Wat Pa Takua, or the Monastery of the Lead Quarter, is a defunct temple formerly located on Ayutthaya's city island outside the Historical Park in the Pratu Chai Sub-district.
Historical data about the monastery and its construction are unknown.
Based on a map of the 19th century, the monastery was situated between the Pratu Jin Canal (1) and the Makham Riang Canal (2), but closer to the latter. Wat Kraji stood north and Wat Trae (defunct) south. Wat Khok Suea (defunct) northwest and Wat Khok Rak (defunct) to its west. The 19th-century map indicates the existence of a prang.
The temple is not mentioned on Phraya Boran Rachathanin's map drafted in 1926 CE. When working with an overlay of the 19th-century map, Wat Pa Takua coincides with the grounds of present Wat Noi Nang Hong on PBRs map, but the oldest map has this temple as well.
Assessing all the monastic structures in the zone demarcated by Chikun Road, Pa Thon Road, Pridi Banomyong Road and U-Thong Road is rather complex, as the position and name of the structures vary on different maps. On a 19th century map, there are 15 structures counted, while on the 20th century PBR map, there are 13 mentioned. There is inconsistency in the names and the positions. Even maps drafted by the Fine Arts Department, what I presume, based on excavations in the zone, shed no light on this matter. The positions of monastic structures can be asserted, but their ancient names will remain questioned forever.
The site was likely in approximative geographical coordinates: 14° 21' 11.19" N, 100° 34' 26.23" E.
Footnotes:
(1) Khlong Pratu Jin, or the Canal of the Chinese Gate, is part of a waterway running through the middle of Ayutthaya from north to south. The canal ran from the Chikun Bridge to the Chinese water gate (Pratu Jin), one of the eleven water gates at that time and was an extension of Khlong Pratu Khao Pluak. The canal was a shortcut through the oxbow of the Lopburi River and connected the old Lopburi River, present Khlong Mueang in the north with - what is today - the Chao Phraya River in the south. The canal could have been the eastern defence moat of the initial city.(2) Khlong Makham Riang, or the Canal of the aligned Tamarind Trees, was before called Khlong Nai Kai. It is a still existent canal situated east on Ayutthaya's city island. The canal was a shortcut in the oxbow of the old Lopburi River. It has today its origin at Khlong Ho Ratana Chai below Wat Senasanaram and the Front Palace, and its mouth at the present Chao Phraya River, west of Phet Fortress. At the mouth was one of the eleven water gates of Ayutthaya called Pratu Nai Kai. The southern exit, which has today a water regulator, has been altered. The original mouth of the canal was about 170 metres more south, close to Pom Phet. Khlong Makham Riang is one of the three large canals running north to south, of which two still are in existence.
