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north, Bridgwater Bay on the west, and the town of Chard on the 

 south. 



The South West Division will occupy the remainder. 



NORTH EAST DISTRICT. 



THE surface of this district being very irregular, and intermixed 

 with lofty hills, and rich fertile plains, the climate is consequently 

 exceedingly varied. On the western side, including the hundreds 

 of Winterstoke and Portbioy, the soil is, for the most part, a deep, 

 and rich mixture of clay and sand ; being originally a deposit by 

 the sea, which, in ancient times, flowed up a considerable way into 

 that part of the county. These Moorlands, as they are called, are 

 at the present time subject to frequent inundation ; and sometimes, 

 in rainy seasons, are covered with water for four or five successive 

 months. The luxuriant herbage produced by these lands, when 

 cleared from stagnant water, is such as to induce, in the mind of a 

 man fond of national improvement, an ardent wish to see them 

 completely drained. 



This I think might be effected in the following way. Let a 

 sluice or dam be built at the outlet of the river Yeo or Yow, the 

 apron of which should be placed near low water mark. It is not 

 necessary to describe these sluices or outlets, as they are common to 

 most counties bordering on the sea. Suffice it to say, that these 

 buildings are furnished with folding doors, which shut at the influx 

 of the tide, and open on its retreat. From a sluice thus erected, let 

 the bed of the river be lowered to an inclined plane of one foot in a 

 mile. This is sufficient to produce a current, and it will prevent 

 any great deposit of sediment. Let the bottom be contracted in its 

 breadth, so that the water in time of floods may run with sufficient 

 rapidity to cleanse it of mud. In regard to the dimensions and ex- 

 pence of such a main drain, the reader shall be informed when we 

 come to treat of Sedgmoor. 



In the parishes of Congresbury, Yatton, Banwell, Winscombe, 

 Churchill, and Puxton, there are not less than three thousand acres 

 subject to frequent inundation. All these lands discharge the 

 greatest part of their waters into the river Yeo, and are under the 



inspection 



