620 Reviews — Molyneux's History of Burton-on-Trent. 



V. — Burton - on - Trent : its History, its Waters, and its 

 Breweries. By William Molyneux, F.G.S. London, 1869. 

 8vo. pp. 268. Triibner & Co. 



MR. Molyneux has produced, for the convenience of all who 

 wish to he informed thereon, a very useful book of reference 

 concerning Burton-on-Trent, prepared with much care, and embrac- 

 ing its history from the earliest times, as marked by flint-implements 

 in its river- valley gravels, by tumuli and barrows, by Eoman roads, 

 cinerary urns, etc., down to the commencement of Ecclesiastical his- 

 tory in the ninth century. Through the leading details of this Mr. 

 Molyneux conducts us. We learn both from the dedication and 

 contents of the book, that the history of Burton-on-Trent is closely 

 connected with the family of Paget ; and when we reach the year 

 1815, we are reminded of the share which the noble Marquess of 

 Anglesey took in the eventful history of that time which culminated 

 in the field of Waterloo. 



The geological part of Mr. Molyneux's book commences at p. 147, 

 and deals principally with the relation between the geology of the 

 district and its water supply, upon the goodness and quantity of 

 which the staple article of manufacture of the town (bitter beer) so 

 greatly depends. The valley of the Trent, in which the town of 

 Burton stands, is excavated in the Keuper marls, sandstones, and 

 Bunter conglomerates, here much faulted and disturbed ; above 

 these are beds of coarse gravel, sand, and pebbles, old terrace- 

 gravels, modern valley-gravels, and alluvial deposits, entirely con- 

 cealing the older beds which lie beneath. 



All the old wells of Burton are sunk in the ordinary valley- 

 gravels, and until 1856 none of these wells exceeded twenty feet in 

 depth, and neither the thickness of the gravels nor the nature of the 

 strata upon which they rested had been ascertained. As the 

 breweries increased in importance, however, numerous deep borings 

 were executed by Messrs. Bass and Co., Ind, Coope, and Co., Allsopp 

 and Sons, and Salt and Co., with varied success — as regards the 

 supply of water yielded — depending apparently upon the point 

 selected for the well ; as it has been found that, owing to faults, 

 scarcely any two deep wells yield a like supply. The waters 

 derived from the river, the shallow wells, and the deep artesian 

 borings, contain not only different chemical products, but in very 

 varied proportions. 



No less than seven different kinds of waters, used in connection 

 with the breweries of Burton, have been recognized, each of which 

 — with one exception — is derived from different distinct deposits 

 of local occurrence. These are — Bunter conglomerates, Keuper 

 marls and sandstones. Valley-gravels, and from two separate old 

 river-valley deposits, and lastly from the river Trent. Two only 

 of these, however, have hitherto been used for brewing purposes. 



The question may very naturally be asked, why has the manu- 

 facture of ale at Burton attained such marked success over that of 

 any other town ? Mr. Molyneux informs us that this generally re- 



