at the entry to the Pipe Head Basin, which are typical of the remnant evidence throughout the Upper Nepean Scheme of past uses and operational terchnology.

[1] Other major water supply structures at Pipe Head include the 2,100-millimetre (84 in) pipeline from Prospect Reservoir, constructed between 1954 and 1958.

This formerly entered the Deck, but now passes under the Lower Canal to join the 3,000-millimetre (120 in) main to Potts Hill, which runs in a tunnel, completed in 1972.

[1] The significance attached to these pipelines stems from their association as an integral element with the Upper Nepean Scheme, Sydney's first reliable water supply.

It involved the harvesting of water in the Southern Highlands and major transportation to Sydney via canals, aqueducts and pipelines.

[1] The scheme was the first of its kind in Australia and involved the harvesting of water in the southern highlands, storage thereof and then major transport to Sydney via canals, aqueducts and pipelines.

Now, over 100 years since the Upper Nepean Scheme was commissioned, the pipelines have not become obsolete, but by virtue of boosters, are still key components of Sydney's water supply system.

[1] In addition, the pipelines display superb late 19th century hydraulic construction techniques which were state-of-the-art technology of the time in Australia.

[1] The development of this water supply scheme from the late 19th century to the end of the 20th is evident in the intact fabric, layout and views to the Pipehead Site.

[1] Pipehead, water supply canal and associated works was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 15 November 2002.

[1] This Wikipedia article was originally based on Pipehead, water supply canal and associated works, entry number 01629 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 2 June 2018.