176 PROCEEDINGS COTTESWOLD CLUB 191 3 



The old portion of the town is built on a gravel-bed that 

 borders the River Churn. Beneath the gravel is clay. The 

 gravel is composed of waterworn pieces of Oolite, and is any- 

 thing up to 20 to 25 feet in thickness. The clay below holds 

 up the water. 



Previous to 1882 Cirencester was supplied with water 

 solely from wells sunk into this gravel-bed. Unfortunately, 

 there are still a large number in everyday use. Gravel, it is 

 true, acts to a certain extent as a natural filter ; but, in a 

 thickly-populated district, water in wells in such a deposit is 

 always liable to contamination, and their disuse, therefore, is 

 eminently desirable. 



About the year 1870 considerable discussion took place as 

 to the possibihty of obtaining a supply of pure water for the 

 town. 



The then Earl Bathurst had a boring put down in 1871-72 

 in a field near The Barton Mill (see map, fig. i. No. i) to 

 ascertain if an adequate supply could be obtained there from 

 the Great Oolite. J. H. Taunton was engaged to watch the 

 boring operations, and on July i6th, 1872, reported to the 

 Sanitary Committee of the Cirencester Town Commissioners 

 as follows : — ' 



" A boring 3 J inches in diameter has been sunk there [near The 

 Barton Mill] for a depth of 148 feet from the ground-surface down to 

 the Fullers' Earth formation. At 91 feet 6 inches, after piercing a bed 

 of marl, the loose rocks of the Great Oolite were found charged with 

 water, which ascended the bore-hole with great force as an artesian spring 

 from January 6th to March 2nd, delivering at one time (during the weelt 

 ending January 27th [1872]) 29 gallons of water per minute. 



" Again, after piercing 8 feet of impervious beds in the Great Oolite 

 at a depth of 109 to 117 feet from the surface, more water was tapped and 

 ascended to the surface. 



" The boring was continued until it was found to have been carried 

 into the upper beds of the Fullers' Earth. I have had the advantage of 

 Mr [Prof. James] Buckman's assistance in determining this point. 



"The work, although of an experimental character, has been suc- 

 cessful in obtaining so large a supply of spring water at the site in question, 

 that, with the gravel-bed supply procurable there, I believe enough 

 water has already been found to meet the general requirements at Ciren- 

 cester." 



I Copies of this letter are deposited at the Public Librar\% Gloucester, the Bingham Library, 

 Cirencester, and at the office o£ the Surveyor to the Cirencester Urban District Council. 



