THE MIDDLE LIAS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. 
177 
would generally rise to a considerable height in the wells, so 
that further sinking would he somewhat difficult and quite 
unnecessary ; hence the second spring was never found. 
In the summer of 1884, this lower spring was tapped within 
about four miles of Northampton under the following circum¬ 
stances. In the village of Milton there are some fifteen or 
twenty wells in the Middle Lias, from which plenty of water 
was obtained until the last few years. One of these wells, 
probably a hundred years old, is in the house used as an inn 
—The Greyhound—and occupied by Mr. East, who is also 
a brewer. The supply of water being inadequate, the well 
was opened, and it was found that the rock was only just 
broken into, as though an inrush of water had stopped 
further operations. To get more water it was necessary to 
deepen this well or dig another outside the house ; the latter 
plan being decided upon, it was commenced, and water had 
been found before I heard of the work. The water came 
chiefly from the lower part of the rock, and did not quite 
cover the bed. Mr. East asked my advice as to going deeper, 
in order to make a reservoir for storing the water, which did 
not flow in as fast as they at times wanted to pump it. I 
ventured to recommend him to go deeper with the object of 
tapping the lower spring, which, if present, would certainly 
be met with within 40 feet. It was decided to deepen the 
well, and when they had got down 10 feet lower, a hard 
nodular bed was met with ; this was only just broken into 
when a jet of water burst out to a height of a yard, and the 
influx of water was sufficient to stop further sinking. The 
section of this well has been already given (Part I., p. 75, 
Vol. IX.) After stopping the Rock-bed supply and bricking 
the well down to the lower water-bearing rock, the water 
rose and stood in the well 10 feet; that is, to almost the 
same level as did the Rock-bed supply previously, although 
its source was 10 feet lower. It shows no tendency to sink 
lower, and by their present pumping power (900 gallons per 
hour) they can only reduce the water level 4 feet. Thus it 
will be seen a difference of head of 4 feet between the water 
level in the well and the adjacent strata gives a flow of about 
‘21,600 gallons per day. 
The discovery of this second spring in the Middle Lias 
so near to Northampton I considered rather important, 
because from its position, almost south of Northampton, it 
furnished almost conclusive evidence that the same bed 
existed at Northampton itself, and therefore made it more 
probable that the sandy micaceous beds also existed, as one 
or more of them certainly did at Milton. Here, however, 
