The Bellamy Cistern: 165 Years of “Going Green”

There is genius in simplicity and the cistern system is simply genius. In Wilmington, before city water was supplied, the water that fell off your roof mainly fed the wells of your neighbors - and hand dug wells were not very deep, comparatively speaking. The well at Bellamy, for example, was probably no more than 40-50 feet deep, just enough to tap the water table. The water at this depth is not completely free of contaminants and may have even stained pots and pans - especially porcelain. Therefore, clean rainwater would be a great secondary source of drinking and bathing water, as well as irrigation for the plants and hydration for animals on the property.

Sustainability as a 19th-Century Necessity
The Bellamy site is half an acre (or roughly 22,000 square feet), and the house has a footprint of 3,000 square feet under the roof. On a roof of this size, with only 1” of rainfall, the amount of water that runs off amounts to 3,000 gallons. That’s 3,000 gallons of clean, fresh water for cooking, washing, drinking, bathing etc. The idea of a shower every morning is something that wasn’t common practice until after World War II, and even wealthy families like the Bellamys probably only bathed once a week. Nevertheless, when the Bellamy house was in full swing, water usage would be high, and harvesting rainwater was essential. To catch and store it, there was the 6,000 gallon, brick-lined, underground cistern.

The Bellamy cistern stored water that flowed from the roof of the house by a system of channels and downspouts on both sides of the house. Catch basins at ground level helped to filter out debris, and the water then traveled through underground drains directly into the cistern. A tightly fitted cover over the top kept out animals, bugs, surface water, and other contaminants.

In her memoirs, Ellen Bellamy identifies “Guy, our butler” as the enslaved worker who pumped the water from the cistern into the large zinc-lined oak tank on the top floor, where the children spent much of their time. A gravity-fed pipe system carried the cold water down into the original bathroom on the floor below for use in bathing. According to architectural historian, Catherine Bishir, to provide hot water, pipes led from the tank to the kitchen boiler in the basement and back up to the bathroom. The flow of water was controlled so that water descending into the boiler forced the heated water to run up to the bathroom as needed. We do not know if the Bellamy cistern had a charcoal filter on it, but some homes in Wilmington did. 

​For the next 50 years, the site operated solely on the well and cistern. The first attempt at a centralized water source in Wilmington was in 1881, at what was called the Clarendon Water Works, but it was intended for firefighting rather than drinking water. It wasn't until 1910-11 that the Bellamy House got city water, when the Hilton Pumping Station was put into operation at the site of the pre-revolutionary Hilton House built by Cornelius Harnett. Currently that site is the Sweeney Water Plant, Wilmington's main pumping station to this day. 

Rediscovering the Site’s Green Potential
After at least 50 years of no use, following more than two decades of work to restore the Bellamy Mansion, it was decided that the cistern could be modernized and used again for watering the grounds. But first, a dry cistern inspection was necessary to evaluate its condition, size, shape and depth. This process involves emptying the tank to check for structural cracks, sediment buildup, and damaged seals, ensuring water quality and tank integrity.

To make sure it was safe to pump the water out, Deputy State Archaeologist Dr. Mark Wilde-Ramsing led a dive into the cistern. He reported that the cistern is brick-lined and bell-shaped with an "interior diameter of 10 feet and an inner depth of a little over six feet." Once the assessment was completed, a sump pump could be lowered into the cistern, manually hooked up to a hose, and turned on to water the historic Magnolia trees.

Inspecting the old cistern in 1996: Jonathon Noffke, former Bellamy executive director; Mark Wilde-Ramsing, former project director for the Queen Anne’s Revenge shipwreck and deputy state archaeologist with the Underwater Archaeology Branch; Don Floyd, restorationist and master craftsman; Mark's son Joseph (diver), then a high school student and volunteer; and Marcella Rippel, former Bellamy employee.

Historic Water Management in a Modern Landscape
Thanks to funding from the Cape Fear Garden Club in 2012, the Bellamy gardens are now watered by way of a modern irrigation system that draws its water supply from the cistern, taking us back to its original 1861 use. In the words of long-time volunteer, Wade Toth, the grant helped “keep us green and save some green.”
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Site Manager Bob Lock explains the process: "First steps were to empty the cistern and clean the sludge from the bricks that lined the bell-shaped water storage. This had to be done so that no impurities clogged the pumps or lines. They actually got down into the cistern and lifted buckets of sludge out of the opening. It was a dirty stinky job and one I'm glad I was watching and not participating in.”

The cistern cleanup and installation of the irrigation system was done by JB Lawn Sprinklers.

"We had to install a suction line and put in a permanent well pump. We then connected all the irrigation lines to another pump outside the cistern located near the North rear scullery window next to the downspout. This allowed water to be pumped out of the cistern and then pumped again to the individual sprinkler stations."

In addition to saving money on monthly water bills and reusing rainwater for everyday use, cisterns also help decrease flooding and protect our waterways by reducing polluted stormwater runoff. Although the introduction of city-wide plumbing led to decline of these ingenious systems, the city of Wilmington now encourages their use again due to these broader environmental benefits. They offer free resources about using rain barrels and cisterns as stormwater solutions. There is also a city-led “Heal Our Waterways” that provides funding to private property owners for installation of larger cisterns that would benefit Bradley Creek and Hewletts Creek. You can read more about the program at https://www.wilmingtonnc.gov/Services/Stormwater/Heal-Our-Waterways.

This article was adapted, in part, from earlier work by former Director of Education at the Bellamy Mansion Museum, Madeline Flagler. During her time at the museum, Madeline developed and led "green tours" for adults and school groups using much of this information.