Chapter VII Examples of Wells Executed, and of Districts Supplied by Wells
Permian Strata
Durham.—Large quantities of water are pumped from the lower Permian sandstone beneath the magnesian limestone of this county, and are used for the supply of the towns of Sunderland, South Shields, Jarrow, and many villages. The quantity, calculated by Daglish and Foster to reach five millions of gallons a day, is obtained from an area of fifty square miles overlying the coal measures. The water-level has not been lowered in the rock by these operations. Along the coast it is that of mean tide, and inland rises to a level of 180 feet. In the coal measures below there is little water, and that little is saline. Sedgwick gives the strata as red gypseous marls, 100 feet; thin bedded grey limestone, 80 feet; red gypseous marls, slightly salt, 200 feet; magnesian limestone, 500 feet; marl slate, 60 feet; lower red sandstone, 200 feet.
Coventry.—Warwickshire. The town is supplied with 750,000 gallons of water a day from two bore-holes made in the bottom of the reservoir. The bore-holes are respectively 6 inches and 8 inches diameter, and 200 feet and 300 feet deep. The town is situated on the Permian formation, but Latham states that the supply is procured from the red sandstone, and, from observations made, it has been found that the two bore-holes yield water at the rate of 700 gallons a minute.
Trias Strata
Birkenhead.—There are here several deep wells belonging to the Tranmere Local Board, the Birkenhead Commissioners, and the Wirral Water Company, yielding together about 4,000,000 gallons a day. Figs. 222, 223, show a section and plan of the No. 2 or new engine well at the Birkenhead Waterworks. The shaft is 7 feet diameter for 105 feet, with a bore-hole 26 inches for 35 feet, 18 inches for 16 feet, 12 inches for 99 feet, and 7 inches for 150 feet, or a total depth from surface of 405 feet. The water-level is about 95 feet from surface when the engine is not at work. At the upper water-level, shown in the 26-inch hole, the yield was at the rate of 1,807,400 gallons in twenty-four hours, at the lower level at the rate of 2,000,000 gallons in the same time. At the water-level indicated in the 7-inch bore, water was met with in large quantities. The old engine well is almost identical.
Figs. 224, 225, are a section and plan, and Fig. 226 enlarged parts of the well at Aspinall’s brewery, Birkenhead. It consists of a shallow shaft 5 feet in diameter and steined, continued by means of iron cylinders 3 feet 3 inches in diameter and 50 feet in depth. When sand with much water of poor quality was met with, a series of lining tubes was introduced from the point A A, the space between these and the cylinders being filled with concrete. The tubes were discontinued at the sandstone, and the lowest portion of the hole, 3 inches in diameter, is unlined. The water overflows.
Figs. 227, 228, are a section and plan of the well at Cook’s brewery, Birkenhead. The shaft is 6 feet diameter, lined with 9-inch steining, and is 66 feet deep. At 29 feet from surface it is enlarged for the purpose of affording increased storage room for the water. There is a 16-inch pipe at bottom of shaft 49 feet deep, continued by a 12-inch bore-hole 13 feet into the red sandstone. The water-level is 27 feet from the surface of the ground.
Birmingham.—Out of the 7,000,000 gallons a day supplied to the town in 1865 by the Waterworks Company, 2,000,000 were derived from wells in the new red sandstone. In that year an Act was passed authorizing the sinking of several new wells, whereby the quantity may be greatly increased.
Burton-on-Trent.—Fig. 229 is a section of the well at the London and Colonial Brewery. Extraordinary precautions were taken in constructing this well to obtain the water from the lower strata perfectly free from admixture with that from above. There is a steined shaft within which is an iron cylinder, and this again is lined with brick steining backed with concrete. The bore-hole, 182 feet deep and 4 inches diameter, is lined throughout with copper tubes. At the top the bore-hole is surrounded with a short tube upon which a thread is cut, so that, if necessary, a pipe may be screwed on and up to surface. The water rises to within 6 feet 3 inches of the level of the ground. Fig. 230 is an enlarged section of the arrangements at the top of the bore-hole, and Fig. 231 an enlarged section of the pipe joints.
Crewe.—Cheshire. A very plentiful supply of water for the supply of the town and works of Crewe is obtained from a well sunk in the new red sandstone. The water is said to be very pure, and from the analysis of Dr. Zeidler it appears that there are only 6·10 grains of solid matter to the gallon.
Leamington.—The well in this town is situated at the foot of Newbold Hill, and is 5 feet in diameter and sunk to a depth of 50 feet. At the bottom of the well a bore-hole, part of the way 18 inches and the remainder 12 inches in diameter, is carried down 200 feet. It passes through alternating beds of marl and sandstone, and the surface water met with has been bricked or puddled out. The yield is about 320,000 gallons in twenty-four hours. Previously to this well being made, a trial boring, of which Figs. 232, 233, are sections, was made. This boring was lined with iron tubes 9 inches in diameter for 17 feet, inside this 8 inches in diameter for 22 feet 9 inches, and within this again a 5-inch tube. It was continued by a 5-inch bore reduced to 41⁄2 inches, and at bottom to 3 inches.
Liverpool.—The oldest wells are at Bootle, to the north of the town; these consisted in the first instance of three lodges or excavations in the rock, covering about 10,000 feet super and about 261⁄2 feet deep. These were covered with timber or slate roofs, and in them 16 bore-holes were sunk, of various diameters and at depths ranging from 13 feet to 600 feet. In 1850 the yield of one of these bore-holes was 921,192 gallons in twenty-four hours, and the total yield in the same time only 1,102,065.
The water was collected in the lodges and conveyed by a tunnel 255 feet to a well 8 feet in diameter and 50 feet deep, from which it was pumped. The yield of the Bootle well in 1865 was 643,678 gallons a day. Since this time a new well of oval form, 12 feet by 9 feet and 108 feet deep, has been sunk, and at its completion the yield rose to 1,575,000 gallons a day, but it has again diminished considerably.
The Green Lane wells were commenced in 1845, the surface being 144 feet above the sea-level and their depth 185 feet, or 41 feet below the sea-level. Headings extend in all about 300 feet from the shafts in various directions, three separate shafts being carried up to the surface. At first the yield was 1,250,000 gallons a day. A bore-hole, 6 inches in diameter, was then driven to a depth of 60 feet from the bottom of the well, when the yield increased to 2,317,000 gallons. In June, 1856, the bore-hole was widened to 9 inches and carried down 101 feet farther, when the yield amounted to its present supply of over 3,000,000 gallons a day.
The large quantity of water yielded by the Green Lane well is probably due to the existence of a large fault which is considered to pass in a north-westerly direction by the well. In 1869 a bore-hole, 24 inches in diameter at the top and diminishing to 18 inches in diameter, was sunk from the bottom of a new shaft, 174 feet deep, to a depth of 310 feet, and the additional quantity of water derived from the new hole was about 800,000 gallons a day.
The Windsor Station well is of oval form, 12 feet by 10 feet and 210 feet deep, with a length of headings of 594 feet, and a bore-hole 4 inches in diameter and 245 feet deep. The yield is 980,000 gallons a day.
The Dudlow Lane well is also oval, 12 feet by 9 feet, and is sunk to a depth of 247 feet from the surface of the ground. Headings have been driven from the bottom of the well for a total distance of 213 feet, and an 18-inch bore-hole has been sunk to a depth of 196 feet from the bottom of the well, which is chiefly in a close hard rock, with occasional white beds from which the water is mainly obtained. The yield is nearly 1,500,000 gallons a day.
The total weekly supply from wells in Liverpool is upwards of 41,000,000 gallons, and there are also a great number of private wells drawing water from the sandstone, and their supply may be roughly estimated at 30,000,000 gallons a week.
