L’adduction d’eau à Dieppe aux XVIe et XVIIe siècles : de l’utile à l’apparat

From the sixteenth century, the city of Dieppe had an important and well-developed public water system which may be seen as an early illustration of a public health service and as an aspect of town planning. Not without difficulty, a gravitational aqueduct was built by the engineer Pierre Toustain, carrying spring water to the city over a distance of some 6.7 kilometres. Part of this aqueduct still survives. In 1579, the water flowed from no fewer than sixteen decorative fountains, symbols of the city’s prestige. In 1617, an original mechanical fountain ‘in the shape of a rock’ was constructed in honour of a visit to the city by Louis XIII. Inspired by the works of the famous engineer Salomon de Caus of Dieppe, this fountain charmed the population with its dancing waters and artificial singing birds.