In 1271, during his term as mayor, James de Belvaco, son of Bartholomew de Belvaco (or Beaufoe), a foreign merchant, witnessed a deed granting a plot of land called the "LAZAR HILL" to Alexander Kelloc (otherwise Alan de Kele), a Burgess, in trust for the "Corporation of Lenne" with the consent of the Brethren and with Sir Richard de Sulgrave, Master of The Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem at Burton Lazars, Leicestershire, acting as Grantor.

  The purpose was for use of those suffering from Leprosy, purported to have been brought back from the Middle East by the Crusaders and forcibly detained in a Lazar House. The Lazar Hill as it was then known is still in the hands of the Corporation and until 1899 it was the site of the town’s Waterworks which was originally an Inclusae or freshwater pond in the vicinity of the Gaywood River, a reserve of water for use in an emergency. Note here that there is a range of low chalk hills about nine miles East of Lynn called the Ketel Hills which could well have been the source of the water thereabouts feeding into the Gaywood river.   Also a Weir in a river firmed for the trapping of fish was termed in Saxon times a kiddle or kettle.   "Well" comes from the Anglo Saxon verb wellan to flow.   Hence Kettlewell may signify flowing waters at the weir.

It (The Kettlemills) was operated by a windmill in 1682 and was then water driven to a storage tower with a lead cistern in the Red Mount Chapel.   A water engine was then in use driven from an artificial waterfall during the 18th Century.

A rudimentary steam engine, on the Newcomen Principle was tried which did not last long due to the coat of coal etc and the lack of maintenance.   Next was a bucket and chain system, horse driven as in a clay mill, the horses going round and round on a table.   The water was only on for an hour or two daily through a roughly bored tree trunk conduit and private families had to store it in their own pits.   The whole system being wasteful and dangerous to health as the pipes and pits were near to cesspools and drains.   The inventor of the system is said to have been one Peter Morrys a Dutchman and his system was adopted not only in Hull and other large towns but in the Metropolis where several of the tree pipes were dug up in the area of Marble Arch, elm being the favourite wood as it was more capable of standing up to conditions and pressure than cheaper timbers.   We have fairly recently unearthed several of these tree pipes in our own New Conduit Street dated early 19th Century.