1 66 WORGRET HILL AND WAREHAM WATER SUPPLY. 



Wareham is rather in favour of such a possibility. It might not 

 be safe to predict that there would be an artesian supply, though 

 one might expect the upper part of the Chalk to be water- 

 bearing. Still, the experience of the Spyway boring, in a 

 plantation near Moreton, is by no means re-assuring. At this 

 place the Lower Tertiaries were found to be at least 90 feet thick 

 (sand and clay), and a further boring of 112 feet was made into 

 the Chalk without finding water. I scarcely apprehend that such 

 would be the case at Worgret ; yet the conditions are so 

 uncertain that no great hopes can be based on obtaining a supply 

 from this quarter." 



" Conclusion. Bearing in mind the above considerations, 

 there seems but slight justification for the Council to continue 

 boring operations with a view to obtaining a better supply of 

 water. By far the best plan, it appears to me, would be to 

 attempt to improve the quality of the water in the existing well. 

 Although it seems scarcely justifiable to employ the ratepayers' 

 money in further boring operations, yet it is a matter of 

 considerable interest to obtain a complete section of the 

 Tertiary Beds in the centre of the trough of Wareham. Both 

 on scientific and on economic grounds this is highly desirable. 

 Moreover, since tackle is now on the spot, no better opportunity 

 could be afforded for solving the problem of the Tertiaries in 

 this part of Dorset, and testing at the same time the possibility 

 of an artesian supply of water from the Chalk within the region 

 included in the central portion of the trough of Wareham ; 

 the necessary funds might possibly be collected by sub- 

 scription." 



REFLECTIONS ON THE REPORT. 



The main interest, from a geological point of view, consists in 

 the estimated thickness of the unproved Tertiary Beds down to 

 the Chalk. As regards the Bagshot portion of this unknown 

 quantity, I may refer to two short memoirs by the Government 

 Surveyor, Mr. Clement Reid, F.R.S., "Geology of the country 

 round Bournemouth" (1898), and "Geology of the country 



