222 FOKESTS, WOODS, AND TKEES 



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 



