WATER CATCHMENT AREAS 219 
Malvern Urban District Council obtains its water supply 
in part from two gathering grounds: 
(1) Malvern Hill, north of Wyche Cutting, with three 
small covered reservoirs, 300 acres, between 650 and 1300 
feet elevation; and (2) British Camp reservoir, with a 
gathering ground of 177 acres, between 650 and 1000 feet 
elevation. 
The areas, none of which are owned by the Council, are 
all hill pasture, without habitations. The water is filtered. 
Full particulars of the Malvern water supply were 
given by Mr. W. Osborne Thorp in Proc. Inst. Municipal 
and County Engineers, vol. 35, p. 238 (1909). 
Stratford-upon-Avon obtains its supply from the Snitter- 
field reservoir, 3 miles distant, and at 296 feet altitude, to 
which the water is conveyed by a conduit, 2 mile long, 
from the Snitterfield brook. The water is filtered. The 
Town Council purchased the Wayfield estate of 430 acres 
in 1893 for £7546, and the Comyns Park estate of 292 
acres in 1897 for £5440, making a total of 722 acres, 
upon which the gathering ground of 490 acres is situated. 
This consisted in 1918 of 58 acres of arable land, 422 
acres of pasture, and 10 acres of woodland. Its highest 
point is 366 feet above sea-level, and the average annual 
rainfall is 27 inches. “The ownership of the gathering 
ground gives the Corporation full control over the method 
of cultivation and manuring, and affords the greatest 
security that can be looked for against contamination.” 
Cheltenham obtains its water supply in part from the 
Dowdeswell reservoir, on the river Chelt, with a catchment 
area of 1430 acres in the Cotswold Hills, on which there 
are habitations and farmsteads. None of the area belongs 
to the Corporation. No precautions, other than sand 
filtration, are taken with regard to purification, except that 
a drainage system has been constructed for conveying the 
sewage, etc., of all houses on the area to a point below the 
reservoir. 
