16 BURTON WATERS—DRINKING AND BREWING. 
Formerly then, Burton beer was produced entirely with 
water from the so-called shallow wells in the gravel beds: 
the deepest point in which occurs, I believe, in the centre 
of the town between the Old Bowling Green—now Messrs. 
Worthington & Co’s. Cooperage, and New Street; here the 
marl is 32 feet from the surface, and is covered for a depth 
of 2 feet by a fine sand. 
Many of these- shallow wells, when properly made with 
due precaution against the surface water finding direct 
access, supplied a water, which for brewing purposes it was 
impossible to improve upon, and it was only when the 
large increase of the Burton trade caused a great drain 
upon this source, reducing the average level yearly, that it 
was found necessary to look elsewhere for the water so 
absolutely essential to the continued success of this great 
industry. Tubes and wells near the river were tried, and 
yield enormous volumes of water to most of the large firms. 
This, no doubt, led to a common fallacy regarding Burton 
brewing water formerly very widely spread, I mean the 
belief that river water was used for brewing Burton ale. 
Although river water is used in some of the breweries, it 
is not for brewing ale with, but for cleansing and cooling 
purposes, and we have very good reason to believe that 
the actual bed of the river is almost impervious, so that 
wells close to the river side even are not filled with river 
water. Asa proof of this I may refer to a well Messrs. 
Salt & Co. sank in that part of the Broad-Holme, north 
of the bridge, which quickly drained all the shallow wells 
on the other side of the river, near the Swan Hotel. 
Referring to the above analyses of Burton shallow wells, 
you will note a very great divergence, and I must ask you 
to recall what I said about the chance of these wells being 
nearer to, or further away from hard water springs in the 
marl. 
I think I may pause a few minutes to point out to those, 
