504 LOWER OOLITIC ROCKS OF ENGLAND : 
North of the Mendips the Inferior Oolite furnishes limited supplies of 
water ; and on some of the spurs, as at Tunley near Preston, the wells 
are deficient in times of drought. Over portions of this area the Midford 
Sands are very thin, and in some instances they are absent. 
Near Bath, springs from the Midford Sands have yielded large supplies, 
amounting to as much as 430,000 gallons a day, but the water was very 
hard. Up to the year 1835 the city was supplied, first of all at an early 
date, by springs from Beechen Cliff and Beacon Hill, and later on (1769) 
from others thrown out by the Fuller's Earth on Bathwick Down (Sham 
Castle Springs).* In 1868 the Bathwick springs were found to yield 
57,000 gallons per day. Of late years Bath has been supplied from other 
sources in the valleys near Charlcombe, Swainswick, and St. Catherines. 
Numerous springs are given out from the Great Oolite, and also from the 
Inferior Oolite and Midford Sands, but most of them are naturally affected 
in seasons of drought. It has been estimated however that an average 
supply of 800,000 gallons a day might be relied upon.f (See p. 507.) 
On the Castle estate at Midford there are springs from the Great Oolite, 
that yield 130,000 to 200,000 gallons daily. 
The springs that issue from the top of the Upper Lias at Chalford and 
Brimscombe near Stroud, are copious, and their yield has been estimated 
at about 9,000,000 gallons a day. They come from the Inferior Oolite 
Series, chiefly on the south side of the valley and furnish some of the 
sources of the Frome. The highest spring, known as the "Bubbling 
Spring," is about 270 feet above sea-level. Their temperature is about 
6 higher than that of the springs thrown out by the Fuller's Earth. At 
the works of the Stroud Water Company the yield is upwards of 1,000,000 
gallons per day.f 
Here and there we find more or less noteworthy springs, as the Syreford 
spring near Cheltenham, which yields about 5 million gallons daily, and 
forms one of the head waters of the Coin ; the Seven Wells, north of 
Cubberley ; and springs at Cowley, which form the head of the river 
Churn. There are good springs near Leckhampton and elsewhere in the 
neighbourhood, which contribute to the supply of Cheltenham. 
Borings have been made in the Inferior Oolite near Birdlip, to the east 
of Witcombe (see p. 123) ; and water was obtained in the basement-beds of 
the Inferior Oolite and underlying Midford (or Cotteswold) Sands. 
On the eastern Cotteswolds there are good springs in places. The 
Windrush in its course above Bourton-on-the-Water, receives supplies 
amounting to about 25 or 30 millions of gallons daily from the Inferior 
Oolite and underlying Sands. These include the " Roaring Wells " of 
Eyeford, ; a spring at Donnington Mill, north-west of Stow-on-the-Wold ; 
springs higher up at Pope's Hole, west of Seizincote ; Seven Wells, 
east of Snowshill; and springs again at Taddington, above Cutsdean 
The Sherborne stream in its higher course, above Farmington, is very 
feeble in dry weather, much water being conveyed underground in the 
Sands on kJf) of the Upper Lias clay. (See also account of boring near 
Fairford, p. 510.) 
North of Stow-on-the-Wold, at Worcester Lodge, Batsford Park, a well 
was sunk 160 feet in the rock-beds of the Inferior Oolite, etc. 
At Tite End, at the north of Chipping Norton, a copious spring is thrown 
out at the base of the Inferior Oolite, above the Upper Lias Clay. 
The Northampton Sand and the Lincolnshire Limestone hold good 
supplies of water, supported by the Upper Lias. Many springs are given 
* All these springs are said to be polluted. Report, Domestic Water Supply, 
pp. 127, 128, 309. 
f I am indebted to Mr. W. Topley for great part of the above information. See 
also Geol. East Somerset, &c., pp. 181, &c ; and Winwood. Proc. Bath Nat. Hist. 
Club., vol. vii. p. 337. 
J Report, Domestic Water Supply, p. 400 ; J. H. Tannton, Proc. Cotteswold 
Club, vol. ix. p. 52 ; Etheridge, Ibid,, vol. xi. p. 49. 
Hudleston, Proc. Geol. Assoc., vol. v. p. 383 