Longton, Staffordshire.—The Potteries obtain a portion of their supply from a series of wells at Longton, which are shown in the diagrammatic sectional plan, Fig. 234. The well marked No. 1 is 12 feet in diameter, and 135 feet deep in the new red sandstone. When finished the water rose to within 35 feet from the surface. The cost of the first 45 feet was 3l. 10s. a yard; of the second 45 feet, 6l. 10s. a yard; and the third 45 feet, 9l. a yard. When this well was 36 feet down, a large quantity of water was met with, so a heading was driven at that depth in the direction of No. 2 well; this, after 30 feet, passed through a fault which drained off the water, and the sinking of No. 1 was proceeded with. After the engine had been erected and pumping some short time, it was proposed to drive headings from the bottom; but owing to the pumps taking up so much room in the shaft, there was not space enough for sinking operations to be carried on, and No. 2 well was therefore sunk for convenience sake, at the cost of about 30s. a yard. When No. 2 was down 54 feet, a trial bore-hole 3 inches diameter was put down, and water rose in a jet about 3 feet high. The well was then continued to the level of No. 1, and a heading, 39 feet long, driven between the two shafts. No. 2 has now a 12-inch bore-hole at bottom, down 54 feet.
Headings have also been driven W. and N. of No. 2 well, at a cost of 30s. a yard. The western heading is 213 feet long, driven with a slight rise, and gave much water. There are two headings N., running in the direction of the railway, one over the other. The lower was driven level with the bottom of the shaft, but no water met with; the upper is 36 feet from the surface, and is intended to carry away surplus water down to a line of earthenware pipes which are led along the railway to a low-level reservoir.
In the eastern heading there is a rise of 4 feet, owing to the nature of the strata; and after it had been driven 510 feet, well No. 3 was sunk for ventilation and for drawing out material. A bed of very hard sandstone, 63 feet long, was passed, cost 4l. 10s. a yard, and beyond came marl, in which driving cost 45s. a yard. This heading was continued 330 feet beyond No. 3, and an air-hole 3 inches diameter put down 126 yards deep, but no water was met with. The bed of hard sandstone was also found in driving the lower N. heading, which was discontinued after going into it some 5 or 6 feet. The yield from these wells is about 600,000 gallons a day, and recently a new bore-hole at No. 3 well, when down 350 feet, gave some 380,000 gallons a day additional.
Leek.—The Potteries waterworks have also wells at the Wallgrange Springs, near Leek; these rise from the conglomerate beds, and are stated to yield 3,000,000 gallons daily. The water from these springs is pumped into Ladderidge reservoir, and is distributed from thence into the town of Newcastle-under-Lyme and the Potteries.
Middlesborough.—The Figs. 235 to 238 are sections and plans of a well at the works of Messrs. Bolckow and Vaughan, Middlesborough, made under the direction of S. C. Homersham, C.E. A trial hole was first put down to a depth of 398 feet 6 inches, and a shaft afterwards sunk by Messrs. Docwra and Son to that depth, through alternating beds of clay, sand, gypsum, and sandstone. At the bottom of the shaft a bore-hole of 18 inches diameter throughout was made with Mather and Platt’s apparatus to a depth of 1312 feet; the first 1160 feet of which were through new red sandstone interspersed with beds of clay, white sandstone, red marl, and gypsum. Next came 40 feet of gypsum, hard white sandstone, and limestone; and the remaining 100 feet were through red sandstone, pure salt rock, occasional layers of limestone, and then salt rock to the bottom. The gross time spent in sinking this bore-hole was 510 days, or an average of 2 feet 5 inches a day.
Ross, Herefordshire.—The well at the Alton Court Brewery is shown in Figs. 239, 240. The shaft, 5 feet in diameter and 27 feet deep, is steined with 9-inch brickwork for a distance of 17 feet. At the bottom is a 12-inch bore-hole 100 feet 9 inches deep, unlined. The water is abundant. At level of the bore a heading, 6 feet high, 5 feet wide, and 27 long, has been driven, to afford storage room.
Wolverhampton.—This town is partially supplied from wells sunk in the new red sandstone. There are two shafts, 7 feet in diameter and 300 feet deep, a heading 459 feet long, and in this a boring of 390 feet. The yield when first completed was 211,000 gallons a day.
St. Helens, Lancashire.—Supplied with about 570,000 gallons daily from two wells, each 210 feet deep, in the new red sandstone. Each well has a bore-hole at the bottom.
Oolitic Strata
Northampton.—The well at the waterworks is sunk and bored 253 feet 3 inches in the lias. The shaft is steined with brickwork and iron cylinders in the following order: for 16 feet 9 inches in depth the well is 7 feet 6 inches in diameter, lined with brickwork; at this depth two cast-iron cylinders 5 feet 6 inches diameter are introduced, which are again succeeded by 9-inch brickwork, commencing at 5 feet 6 inches internal diameter and widening out to 7 feet 6 inches in diameter. The bottom of the shaft is floored with bricks at a distance of 120 feet from surface. At this point the bore-hole commences, and for the first 31 feet it is lined with 14-inch pipes, which rise into the shaft 5 feet above the floor. The remaining portion of the bore-hole, 102 feet, is 9 inches diameter.
Swanage, Dorset.—The section and plan, Figs. 241, 242, are of a well at Swanage, sunk 60 feet and bored 53 feet, the lining tube rising 8 feet into the shaft, which is 5 feet 6 inches in diameter, and lined with 9-inch steining. The strata passed through are clays and limestones, and may perhaps be referred to the Purbeck beds. At first this well yielded little or no water, but it now gives a sufficient supply.
Cretaceous Strata
Bishop Stortford.—The waterworks and well are situate west of the town, near the farm buildings known as Marsh Barns. The shaft is 160 feet deep, the bore-hole 140 feet. The following is a section of the strata;—
| Feet. | |
| Boulder Clay | 17 |
| London Clay, 54 feet;— | |
| Brown Clay | 14 |
| Black Clay | 2 |
| Black Sandy Loam, with iron pyrites | 12 |
| Black Clay, with lignite | 11 |
| Dark Grey Sand, with large pieces of sandstone and shells | 15 |
| Reading Beds, 451⁄2 feet;— | |
| Black Clay | 2 |
| Brown Clay | 20 |
| Light Brown Sand | 01⁄2 |
| Variegated Sand | 18 |
| Brown Clay | 4 |
| Flints and Pebbles | 1 |
| To Chalk | 1161⁄2 |
| Chalk | 1831⁄2 |
| Total | 300 |
The water rises to within 140 feet of the surface of the ground. The yield is 10,000 gallons a minute; only 25 gallons a minute from the bore; the rest from the headings driven north and south respectively at a depth of 154 feet.
Braintree.—The well sunk for the Local Board is in a field near Pod’s Brook. The shaft is 8 feet in diameter, steined with 9-inch steining, and carried down 55 feet, the remainder of the well being bored. Strata;—
| Drift, 14 feet;— | Feet. |
| Sandy Gravel | 5 |
| Drift Clay | 9 |
| London Clay, 136 feet;— | |
| Clay, with sand, shells, and septaria, the bottom part more sandy | 126 |
| Dark Sand, with a few shells, yielding much water | 10 |
| Reading Beds, 45 feet;— | |
| Mottled Plastic Clays, getting more sandy lower down, and with specks of chalk | 44 |
| Coarse Black Sandy Clay | 1 |
| Thanet Sand (?), 33 feet;— | |
| Light-coloured Sands, firm and hard, getting darker and more friable lower down | 20 |
| Light-coloured Sands, firm, changing to coarse and dark | 13 |
| To Chalk | 228 |
| Chalk, with much water, rising to about 12 feet from the surface | 17 |
| Total | 245 |
The level of the ground is 140 feet above the sea-level; water stands 29 feet deep; yield about 11,500 gallons an hour.
Brighton.—This town has always been supplied from wells sunk in the chalk. One well is sunk near the Lewes Road, and has a total length of 2400 feet of headings driven in a direction parallel with the sea, and at about the coast-level of low water. These headings intercept many fissures and materially add to the yield.
A second well was sunk in 1865, at Goldstone Bottom, and headings driven to the extent of about a quarter of a mile across the valley parallel to the sea.
Goldstone Bottom is a naturally formed basin in the chalk, the lowest side of which, nearest the sea, is more than 60 feet higher than the middle or bottom of the basin. The water is obtained as at Lewes Road, from fissures running generally at right-angles to the coast-line, but they are of much larger size and at far greater distances from each other; whereas at the Lewes Road well it is rare that 30 feet of headings were driven without finding a fissure, and the yield of the largest was not more than 100 to 150 gallons a minute. At Goldstone nearly 160 feet were traversed without any result, and then an enormous fissure was pierced which yielded at once nearly 1000 gallons a minute; and the same interval was found between this and the next fissure, which was of a capacity nearly as large. The total length of the headings at Goldstone Bottom is 13,000 feet. The yield from each well is about 3,000,000 gallons daily.
