MR. W. G. CLARKE ON THE MERES OF WRETHAM HKATH. 509 
“Devil’s Punch Bowl.” The patch of mist that sometimes hangs 
over the mere at night time is also called the “ Devil’s Nightcap.” 
Two-thirds of the sloping sides of the mere are covered with 
bracken, and from that there is close slippery turf to the gravelly 
beach which edges the black mud in the bed of the mere. In 
1882 the water had a length and breadth of 110 yards. In May 
last the basin contained discoloured skulls of Sheep, Lambs, Dogs, 
and Cats, and the mud was covered with decaying water-weeds. 
The mud in drying had fissured in every direction. In the bed of 
the pool I found a Neolithic flake and a scraper. I was informed that 
the water in the well belonging to the cottage on the southern side 
of the mere had been low, owing to the small rainfall, but never so 
low as to cause any serious difficulty. On September 4th there 
was little difference in the aspect of the mere, save that the grass 
and vegetation had increased somewhat in height. 
Conclusions. 
In addition to the various opinions recorded in the introduction, 
Mr. Henry Stevenson said in 1860, that it had been asserted that 
the meres never covered so large an area after Wretham West Mere 
was drained in 1851, and Great Mere in 1856. In 1884, on the 
contrary, Mr. F. -I . Bennett wrote: — “Since Mickle Mere was 
pumped dry and deepened in 1856 the water has stood higher in 
them all and none have since been dry.” Many Thetford people 
assert that the meres have been gradually getting dry since the 
well was made at Thetford Waterworks in 1876. It has also been 
stated that there is most water in the meres in the driest summers, 
and similarly that in the winter-time the waters of the Punch 
Bowl receded, rising as the heat of summer increased. Facts 
prove that there is as little reason in these contentions as in the 
tradition which said that the price of corn rose with the waters of 
Bingmere. In 1859 the mere was dry and wheat was £11 per 
ton ; in 1884 it was full to overflowing and wheat was £8 10s. per 
ton. It can, I think, be shown that the rainfall is solely responsible 
for the fluctuations of the water in the meres, not as surface water 
— or why should ponds and wells on higher levels contain water 
when the meres are dry ? — but so far as the rainfall affects the 
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