Trunk Drainage. 
7 
Maidenhead, Readinjr, Ealing, Uxbridfre, and many other places, 
the principal corn-fields tcere overspread vitli several feet of tcater, 
and the number of houses inundated was enormous. At Farring- 
don the sheet of water was of amazing extent ; and at Cricklade, 
Lechlade, and other places, the farms tvere under tcater, heavy 
losses inflicted, and great numbers of families reduced to starva- 
tion. Much land in Epsom, Dartford, Lewisham, and Charlton, 
was overflowed. On the North-Kent Railway, the valley of the 
Medway and the marshes along the Thames were one expanse of 
waters for many miles. Parts of Chatham, Rochester, and Stroud, 
were also flooded. The damage to property and to health in the 
suburbs of the Metropolis was beyond estimation. After the 
excessive rains of July, 1853, the low lands on the South-Western 
Railway were overspread with water and thousands of floating 
hay-cocks ; at Guildford, Chertsey, Woking, and Battersea, the 
flood was several feet deep : Windsor and Reading suffered as 
usual. At Newbury, Sonning, Burghfield, Oxford, 6cc. &c., 
many hundreds of acres of meadow w ere cleared of their hay ; 
xclieat, harlejj, and oat c)V])s were flattened and spoiled ; and at 
Banbury, for miles on the eastern side, the country was entirely 
deluged. 
Taking the midland districts, we find that in the winter of 
1848, the Avon, Welland, Ouse, Learn, and Soar, all overflowed 
their banks, committing innumerable depredations and great in- 
convenience at Newton, Clifton, Market-Harborough, Daventry, 
Leicester, Coventry, and Leamington. In the following winter, 
the flood which periodically encompasses a great portion of the 
Midland Railway, rose with unwonted severity, so that the whole 
country, from the source of the Trent to its junction with the 
Humber, became one vast inland sea, more tlian 150 miles in 
length, and occasionally spreading for miles on either side ; and on 
the margin of its smaller tributaries in Derbvshire, Leicester- 
shire, Staffordshire, and Nottinghamshire, the same inundations 
were found to sproad themselves. In the winter of 1852 the 
Trent and the Soar converted the valleys around Nottingham and 
Leicester into sheets of water ; and parts of the railways at 
Loughborough, Crow-mills, and Stamford were carried away. 
At Birmingham, the river Rea caused an alarming flood, cover- 
ing the country with water, destroying a great amount of pro- 
perty, and stopping the machinery of various manufactories. 
The Leen and Erewash, the Derwent, and other streams also 
overflowed ; and besides the damage done to many towns by 
their streets being inundated, the corn sown over large districts 
was seriously damaged, and hag in the fuUoioing summer was 
rendered scarce throughout the 3Iidland counties. In the winters of 
1848-9 and 1852, the valley of the Nene, between Northampton 