Chelmsford.—The well belonging to the Local Board of Health, situated at Moulsham, yields about 95,000 gallons of water a day. It is sunk for 200 feet; the rest bored. Water overflowed at first, but now that the well is in use and pumped from, the water only rises to 76 feet from the surface. The following strata were pierced;—
| Feet. In. | |
| Black Soil (Mould) | 3 0 |
| Drift, 631⁄2 feet;— | |
| Yellow Clay | 2 6 |
| Gravel | 12 6 |
| Quicksand | 44 6 |
| Sand, with stones | 4 0 |
| London Clay, 1861⁄2 feet;— | |
| Clay | 104 0 |
| Clay, with sand | 50 0 |
| Dark Sand | 12 6 |
| Clay Slate (? septaria) | 0 9 |
| Clay and Shells | 4 0 |
| Clay Slate (? septaria) | 0 3 |
| Dark Sand and Clay | 9 6 |
| Sand and Shells | 4 0 |
| Pebbles | 1 6 |
| Woolwich Beds;— | |
| Sand | 7 0 |
| Red Clay | 12 0 |
| Clay and Sand | 64 0 |
| Dark Thanet Sand | 30 0 |
| To Chalk | 366 0 |
| Chalk, 202 feet;— | |
| Chalk | 88 0 |
| Rubble | 1 0 |
| Chalk | 113 0 |
| Total | 568 0 |
Cheshunt, New River Company.—Situate at the engine-house between the two reservoirs. The well is 171 feet deep, and is steined partly with brickwork and partly with iron cylinders. For 12 feet in depth the well is 11 feet 6 inches in diameter, and steined with 14-inch brickwork; for a farther depth of 44 feet it is 9 feet diameter, and steined with 9-inch brickwork; of the 44 feet, 41 feet are lined with cast-iron cylinders, 8 feet diameter, which are also carried to a depth of 105 feet from the surface. There are fifteen cylinders of this size in use, and they are succeeded by others 6 feet 10 inches diameter, of which there are six in use; these are again succeeded by two cylinders 6 feet diameter. The whole of the cylinders are 6 feet in depth. The bottom of the last cylinder is 118 feet from the surface, at which point they rest upon a foundation of 9-inch brick steining 7 feet in depth. At the bottom of the 6-feet cylinders the well widens out in the form of a cone 12 feet 6 inches diameter at the floor, which is 26 feet below the bottom of the 6-feet cylinder. In the centre of the well a bore-hole, 3 inches diameter and 27 feet deep, was made, and the well is provided on the floor-level with headings.
| Section of Strata. | Feet. In. |
| Surface Earth | 1 6 |
| Gravel | 8 0 |
| London Clay, 47 feet;— | |
| Blue Clay | 45 0 |
| Yellow Clay | 2 0 |
| Reading Beds, 51 feet;— | |
| White Sand | 12 0 |
| Dark Sand | 39 0 |
| To Chalk | 107 6 |
| Chalk | 63 6 |
| Total | 171 0 |
Dorking, Surrey, obtains its water supply from a well sunk into the outcrop of the lower greensand, at the south side of the town. The shaft is 11 feet in diameter and 160 feet deep, steined with 9-inch work laid dry. The yield is not more than 30 gallons a minute, owing to the unfortunate position of the well, but might be considerably increased if suitable means were adopted.
Harrow Waterworks.—The well is situate 430 yards to the west of the church. The surface of the ground is 226 feet above the Ordnance datum. There is a shaft for 1931⁄2 feet; the rest is a bore. In a bed of dark red sand 144 feet down, the water was very foul. Strata;—
| Feet. In. | |
| Light Blue Clay, with light-coloured stone | 19 11 |
| Brown Clay, with white stone | 54 11 |
| Dark Mottled Clay | 15 0 |
| Similar Clay, with dark and green sand | 4 0 |
| The same, very hard | 3 0 |
| The same, very hard, and dark sand | 2 0 |
| Lighter-coloured Hard Clay | 5 0 |
| The same, and dark sand | 6 0 |
| Large Pebbles | 0 6 |
| Clay and Sand | 5 0 |
| Light Blue Clay | 0 4 |
| Light-coloured Stone, with red and blue spots | 1 3 |
| Mottled Clays | 7 11 |
| Yellow, Light Blue, and Green Clay | 1 0 |
| Dark Green Clay, with black veins and spots | 5 0 |
| Blue Clay | 1 6 |
| Very Hard Brown, Yellow, and Blue Clay | 4 0 |
| Light Brown Running Sand, with water | 2 6 |
| Hard Mottled Clays | 6 6 |
| Light Brown Dead Sand | 8 8 |
| Black Peat, with dark pebbles | 0 6 |
| Brown and Green Gravel, with flints | 3 2 |
| Green Clay | 0 4 |
| To Chalk | 158 6 |
| Chalk, with beds of flint 4 to 15 inches in thickness, 15 to 24 inches apart; 3951⁄2 feet down, from surface, a bed of flint 6 feet thick | 254 0 |
| Total | 412 6 |
Water rises to a height of 125 feet below the surface. The yield is about 190 gallons a minute.
Highbury, Middlesex.—Well at the residence of H. Rydon, Esq., New Park. Figs. 243 to 245. The shaft is 4 feet 6 inches diameter, and 136 feet deep, steined with 9-inch work set in cement. The bore was commenced with a 12-inch hole, but the character of the ground was such that the successive reductions in size, shown in the enlarged section of the lining tubes, Fig. 245, had to be made. When in the chalk the bore was continued some 48 feet unlined. The strata passed were;—
| Gravel | 3 | feet. |
| London Clay, 111 feet;— | ||
| Blue Clay | 110 | „ |
| Claystone | 1 | „ |
| Reading and Thanet Sand, 85 feet;— | ||
| Mottled Clay | 25 | „ |
| Coloured Sand | 60 | „ |
| To Chalk | 199 | „ |
| Chalk | 50 | „ |
| Total | 249 | „ |
Kentish Town.—This well was sunk under the supposition that as the outcrop of the subcretaceous formations was continuous around the margin of the cretaceous basin surrounding and underlying the London tertiaries, except at the eastern border, those subcretaceous formations would be found under London, just as they actually were at Paris. This proved to be the case until the gault was passed, when a series of sandstones and clays was encountered, occupying the place of the lower greensand, but evidently of older geological character, and having many of the features of the new red sandstone.
The surface of the ground, Fig. 246, is 174 feet above Thames high-water mark. There is a shaft for 539 feet; the remainder being bored. The following detailed account of the strata is due to Prestwich.
