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or was but a narrow combe, like scores of others on the Cottes- 
wolds, the strata of Oolitic rocks continuous from side to side, 
then the town’s foundations, the bottoms of its deepest cellars, 
would be occupied by the white beds of the Great Oolite; and 
assuming there were no break of continuity, the lower part of 
the valley towards Siddington would run over the Forest Marble 
on to the Cornbrash. Well, this is certainly not the case, as 
may be seen on a consideration of the wells and water supply 
of the town itself. I draw a sharp distinction between the 
“town” wells and those already described, which are all on 
the outskirts of the town, beyond the area of the valley floor. 
The opportunities of getting a general section in the bottom 
of a valley on which a town is built, are necessarily few; they 
are exceptionally so in the case of Cirencester. The excavations 
for solid foundations for masonry fail to carry us much below 
the debris of Roman Corinium. The strata explored are only 
those of ancient civilizations. The sinkings of the town wells 
are almost our only data. These are, however, numerous and 
instructive.* 
Taking first the public pump in the Market-place. This 
water supply has a history and a reputation of an honourable 
character. Artistically, the pump is not a thing of beauty, but 
its water is pure and unfailing. In the course of many enquiries 
and much conversation on the subject of local water supply, 
I have heard many stories of the reliability of this source, a 
matter of no small consequence in times of drought in such a 
district, and especially in days when general artificial supplies 
of water were less common. 
I have been told of times of drought when the supplies of 
water in the surrounding country villages having given out, 
crowds of vehicles, with all manner of water-carrying utensils, 
have filled the streets in the vicinity of this pump, waiting 
their turn to fill up with the precious liquid from its perennial 
fount. The depth of the well is 25 to 26 ft.; after passing through 
* Tam indebted to Mr W. H. James for a valuable list of the shallow wells 
of the town, and for much other useful information regarding its water supply. 
