Place Name
Laid out in the 1890s it is named after John Smeaton (June 8, 1724 – October 28, 1792), often regarded as the father of civil engineering. He was an engineer active in designing the water mills along this section of the River Wandle nearby. Born in Austhorpe, Leeds, Smeaton, who coined the term civil engineer to distinguish them from military engineers, was one of the leading lights of the Industrial Revolution. An eminent civil and mechanical engineer his research into the mechanics of waterwheels and windmills vastly increased their efficiency. Smeaton took part in the design or remodelling of several Wandle mills, including Wandsworth Mill, now known as the Upper Mills on Garratt Lane, the Paper and Upper Mills at Carshalton, Waddon Mill, Adkins Mill and Hackbridge Mills. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1753 and in 1759 won the Copley Medal. Smeaton is considered to be the first expert witness to appear in an English court. Because of his expertise in engineering, he was called to testify in court for a case related to the silting-up of the harbour at Wells-next-the-Sea in Norfolk in 1782. He died after suffering a stroke while walking in the garden of his family home at Austhorpe, and was buried in the parish church at Whitkirk, West Yorkshire.