| London Clay, 236 feet;— | Feet. | In. |
| Yellow Clay | 30 | 6 |
| Blue Clay, with septaria | 205 | 6 |
| Reading Beds, 611⁄2 feet:— | ||
| Red, Yellow, and Blue Mottled Clay | 37 | 6 |
| White Sand, with flint pebbles | 0 | 6 |
| Black Sand, passing into the bed below | 2 | 0 |
| Mottled Green and Red Clay | 1 | 0 |
| Clayey Sand | 3 | 0 |
| Dark Grey Sand, with layers of clay | 9 | 6 |
| Ash-coloured Quicksand | 6 | 6 |
| Flint Pebbles | 1 | 6 |
| Thanet Sand, 27 feet;— | ||
| Ash-coloured Sand | 10 | 0 |
| Clayey Sand | 4 | 0 |
| Dark Grey Clayey Sand | 11 | 0 |
| Angular Green-coated Flints | 2 | 0 |
| Chalk, with Flints (? Upper Chalk), 2441⁄2 feet;— | ||
| Chalk, with flints | 119 | 6 |
| Hard Chalk, without flints | 8 | 0 |
| Chalk, softer, with a few flints | 31 | 6 |
| Nodular Chalk, with three beds of tabular flints | 13 | 6 |
| Chalk, with layers of flint | 32 | 6 |
| Chalk, with a few flints and patches of sand | 9 | 6 |
| Very Light-grey Chalk, with a few flints | 30 | 0 |
| Chalk, without Flints (Lower Chalk), 341 feet;— | ||
| Light Grey Chalk, and a few thin beds of marl | 133 | 0 |
| Grey Chalk Marl, with compact and marly beds and occasional pyrites | 161 | 0 |
| Grey Marl | 20 | 0 |
| Harder Grey Marl, rather sandy and with occasional pyrites | 27 | 0 |
| Chalk Marl, 591⁄4 feet;— | ||
| Hard Rocky Marl (? Tottenhoe Stone) | 0 | 6 |
| Bluish Grey Marl, rather sandy, lower part more clayey | 58 | 9 |
| Upper Greensand;— | ||
| Dark Green Sand, mixed with grey clay | 13 | 9 |
| Gault, 1301⁄2 feet;— | ||
| Bluish Grey Micaceous Clay, slightly sandy | 39 | 0 |
| The same, with two layers of clayey greensand | 6 | 7 |
| Micaceous Blue Clay; at base a layer full of phosphatic nodules | 84 | 11 |
| Lower Greensand (?), 1881⁄2 feet;— | ||
| Red and Yellow Clayey Sand and Sandstone | 1 | 0 |
| Compact Red Clay, with patches of variegated sandstone | 4 | 0 |
| Dark Red Clay | 4 | 7 |
| Red Clay, Whitish Sand, and Mottled Sandstone | 3 | 0 |
| Hard Red Conglomerate, with pebbles from the size of a marble to that of a cannon-ball | 2 | 0 |
| Micaceous Red Clay, mottled in places | 26 | 0 |
| Layers of White Sandstone and Red Sand | 3 | 8 |
| Mottled Sandstone | 0 | 4 |
| Red Sand and Sandstone, with pebbles (a spring) | 2 | 0 |
| Layers of Red Sandstone and White Sand | 4 | 0 |
| Pebbly Red Sand and Sandstone | 1 | 0 |
| White and Red Sandstone | 5 | 0 |
| Fine Light Red Sand | 2 | 9 |
| Hard Sandstone | 0 | 3 |
| Very Fine Light Red Sand | 4 | 0 |
| Red Clay | 2 | 0 |
| Clayey Sand | 1 | 3 |
| Red Sandy Micaceous Clay, with sandstone | 2 | 5 |
| Compact Hard Greenish Sandstone | 10 | 0 |
| Very Micaceous Red Clay | 1 | 0 |
| Grey and Red Clayey Sand | 1 | 1 |
| Light-coloured Soft Sandstone | 2 | 1 |
| Red Sand and Sandstone | 6 | 2 |
| Greenish Sandstone | 4 | 0 |
| White and Grey Clayey Sand, with iron pyrites | 2 | 0 |
| Reddish Clayey Sand, with layers of sandstone | 3 | 8 |
| Micaceous Red Clay | 18 | 4 |
| Greenish Sandstone | 0 | 5 |
| Red Mottled Micaceous Clay, with patches of sand | 34 | 6 |
| Red Quartzose Micaceous Sandstone | 2 | 0 |
| Brownish-red Clayey Sand and Sandstone | 4 | 0 |
| Very Hard Micaceous Sandstone, with pebbles of white quartz | 4 | 0 |
| Light Red Clayey Sand | 10 | 0 |
| Red Micaceous Quartzose Sandstone | 8 | 0 |
| Light Red Clayey Sand, small fragments of chalk | 2 | 0 |
| Whitish and Greenish Hard Micaceous Sandstone | 6 | 0 |
| Total | 1302 | 0 |
The engravings, Figs. 246 to 249, which are on the authority of G. R. Burnell, do not exactly agree with Prestwich’s section, but in the main they are both alike. The following summary may be found of service;—
| Feet. | In. | |
| London Clay | 236 | 0 |
| Lower London Tertiaries | 88 | 6 |
| Chalk | 644 | 9 |
| Upper Greensand | 13 | 9 |
| Gault | 130 | 6 |
| Lower Greensand (?) | 188 | 6 |
Michelmersh, Hants.—Fig. 250 shows a section of a well in this village, comprised within the writer’s practice. The shaft is 4 ft. 6 in. in diameter and 400 feet deep, steined both above and below the chalk with 9-inch work, the upper course having rings of cement at every 12 inches.
The strata pierced were;—
| Feet. | In. | |
| Surface Soil | 4 | 0 |
| Dark Clay | 27 | 0 |
| Chalk | 250 | 0 |
| Band of Calcareous Sand | 2 | 6 |
| Upper Greensand | 17 | 0 |
| Total | 300 | 6 |
The water rises some 19 feet in the shaft, and is abundant, although up to the present its quantity has not been tested.
Mile End, Middlesex.—Well at Charrington, Head, and Co.’s brewery. Figs. 251 to 253. The surface is 331⁄2 feet above Trinity high-water mark.
In the upper part there are three iron cylinders built upon 9-inch brickwork, which is carried down into the mottled clay. A 9-inch iron cylinder, partially supported by rods from the surface, rises some 28 feet into the brick shaft into which it is built by means of rings. Another iron cylinder is carried down into the chalk, the space between the cylinders being filled in with concrete.
The strata passed were;—
| Feet. | In. | |
| Made Earth | 7 | 0 |
| Valley Drift, 6 feet;— | ||
| Sand | 3 | 0 |
| Gravel | 3 | 0 |
| London Clay, 86 feet;— | ||
| Blue Clay | 7 | 0 |
| Hard Brown Clay, with claystones | 68 | 0 |
| Brown Sandy Clay | 2 | 0 |
| Hard Brown Sandy Clay, rotten at bottom | 9 | 0 |
| Woolwich and Reading Beds | 63 | 0 |
| Thanet Sand, 40 feet;— | ||
| Green Sand | 2 | 0 |
| Brownish-green Quicksand and Pebbles | 2 | 0 |
| Brown Sand | 2 | 0 |
| Grey and Brownish-green Sand | 2 | 0 |
| Green Sand and Pebbles | 2 | 0 |
| Brown Sand | 2 | 0 |
| Green Sand and Pebbles | 15 | 0 |
| Grey Sand and small Pebbles | 2 | 0 |
| Dark Grey and Green Sand | 10 | 6 |
| Green Sand and Green-coated Flints | 0 | 6 |
| To Chalk | 202 | 0 |
| Chalk Flints | 0 | 6 |
| Hard Chalk and Water | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 204 | 6 |
The water-level is some 103 feet from surface, and the yield 60,000 to 70,000 gallons a day.
Norwich.—Well at Coleman’s works. After a few feet of alluvium the borer passed through hard chalk with flints at distances of about 6 or 7 feet apart, for 700 feet, with the exception of 10 feet at the depth of 500 feet where the rock was soft and of a rusty colour, thence the flints were thicker, namely, about 4 feet apart to the depth of 1050 feet. After this 102 feet were pierced of chalk, free from flints, to the upper greensand, a stratum of about 6 feet, and then gault for 36 feet. The whole boring being full of water to within 16 feet of the surface.
Section of strata;—
| Feet. | |
| Alluvium | 12 |
| Hard Chalk, with flints | 483 |
| Soft Chalk | 10 |
| Hard Chalk | 190 |
| Hard Chalk, flints closer | 350 |
| Chalk without flints | 102 |
| Upper Greensand | 6 |
| Gault | 36 |
| Total | 1189 |
Paris.—The wells sunk in the Paris basin, of which Fig. 254 is a section, are very numerous, and many of them of great depth. Fig. 255 is a plan indicating the position of the principal wells, and Figs. 256 to 258 sections giving each a summary of the nature and thickness of the formations passed through.
For boring these wells special tools had to be used, which have already been described at length in Chap. VI.
A large Artesian well was, in 1867, being constructed by Dru at Butte-aux-Cailles, Fig. 255, for the supply of the city of Paris, which is intended to be carried down through the greensand to a depth of 2600 or 2900 feet to reach the Portland limestone. The boring in 1867 was 490 feet deep, and its diameter 47 inches.
During the previous 21⁄2 years, M. Dru was engaged in sinking a similar well of 19 inches diameter for supplying the Sugar Refinery of M. Say, in Paris, Fig. 255; 1570 feet deep of this well had been bored in 1867, see Fig. 258.
