"mat." wrote:

hi,

snip

i took a picture and numbered the incoming pipes.
http://binaryform.com/house/coalholeWD.jpg

pipe #

1 ? seems old water pipe
2 gas
3 water. (lead pipe)
4 telephone.

pipe 1, is capped off. i think it might be water as it is cold to
touch and it is lead. the mains water is a lead pipe that goes to a
stop cock inside the coal hole as well, and from there on the pipes
are not lead in the whole house.

Any chance 'pipe' no. 1 on the left could be a disused (but possibly
still live) lead-sheathed electricity supply cable? It does look as
though it has some kind of outer covering similar to the pitch-soaked
cloth (or whatever) old supply cables had. The blob on the end could be
some kind of sealing chamber.

Just a thought...