578 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION C. 



source of supply might not be available. With this object the late Mr. De Ranee, 

 F.G.S./ was instructed by the Corporation to report 'on the probability of obtain- 

 ing a pure and sufficient supply of water for the city.' Accordingly he presented 

 a report, dated September 15, 1891, containing the results of a prolonged and 

 careful studj^ of the geological conditions, and stating his opinion that a boring of 

 large diameter to a depth of from 1,250 to 1,500 feet at Torksey or CoUingham 

 would yield at least a million of gallons per day of the purest water,' also suggest- 

 ing supplies from the Oolite limestone formation. 



This report does not appear to have been immediately acted upon ; and nothing 

 was done until the year 1898, when I received instructions to report on ' the 

 probability of obtaining water by boring near the present pumping station, and if 

 so, at what depth, and at what expense.' After a preliminary survey, I recom- 

 mended a well and boring to be carried down into the New Red Sandstone, which I 

 estimated would be reached at a depth of about 1,400 feet, from which I antici- 

 pated a supply of about a million gallons per day, and that the water would rise 

 in the boring and well up to, or nearly to, the surface of the ground by hydrostatic 

 pressure. It will be observed that my conclusions went to verify those of Mr. 

 De Ranee, both being founded on well-recognised geological data, and they have 

 now been abundantly borne out by actual experiment. 



Not until the year 1901, however, was a contract signed with Messrs. C. 

 Chapman & Son, of Salt'ord, for carrying out this, the deepest water-boring in 

 the United Kingdom. Nor was it till Sunday, June 10, 1906, that the success of 

 the undertaking was demonstrated, when, on reaching the top beds of the New Red 

 Sandstone at a depth of 1,561 feet 6 inches, the water burst in with great force, 

 and (to adopt the words of the newspaper reporter) ' the roaring sound of rushing 

 waters, far below, was distinctly heard at the surface, and was likened by one of 

 the workmen to the rush of the aegir on the Trent when the tides are at their 

 highest.'^ From this time the water steadily rose in the bore and well, which is 

 1,502 feet in depth, at the rate of 12 feet per hour, until it ultimately reached the 

 surface and overflowed, which event took place on the Wednesday morning 

 following the inburst of the water. 



The following are the formations passed through: — * 



Lower Lias clay 641 feet. 



Rha3tic beds 52 „ 



Red marl and sandstone (Keuper) . . . 868 ,, 



Total 1,561 feet. 



Below the above is the New Red Sandstone and conglomerate, which reaches the 

 surface in a broad tableland of an average of 300 to 400 feet above the sea-level 

 to the north of Nottingham, and constitutes the source of supply for that town 

 and a large district ranging into Yorkshire. At its nearest border it is about 

 20 miles from Lincoln, and spreads westward to its margin at Worksop — for a 

 distance of 5 or 6 miles — ^receiving and absorbing (probably) two-thirds of the 

 rainfall over its area. Owing to its extreme porosity, its absolute continuity in 

 the direction of the dip of the beds (there being no faults between), and the con- 

 stantly increasing hydrostatic pressure of the water in the direction of Lincoln, 

 we have all the conditions for a successful artesian water-supply. A geological 

 map of the district, and a horizontal section from Worksop to Lincoln, were 

 exhibited in explanation of the uprise of the underground water to the surface at 

 Lmcoln. 



' Author of the work M'ater Sujiply of England and Wales. 



^ Report, p. 19. Torksey is about nine miles north-west of Lincoln, and CoUingham 

 about ten miles south-west of the same place. Water from these places would have 

 required to be pumped all the distance to Lincoln. 



^ Lincolnshire Chronicle, June 16, 1906. 



* Kindly supplied to me by Mr. John "W. Ruddock, Chairman of the Water Board, 

 Lincoln. 