The well at Grenelle was sunk by Mulot in 1832, and after more than eight years’ incessant labour, water rose on the 26th of February, 1842, from the total depth of 1806 feet 9 inches. The diameter of the bore-hole is 8 inches, ending, as is seen in the detail sections, Figs. 259 to 262, in the lower greensand.
The well of Passy was intended to be executed in the Paris basin which it was to traverse with a diameter, hitherto unattempted, of 1 mètre (3·2809 feet); that of the Grenelle well being only 20 centimètres (8 inches). It was calculated that it would reach the water-bearing stratum at nearly the same depth as the latter, and would yield 8000 mètres or 10,000 cubic mètres in twenty-four hours, or about 1,786,240 gallons to 2,232,800 gallons a day.
Figs. 263 to 266 show a detail section of the strata passed.
The operations were undertaken by Kind under a contract with the Municipality of Paris, by which he bound himself to complete the works within the space of twelve months from the date of their commencement, and to deliver the above quantity of water for the sum of 300,000 francs, 12,000l. On the 31st of May, 1857—after the workmen had been engaged nearly the time stipulated for the completion of the work, and when the boring had been advanced to the depth of 1732 feet from the surface—the excavation suddenly collapsed in the upper strata, at about 100 feet from the ground, and filled up the bore. Kind would have been ruined had the engineers of the town held him to the strict letter of his contract; but it was decided to behave in a liberal manner, and to release him from it, the town retaining his services for the completion of the well, as also the right to use his patent machinery. The difficulties encountered in carrying the excavation through the clays of the upper strata were found to be so serious that, under the new arrangement, it required six years and nine months of continuous efforts to reach the water-bearing stratum, of which time the far larger portion was employed in traversing the clay beds. The upper part of this well was finally lined with solid masonry, to the depth of 150 feet from the surface; and beyond that depth tubing of wood and iron was introduced. This tubing was continued to the depth of 1804 feet from the surface, and had at the bottom a length of copper pipe pierced with holes to allow the water to enter. At this depth the compound tubing could not be made to descend any lower; but the engineers employed by the city of Paris were convinced that they could obtain the water by means of a preliminary boring; and therefore they proceeded to sink in the interior of the above tube of 3.2809 feet diameter, an inner tube 2 feet 4 inches diameter, formed of wrought-iron plates 2 inches thick, so as to enable them to traverse the clays encountered at this zone. At last, the water-bearing strata were met with on the 24th of September, 1861, at the depth of 1913 feet 10 inches from the ground-line; the yield of the well being, at the first stroke of the tool that pierced the crust, 15,000 cubic mètres in 24 hours, or 3,349,200 gallons a day; it quickly rose to 25,000 cubic mètres, or 5,582,000 gallons a day; and as long as the column of water rose without any sensible diminution, it continued to deliver a uniform quantity of 17,000 mètres, or 3,795,000 gallons a day. The total cost of this well was more than 40,000l., instead of 12,000l., at which Kind had originally estimated it.
It may be questioned whether the engineers of the town were justified in passing the contract with Kind to finish the work within the time, and for the sum at which he undertook it; but they certainly treated him with kindness and consideration, in allowing him to conduct the work at the expense of the city of Paris, for so long a period after the expiration of his contract. It seems, however, that the French well-borers could not at the time have attempted to continue the well upon any other system than that introduced by Kind; that is to say, upon the supposition that it should be completed of the dimensions originally undertaken. Experience has shown that both steining and tubing were badly executed at the well of Passy. The masonry lining was introduced after Kind’s contract had expired, and when he had ceased to have the control of the works; the wrought-iron tubing at the lower part of the excavation being a subsequent idea. It has followed from this defective system of tubing—the wood necessarily yielding in the vertical joints—that the water in its upward passage escaped through the joints, and went to supply the basement beds of the Paris basin, which are as much resorted to as the London sand-beds for an Artesian supply; and, in fact, the level of the water has been raised in the neighbouring wells by the quantity let in from below, and the yield of the well itself has been proportionally diminished, until it has fallen to 450,000 gallons a day. That the increased yield of the neighbouring wells is to be accounted for by the escape of the water from the Artesian boring is additionally proved by the temperature of the water in them; it is found to be nearly 82° Fah., or nearly that observed in the water of Passy. This was an unfortunate complication of the bargain made between Kind and the Municipal Council; but it in no respect affects the choice of the boring machinery, which seems to have complied with all the conditions it was designed to meet. The descent of the tubes and their nature ought to have been the subject of special study by the engineers of the town, who should have known the nature of the strata to be traversed better than Kind could be supposed to do, and should have insisted upon the tubing being executed of cast or wrought-iron, so as effectually to resist the passage of the water. At any rate, this precaution ought to have been taken in the portions of the well carried through the basement beds of the Paris basin, or through the lower members of the chalk and the upper greensand.
Ponders End, Middlesex.—At the works of the London Jute Company. It will be seen from the Figs. 267, 268, that this well is bored all but the top 4 feet, which is 5 feet across and steined with 9-inch work. The uppermost tube is 12 inches in diameter, decreased to 9 inches, and then to 8 inches, and ending with a 6-inch bore, unlined, in the chalk.
The strata passed were;—
| Alluvium, 6 feet;— | Feet. | In. |
| Clay and Mud | 3 | 6 |
| Peat | 2 | 6 |
| Sand and Shingle (Gravel). | 7 | 0 |
| London Clay, 15 feet;— | ||
| Blue Clay | 8 | 0 |
| Sandy Clay (basement bed?) | 7 | 0 |
| Reading Beds, 491⁄2 feet;— | ||
| Dead Sand | 10 | 0 |
| Mottled Clays | 22 | 0 |
| Sand and Metal (pyrites?) | 1 | 0 |
| Sandy Clay | 3 | 0 |
| Sand and Pebbles | 4 | 0 |
| Dead Sand | 1 | 6 |
| Dead Sand and Pebbles | 1 | 0 |
| Sand and Pebbles | 7 | 0 |
| Thanet Sand (?), 35 feet;— | ||
| Green Sand | 27 | 0 |
| Dead Sand | 8 | 0 |
| To Chalk | 112 | 6 |
| In Chalk | 290 | 6 |
| Total | 403 | 0 |
The water at this well overflows.
Freshwater, Isle of Wight.—Well, Figs. 269, 270, sunk at Golden Hill for H.M. Government. The diameter of the shaft is 4 feet 6 inches, brickwork 9 inches thick, there are 3 feet in cement at the top of the well, and 3 feet 9 inches at the bottom. There are four courses in cement every 5 feet, internal work four courses in cement every 10 feet. The bore-hole is lined throughout with pipes of 6 inches, 5 inches, and 4 inches diameter respectively.
Winchfield, Hants.—Well, Figs. 271 to 273, at the brewery of Messrs. W. Cave and Son. The shaft above the steining is lined with iron cylinders into which the bore-pipe is carried up.
The strata passed were;—
| Feet. | |
| Made Earth, Soil, Gravel, Blue Clay and Dead Sand | 350 |
| Dark Sandy Clay | 3 |
| Black Pebbles | 2 |
| Coloured Clay | 5 |
| Stone (septaria?) | 2 |
| Coloured Clay | 22 |
| Coarse Shifting Sands | 7 |
| Total | 391 |
The following Table, compiled from the Government Memoirs and other reliable sources, furnishes in a condensed form the most important particulars relating to wells, and trial bore-holes comprised within the geographical area known as the London Basin.
The first column gives the name of the place where the well is situated, the second column that of the county, and the third column the precise locality. The following abbreviations have been employed: B. for Bedfordshire; Berks, Berkshire; Bucks, Buckinghamshire; E., Essex; H., Hampshire; Herts, Hertfordshire; K., Kent; M., Middlesex; S., Surrey.
