222 FORESTS, WOODS, AND TREES 
waters of the river Yeo has an immediate catchment area 
of 5300 acres, on which are situated the villages of 
Butcombe, Nempnett, Burrington, Blagdon, Ubley, and 
Compton Martin. After treatment in septic tanks, the 
sewage from these villages is discharged on land below the 
reservoir. The gathering ground extends from the level of 
the reservoir, 110 feet, to an elevation of 1068 feet on 
Black Down. As the Yeo reservoir is too low for the 
water to gravitate to Bristol, the water is raised by pumps 
into the North Hill Tunnel, and thence goes by gravitation 
into three reservoirs at Barrow, where there are filter beds. 
Another catchment area to the eastward, draining the head- 
waters of the river Chew, is situated in Chewton Mendip, 
Litton, East Harptree, West Harptree, and Hinton Blewett, 
and is said to have an extent of 8320 acres. Its reservoirs 
provide compensation water. A third catchment area, 
tapping the Ellwell and Dundry streams, lies in Winford, 
Dundry, and Barrow Gurney; and on it are the three 
Barrow reservoirs. The average annual rainfall for 22 
years varies from 35°20 inches at Barrow to 42°84 inches 
on Harptree Hill. I have been able to ascertain neither the 
acreage owned by the Company nor the proportions of 
arable land, moorland, and plantations on the various gather- 
ing grounds, a map of which is given in Proc. Inst. Civil 
Engineers, vol. 194, p. 424 (1914). Judging from the map 
of the “Distribution of Vegetation in Somerset,” by C. E. 
Moss, in Geographical Journal, October 1906, the higher 
parts of the catchment area, over 850 feet, are heather 
moor or heath pasture, but these are of no great extent. 
The greater part of the gathering grounds is cultivated land, 
with some natural oak woods and scattered plantations of 
conifers. 
Taunton obtains its water supply from three (Blagdon, 
Leigh, and Luxhay) impounding reservoirs, with a gathering 
ground of 700 acres in the Blackdown Hills, between 500 
and 900 feet elevation. The area, of which 42 acres are 
owned by the Corporation, is made up of 100 acres of arable 
