PROCEEDINGS COTTESWOLD CLUB 
1918 
the waters for which at one time Gloucester hoped to become 
famous as a residential city for invalids, or rather for people 
who fancied they were such ; and had suitable steps been taken 
to encourage the use of them, there was no reason why such 
hopes should not have been realised ; but the wealth brought to 
the city by the ship canal had more attraction than that from 
invalids residing here, and so the spa became neglected. 
In 1874 I was asked by the late John Bellows to examine 
a well in the cellar of the Shakespeare Inn, Northgate Street, 
and found that it had a temperature of 90 degrees Fahr. This 
was turned into the sewers a few years later. (Table III.) 
A very striking instance of high mineralisation in a local 
water was that from an excavation made at Hempstead in 
1874. At a depth of only 20 feet a spring was discovered 
containing 3,260 grains of common salt per gallon, nearly 
7! ounces. 
The Members of the Club are no doubt aware of the fact 
that the greater part of this district is shown on the Ordnance 
Survey Maps as Lower Lias, but in our Proceedings will be 
found papers showing this is overlaid by deposits of a much 
later period, and these vary greatly in thickness, from a few 
feet to as much as 35 feet. These deposits were examined by 
Mr. W. C. Lucy and shown to be variable in character, con- 
sisting of decayed Forest Beds, clays, sands and gravels. The 
extent of the Forest Bed is very considerable, and it is met 
with at Sharpness, Frampton, and Gloucester. In 1874 I found 
it myself at a depth of 12 feet in Howard Street, Gloucester, 
and it has since been discovered in other parts of the city. 
In connection with these superficial deposits, I may here , 
refer to a boring made in 1874 on the Town Ham, Gloucester. 
(Table IV.) 
The boring was carried to a depth of 35 feet, and here was 
found a bed of pebbles, mostly quartz containing some frag- 
ments of melaphyre identical in composition with the Clee Hill 
stone. Most of these were forwarded to Mr. Lucy, but I was 
so struck with the presence of some pieces of a basaltic rock 
that I kept a fragment, and ground and polished it so that I 
could make out its structure with certainty. 