O.D. stands for, above Ordnance Datum; T., above Trinity high-water mark.
| PARTICULARS OF WELLS. | ||||||||
| Name of Place. | County. | Locality. | Depth. | |||||
| of Shaft. | of Bore. | in Tertiary Strata. | in Chalk. | to Water from Surface. | ||||
| feet. | feet. | feet. | feet. | feet | ||||
| Remarks. | ||||||||
| Abridge | E. | Brewery | 100 | 190 | 290 | — | 30 | |
| London Clay, 280 feet. | ||||||||
| Acton | M. | Mr Engleheart’s | — | — | 284 | 119 | 12 | |
| Ditto | „ | Mr. Wood’s | — | — | 315 | 135 | 40 | |
| Ditto, East | „ | Mr. Davis’s | — | — | 267 | 68 | ||
| Albany Street | „ | London | — | — | 182 | 125 | — | |
| 100 feet O.D. | ||||||||
| Aldershot Place | H. | — — | — | — | 194 | — | — | |
| 260 feet O.D. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | — — | — | — | 148 | 691⁄2 | — | |
| 245 feet O.D. | ||||||||
| Amwell End | Herts. | New River Company | 72 | 3473⁄4 | 36 | 3833⁄4 | — | |
| Yield about 2,500,000 gallons a day. | ||||||||
| Arlesey | B. | Asylum | 100 | 365 | 7 | 120 | — | |
| 233 feet O.D.; water rises into shaft; yield 2640 gallons an hour. | ||||||||
| Ash | S. | S.W. Railway Station | — | 600 | 370 | 230 | — | |
| 290 feet O.D. | ||||||||
| Bank of England | M. | London | 137 | 1971⁄2 | 2341⁄2 | 100 | 88 | |
| About 27 feet T.; yield, 35 gallons a minute. | ||||||||
| Bagshot | S. | Orphan Asylum | 123 | 523 | 646 | — | — | |
| Last 192 feet London Clay. | ||||||||
| Balham Hill | „ | Near Clapham Common | — | — | 347 | — | — | |
| Last 40 feet Thanet sands. | ||||||||
| Barking | E. | Byfron’s | 140 | — | 140 | — | 30 | |
| Bottom in hard pebbles. | ||||||||
| Barnet, East | Herts. | Lion’s Down | 122 | 270 | 162 | 230 | 130 | |
| Shaft half steined, half iron cylinders. | ||||||||
| Ditto, New | „ | Near Railway Station | 137 | 302 | 159 | 280 | 130 | |
| Battersea | S. | Jones’s Works | 249 | — | 249 | |||
| Ditto | „ | Beaufoy’s Works | 240 | — | 240 | — | — | |
| Yield said to equal 15,000 gallons a day. | ||||||||
| Bearwood | Berks. | Mr. Walters’s | — | — | 350 | 15 | ||
| Beaumont Green | Herts. | Near Cheshunt | 1831⁄2 | — | 1261⁄2 | 57 | ||
| Belleisle | M. | Pashes and Co.’s | — | — | 185 | 118 | 118 | |
| Berkeley Square | „ | London | 160 | 156 | 224 | 92 | 80 | |
| Bermondsey | S. | Crimscott Street | — | — | 120 | — | — | |
| 9 feet O.D.; yield plentiful. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Donkin’s Works | — | 232 | 911⁄2 | 1401⁄2 | 16 | |
| Yield 30 gallons a minute. | ||||||||
| Berry Green | Herts. | Hadham | 40 | 20 | 60 | — | 8 | |
| Bexley | K. | Brickfield | 65 | 110 | 1291⁄4 | 453⁄4 | 60 | |
| Bishop Stortford | Herts. | Waterworks | 160 | 140 | 1161⁄2 | 1831⁄2 | 140 | |
| Supply 10,000 gallons a minute. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Hockerill | 85 | 125 | 90 | 120 | 78 | |
| Good supply. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | New Road | 77 | — | 56 | 21 | ||
| Blackfriars | M. | Apothecaries’ Hall | — | — | 218 | 76 | ||
| Blackheath | K. | Near Enfield Terrace | — | — | 109 | 30 | ||
| Boston Heath | „ | Near Woolwich | — | — | 130 | 70 | ||
| Bow | M. | Starch Works | 176 | 148 | 174 | 150 | ||
| Boxley Wood | K. | Near Maidstone | 3861⁄2 | 2131⁄2 | 3 | 600 | — | |
| 382 feet T.; last 781⁄2 feet in chalk, marl, and gault. | ||||||||
| Braintree | E. | Near Pod’s Brook | 55 | 190 | 228 | 7 | 216 | |
| Yield, 11,500 gallons an hour. | ||||||||
| Brentford | M. | Brewery | 30 | 338 | 315 | 53 | 5 | |
| Bromley | K. | Gas Works | 50 | 120 | 150 | 20 | — | |
| Supply abundant. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Widmore Kiln | 52 | 98 | 140 | 10 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Ditto | 55 | 85 | 120 | 10 | 61 | |
| Ditto | „ | Tylney Road | 77 | 85 | 137 | 25 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Waterworks | — | — | 70 | 180 | — | |
| Yield, 500 to 600 gallons a minute. | ||||||||
| Broxbourne | Herts. | — — | 84 | — | 84 | 6 | ||
| Water overflowed. | ||||||||
| Bushey | „ | Near Watford | 142 | 24 | 145 | 21 | ||
| Camberwell | S. | The Grove | — | — | 208 | 3001⁄2 | 90 | |
| Camden Station | M. | L. and N.W. Railway | 180 | 220 | 234 | 166 | 150 | |
| 100 foot O.D. | ||||||||
| Camden Town | M. | Pickford’s | — | — | 215 | 82 | 120 | |
| Good supply. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Whitaker’s Brewery | 235 | 75 | 210 | 90 | 190 | |
| Canterbury | K. | Orphan Asylum | — | — | 145 | — | 120 | |
| Caterham | S. | Waterworks | — | — | 89 | 349 | — | |
| 709 feet T.; through chalk, and 39 feet into upper greensand. | ||||||||
| Chelmsford | E. | Moulsham | 200 | 368 | 366 | 202 | 76 | |
| Water overflowed at first. | ||||||||
| Cheshunt | Herts. | New River Company | 144 | 27 | 1071⁄2 | 631⁄2 | 120 | |
| Yield, 702,000 gallons a day. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Theobald’s Park | 71 | 1311⁄2 | 1211⁄2 | 81 | 65 | |
| Chiswell Street | M. | Whitbread’s Brewery | 183 | 150 | 183 | 150 | 132 | |
| Chiswick | „ | Griffin Brewery | 204 | 200 | 297 | 107 | — | |
| Yield, 14 gallons a minute. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Lamb Brewery | 203 | 194 | 293 | 104 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Ditto | 8 | 339 | 297 | 50 | ||
| Clewer Green | Berks. | Capt. Winterbottom’s | 42 | 294 | 270 | 66 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Wycombe Cottage | 20 | 246 | 169 | 97 | ||
| Colnbrook | M. | Paper Mills | — | — | 207 | 175 | — | |
| Water found at 203 feet down. | ||||||||
| Colney Hatch | „ | Asylum | 137 | 193 | 189 | 141 | ||
| Covent Garden | „ | Market | 140 | 218 | 260 | 98 | 120 | |
| 70 feet O.D. | ||||||||
| Cricklewood | „ | Near Hampstead | 225 | 85 | 291 | 19 | 110 | |
| 157 feet T. | ||||||||
| Croydon | S. | Well for Local Board | 77 | — | 11 | 62 | — | |
| Yield 1,500,000 gallons a day. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | New Well | — | — | 15 | 137 | 111⁄2 | |
| Dartford Creek | K. | Paper Mills | 34 | 49 | 33 | 50 | — | |
| Supply good. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Ditto | 10 | 2401⁄2 | 30 | 2201⁄2 | 2 | |
| Denham | Bucks. | Tile House | 110 | 85 | 67 | 128 | 85 | |
| Deptford | K. | Waterworks | 27 | — | 14 | 13 | — | |
| 20 feet O.D. | ||||||||
| Dulwich | S. | Champion Hill | — | — | 210 | 298 | ||
| East Ham Level | E. | Beckton Gas Works | 25 | 175 | 117 | 83 | 2 | |
| Edgware | M. | Mr. Day’s | — | — | 290 | 45 | 40 | |
| Edgware Road | „ | The Hyde | — | — | 101 | 37 | ||
| Edlesborough | Bucks. | Well, near Mill | — | 301 | — | — | 70 | |
