54 REPORT—1846, 
to form a shaft of 13 feet in diameter to the depth of 160 feet, and then to commence 
. boring, beginning with a bore hole of 30 inches, and ending with one of 20 inches 
at the depth of 560 feet. The undertakers now proposed to continue the work by a 
shaft of 7 feet in diameter, carried the whole way into the chalk, instead of boring 
as originally intended. The commissioners acceded to this alteration, and agreed 
to share the additional expense, provided the contractors would have a shaft of larger 
dimensions than 7 feet. The contractors having agteed to this proposal, it was 
continued onward with a shaft diminished in diameter from 14 feet to 11 feet 6 inches. 
At this period of the work the candles could hardly be kept lighted in the well, and 
they were obliged to have an air-tube constructed of zinc, with a pair of bellows 
attached, worked by the steam-engine, for the purpose of ventilating the well. 
The work was frequently impeded by large masses of stone, full of shells 
and rounded pebbles, which had to be raised out of the shaft; and it was observed 
at this time, on looking upwards from the bottom, that the shaft was filled with a 
dense vapour like fog or steam, and it was thought that if the bellows and air-tube 
had not been employed it would have been impossible to have proceeded with the 
work. 
Some of the beds of stone occupied a space of 6 feet in depth, particularly one 
from 174 to 180 feet in the well. The work however still proceeded, and on the 
10th of September the shaft was 214 feet. It was then reduced to 10 feet in 
diameter. By October 31st 270 feet of the shaft was complete, and then reduced 
to 8 feet 6 inches. 
It was the custom of the excavators at this time to bore onwards several feet 
before they began another section; by this means water was found at the depth of 
312 feet in considerable quantity, in a bed of sand, which obliged them to discon- 
tinue the shaft in brickwork and employ iton cylinders: by this means the influx 
of water was got over, and the work advanced slowly till it had attained the depth 
of 322 feet. The soil having again become more solid, the shaft was again resumed 
in brickwork of 7 feet in diameter. At this depth the quantity of water raised by 
the pumps amounted to 30,240 gallons in twenty-four hours. There appears to 
have been no peculiar difficulty in proceeding with the shaft from this period. 
On the 14th of August, 1841, a change of colour was perceived in the soil, and 
it was found they had arrived at the surface of the plastic clay, being 380 feet from 
the top of the well. The whole bed of plastic clay was then passed through with 
no other difficulties than those which took place from accidents to the machinery : 
very little sand and no water was found in that formation. 
The shaft was continued onward in brickwork of 7 feet diameter till the chalk 
was reached, on the 8th of November. The workmen were then employed in 
finishing the brick shaft, which was carried down to the solid chalk, and rested 3 
feet below its surface. The excavation was then continued onward, of the same 
diameter, without brickwork, and the chalk kept fair with the inside face of the shaft. 
On the 4th of December they had attained the depth of 520 feet, the work having 
been carried on day and night. The quantity of water which now flowed into the 
well from the chalk was ascertained to be about 3 gallons a minute. 
The temperature of the water was now taken at the bottom of the well and found 
to range between 61° and 62° of Fahrenheit; the temperature of water at the sur- 
face was 44° ; the atmosphere of the well at 50 feet, was 54°; at 160 feet it was 60°; 
at 543 feet it was 65°. 
On the 22nd of December an accident happened to the machinery, and the work 
was suspended to the 3rd of January, 1842: the shaft was now 550 feet deep. 
On Friday, March 4, it was again measured, and found to be 5625 feet below 
the surface of the earth. Atthis period, the pumping having been discontinued one 
week, the water rose 400 feet in the shaft, which amounted in quantity to 21,578 
cubic feet. ‘The well was now of the depth required, but the quantity of water was 
not sufficient for the full performance of the contract. 
The town being in great want of water, public meetings were held, and great 
complaints of the scarcity were continually heard. 
The contractors finding they had been deceived by the report that an abundant 
supply of water was to be obtained from a depth much less than that to which they 
had carried the work, thought it best that the shaft should be carried on still further, 