| 6-inch bore; through 50 feet of chalk marl to lower greensand. | ||||||||
| Eltham | K. | Dr. King’s | 46 | — | 46 | — | 17 | |
| Ditto | „ | The Moat | 110 | — | 100 | 10 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Mr. Tuck’s | 44 | 123 | 1221⁄2 | 441⁄2 | 25 | |
| Ditto | „ | Well Hall | — | 107 | 104 | 3 | ||
| Ditto Park | „ | — — | — | — | 122 | 94 | 170 | |
| Enfield Lock | E. | Small Arms Factory | 45 | 2391⁄2 | 1521⁄2 | 132 | 4 | |
| Epping | „ | Waterworks | 275 | 129 | 400 | 4 | 260 | |
| Slow spring. | ||||||||
| Erith | K. | Mineral Oil Company | 166 | — | 146 | 20 | ||
| Farnham | S. | Near Hale Farm | 176 | — | 80 | 96 | ||
| Fleet Street | M. | London, Shoe Lane | 100 | 225 | 100 | 225 | ||
| Fulmer | Bucks. | J. Kay’s | 85 | — | 473⁄4 | 371⁄4 | — | |
| Through gravel and Reading beds. | ||||||||
| Golden Lane | M. | Baths and Washhouses | 158 | — | 1511⁄2 | 61⁄2 | — | |
| 65 feet O.D. | ||||||||
| Gravesend | K. | Church Street | 10 | 234 | 120 | 124 | 8 | |
| Supply good and abundant. | ||||||||
| Greenwich | „ | Brewery | 22 | 158 | 80 | 100 | 11 | |
| Ditto | „ | East Street | 189 | — | 159 | 30 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Hospital Brewery | 155 | 150 | 1241⁄2 | 1801⁄2 | 19 | |
| 7 feet T.; supply 120 gallons a minute. | ||||||||
| Hackney Road | M. | Wiltshire Brewery | 96 | 3153⁄4 | 1523⁄4 | 259 | 80 | |
| Haggerstone | „ | Imperial Gas Works | 1181⁄2 | 302 | 1641⁄2 | 256 | ||
| Hainault Forest | E. | — — | 165 | — | 110 | 55 | ||
| Halstead | „ | The White Hart | — | — | 170 | 30 | ||
| Hammersmith | M. | Average of four wells | — | — | 245 | 68 | — | |
| Yield, 16 gallons a minute. | ||||||||
| Hampstead | „ | Lower Heath | 320 | 130 | 378 | 72 | — | |
| Now not used. | ||||||||
| Hampstead Road | „ | Eagle Brewery | 138 | 94 | 146 | 86 | 147 | |
| Ditto | „ | Reservoir | 244 | — | 152 | 92 | 106 | |
| 77 feet T. | ||||||||
| Hanwell | „ | Asylum | 230 | 90 | 290 | 30 | — | |
| Water to surface. | ||||||||
| Harrow | „ | Waterworks | 1931⁄2 | 219 | 1581⁄2 | 254 | 125 | |
| 226 feet O.D. | ||||||||
| Haverstock Hill | „ | Orphan School | 230 | 160 | 312 | 78 | 196 | |
| 176 feet O.D. | ||||||||
| Hayes | „ | Dawley Court | 19 | 300 | 231 | 88 | 27 | |
| Hendon | „ | Mr. Booth’s | — | — | 244 | 132 | 76 | |
| Highbury | „ | Brewery | 104 | 210 | 180 | 134 | 95 | |
| Yield, 1000 gallons an hour. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | New Park | 136 | 113 | 199 | 50 | ||
| Hoddesdon | Herts. | New River Company | 52 | 234 | 241⁄2 | 2611⁄2 | 2 | |
| Holloway | M. | — — | 140 | 200 | 240 | 100 | ||
| Ditto | „ | City Prison | — | — | 217 | 102 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Hanley Road | — | — | 67 | 13 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Redcap Lane | — | — | 210 | 90 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Islington Workhouse | 234 | 306 | 299 | 250 | ||
| Hornsey | „ | Near Church | — | — | 202 | 48 | ||
| Ditto | „ | The Priory | — | — | 225 | — | — | |
| Horselydown | S. | Anchor Brewery | 100 | 162 | 158 | 104 | 50 | |
| Hoxton | M. | — — | 152 | 10 | 151 | 11 | ||
| Hyde Park Corner | „ | St. George’s Hospital | 200 | 1371⁄4 | 3191⁄4 | 18 | 100 | |
| 50 foot O.D.; yield, 3300 gallons an hour. | ||||||||
| Ickenham | „ | Public Well | 64 | 80 | 64 | 80 | ||
| Isle of Dogs | „ | Oil Mills | 27 | 337 | 1241⁄2 | 2391⁄2 | 10 | |
| Isle of Grain | K. | Fort | 180 | 140 | 320 | — | 20 | |
| 21 feet O.D. | ||||||||
| Isleworth | M. | Sion House | — | — | 420 | 115 | — | |
| Water overflowed at the rate of 5 gallons a minute. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Mr. Wilmot’s | — | 327 | 327 | — | — | |
| Water rose above surface. | ||||||||
| Islington Green | „ | Webb’s Mineral Water Works | — | 320 | 176 | 144 | 200 | |
| Kensington | „ | Brewery | — | — | 197 | — | — | |
| 16 feet T. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Britannia Brewery | 100 | 170 | 270 | — | 88 | |
| Ditto | „ | Horticultural Society | 200 | 201 | 317 | 84 | 100 | |
| 60 feet O.D. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Workhouse | — | — | 270 | 100 | ||
| Ditto Gardens | „ | Serpentine | 263 | 58 | 2631⁄4 | 573⁄4 | 105 | |
| 60 feet O.D.; yield, 250 gallons a minute. | ||||||||
| Kentish Town | „ | Waterworks | 539 | 763 | 3241⁄2 | 6443⁄4 | — | |
| Through London clay, 236 feet; London tertiaries, 881⁄2 feet; chalk, 6443⁄4 feet; upper greensand, 133⁄4 feet; gault, 1301⁄2 feet; and into lower greensand (?), 1881⁄2 feet. | ||||||||
| Kilburn | „ | Brewery | 250 | 30 | 235 | 45 | 150 | |
| Kingsbury | „ | Brent Reservoir | 101 | 139 | 132 | 108 | ||
| Kingston-on-Thames | S. | Brook Street | 90 | 380 | 371 | 99 | — | |
| 25 feet O.D.; yield, about 44,000 gallons a day. | ||||||||
| Knightsbridge | M. | — — | 240 | — | 240 | — | 50 | |
| Lambeth | S. | Beaufoy’s Vinegar Works | 100 | 275 | 201 | 174 | — | |
| Yield, 92 gallons a minute. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | South Lambeth Road | 25 | 166 | 187 | 4 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Bethlehem Hospital | 30 | 161 | 191 | 20 | 15 | |
| Ditto | „ | Lion Brewery, Belvedere Road | — | — | 245 | 173 | 40 | |
| Ditto | „ | Duke Street, Street, Clowes & Sons’ | 26 | 184 | 210 | |||
| Lea Bridge | M. | Waterworks | 118 | — | 100 | 18 | ||
| Leicester Square | „ | Alhambra | 150 | 195 | 244 | 101 | ||
| Limehouse | „ | Johnson’s, Commercial Road | 90 | 110 | 190 | 10 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Brewery, Fore Street | — | — | 1391⁄2 | |||
| Liquorpond Street | „ | Reid’s Brewery | 2221⁄2 | 40 | 136 | 1261⁄2 | 121 | |
| 70 feet O.D.; yield, 277,200 gallons in 24 hours. | ||||||||
| Long Acre | „ | Combe & Co.’s Brewery | 263 | 228 | 223 | 268 | — | |
| 70 feet O.D.; yield, 90 gallons a minute | ||||||||
| Loughton | E. | — — | — | 535 | 324 | 211 | 90 | |
| No water from chalk. | ||||||||
| Lower Morden | S. | On the Green | 20 | 365 | 340 | 45 | — | |
| Water to surface. | ||||||||
| Luton | B. | Waterworks | 50 | 272 | — | 322 | ||
| Maldon | E. | Waterworks | 234 | — | 234 | — | — | |
| Entirely through London clay. | ||||||||
| Margate | K. | Cobb’s Brewery | 31 | 243 | — | 374 | ||
| Marylebone Road | M. | London; a Brewery | 186 | 101 | 232 | 55 | 156 | |
| Mile End | „ | Mann’s Brewery | 195 | — | 185 | 10 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Charrington’s Brewery | 204 | — | 202 | 2 | 103 | |
| 331⁄2 feet T.; yield, 60,000 to 70,000 gallons a day. | ||||||||
| Ditto Road | „ | City of London Union | — | — | 175 | 10 | ||
| Millbank | „ | Distillery | 115 | 190 | 205 | 100 | 70 | |
| Level of T. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Westminster Brewery | — | — | 225 | 70 | — | |
| 51⁄2 feet T. | ||||||||
| Mitcham | S. | Nightingale’s Factory | — | 211 | 189 | 22 | ||
| Monkham Park | E. | Near Waltham Abbey | 225 | 125 | 304 | 76 | 50 | |
| Mortlake | S. | Mortlake Brewery | 30 | 288 | 287 | 31 | 50 | |
| Yield, 14,000 gallons a day. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Mr. Randell’s | — | 365 | 315 | 50 | ||
| New Cross | K. | Naval School | 50 | 130 | 125 | 55 | 60 | |
| Northolt | M. | Near Harrow | 12 | 228 | 180 | 60 | 4 | |
| Notting Dale | „ | Near Notting Hill | — | — | 244 | 12 | ||
| Notting Hill | „ | Mr. Knight’s | — | — | 230 | 200 | ||
| Old Kent Road | S. | Welsh Ale Brewery | — | — | 30 | 170 | — | |
| 10 feet O.D. | ||||||||
| Old Windsor | Berks. | Pelham Place | — | — | 222 | 9 | ||
| Ditto | „ | The Union | 60 | 180 | 240 | 47 | ||
| Orange Street | M. | Back of National Gallery | 174 | 126 | 250 | 50 | 115 | |
| 42 feet T. | ||||||||
| Oxford Street | „ | Star Brewery | 166 | 170 | 158 | 178 | ||
| Peckham | S. | Marlborough House | — | — | 100 | 123 | ||
| Penge | „ | Palace Grounds | 250 | 310 | 358 | 202 | 90 | |
| Pentonville | M. | Brewery, Caledonian Road | 2191⁄2 | — | 2191⁄2 | 45 | 180 | |
| To chalk. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Prison | 170 | 2001⁄2 | 2191⁄2 | 151 | ||
| Pimlico | „ | Cubitt’s Works | 188 | — | 188 | — | — | |
| 2 feet T. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Brewer Street | 30 | 368 | 271 | 127 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Simpson’s Factory | — | — | 231 | 100 | 36 | |
| 1 foot T. | ||||||||
| Pinner | „ | Hatch End | 140 | — | 60 | 80 | ||
| Plaistow | E. | Odam’s Manure Works | — | — | 1701⁄2 | 128 | ||
| Ponders End | M. | London Jute Company | 4 | 399 | 1121⁄2 | 2901⁄2 | — | |
| Water overflows. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Crape Works | 20 | 42 | 62 | |||
| Ditto | „ | Local Board (Speller) | — | — | 106 | 961⁄2 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Waterworks | 23 | 181 | 97 | 107 | — | |
| 43 feet T. | ||||||||
| Pudsey Hall | E. | Near Canewdon | 297 | — | 297 | — | — | |
| Water abundant and good. | ||||||||
| Ratcliffe | M. | Queen’s Head Brewery | — | — | 160 | 200 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Marine Brewery | 16 | 236 | 150 | 102 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Ravenhill’s | — | 137 | ||||
| Regent’s Park | „ | Colosseum | 150 | 100 | 171 | 79 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Mr. Day’s | — | — | 184 | 216 | 80 | |
| Ditto | „ | Zoological Gardens | 183 | 91 | 224 | 50 | 120 | |
| Yield, 90,000 gallons a day. | ||||||||
| Richmond | S. | Old Waterworks | — | — | 276 | 103 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Star and Garter | — | — | 416 | 76 | ||
| Romford | E. | Ind, Coope, & Co. | 155 | — | 145 | 10 | ||
| Rotherhithe | S. | Brandram’s Works | 30 | 222 | 107 | 145 | 27 | |
| Yield, 100,000 gallons in 12 hours. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Tunnel Flour Mills | — | — | 125 | 135 | — | |
| 15 feet O.D.; yield, 80 gallons a minute. | ||||||||
| Ruislip | M. | Near “The George” | 15 | 903⁄4 | 753⁄4 | 30 | — | |
| Water to surface. | ||||||||
| Saffron Walden | E. | — — | — | — | — | 1000 | ||
| Sandhurst | Berks. | Well at College | — | 603 | — | — | — | |
| Trial boring; chalk reached. | ||||||||
| Sandwich | K. | The Bank | 70 | — | 62 | 8 | 20 | |
| Sheerness | „ | Waterworks | 300 | 84 | 384 | — | — | |
| 51⁄2 feet O.D.; yield, 10,000 gallons an hour. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Dockyard | 330 | 125 | 455 | — | 53 | |
| Yield, 675 gallons an hour. | ||||||||
| Shoreditch | M. | Truman’s Brewery | 300 | 230 | 199 | 331 | 120 | |
| Yield, 71⁄2 gallons a minute. | ||||||||
| Shorne Meade Fort | K. | Near Gravesend | 112 | — | 771⁄2 | 341⁄2 | ||
| Shortlands | „ | Near Bromley | 59 | 150 | 109 | 100 | 61 | |
| Yield, 1000 gallons an hour. | ||||||||
| Slough | Bucks. | Eton Union | 28 | 103 | 107 | 24 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Royal Nursery | — | — | 94 | 171⁄2 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Upton Park | — | — | 1021⁄4 | 1701⁄4 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Waterworks | 117 | — | 90 | 27 | 7 | |
| Heading into chalk. | ||||||||
| Smithfield | M. | Booth’s Distillery | — | — | 230 | 70 | 70 | |
| Southend | E. | Waterworks | 417 | — | 417 | — | 100 | |
| Old well. | ||||||||
| Southwark | S. | Barclay’s Brewery | 115 | 288 | 212 | 211 | — | |
| Level of T.; yield, 300 gallons a minute. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Guy’s Hospital | 132 | 173 | 196 | 109 | 84 | |
| 2 feet T.; yield, 33 gallons a minute. | ||||||||
| Staines | M. | Ashby’s Brewery | — | — | 369 | 154 | — | |
| Water to surface. | ||||||||
| Stifford | E. | S.E. of Church | 63 | — | 33 | 30 | ||
| Stockwell Green | S. | Waltham’s Brewery | 100 | 210 | 210 | 100 | 46 | |
| Yield, 33 gallons a minute. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Hammerton’s Brewery | 25 | 186 | 211 | 154 | — | |
| Yield, 46 gallons a minute. | ||||||||
| Stratford | E. | Great Eastern Works | 56 | 344 | 106 | 294 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Savill Bros.’ Brewery | 1121⁄2 | — | 1091⁄2 | 3 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Langthorn Chemical Works | 60 | 395 | 132 | 323 | — | |
| Supply abundant. | ||||||||
| Streatham | S. | The Common | 100 | 185 | 285 | |||
| Sudbury | M. | London and North-Western Rail. Station | 200 | — | 120 | 80 | ||
| Tottenham | „ | Warne’s Works | — | — | 147 | 104 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Long Water | — | — | 1491⁄2 | 1011⁄2 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Tottenham Hall | — | 253 | 153 | 100 | ||
| Tottenham Court Road | „ | Meux’s Brewery | 188 | 622 | 156 | 654 | — | |
| 85 feet O.D.; yield, 121⁄2 gallons a minute. | ||||||||
| Tower Hill | „ | Royal Mint | 1951⁄2 | 202 | 1951⁄2 | 202 | 80 | |
| Trafalgar Square | „ | London | 168 | 228 | 248 | 148 | — | |
| Yield, 450 gallons a minute. | ||||||||
| Upchurch | K. | Burntwick Island | — | 236 | 236 | |||
| Ditto | „ | Milford Hope Marshes | — | 304 | 210 | 94 | — | |
| Good supply at bottom. | ||||||||
| Upper Thames Street | M. | City of London Brewery | 90 | 415 | 210 | 295 | 10 | |
| Uxbridge | „ | The Dolphin | 121 | — | 811⁄2 | 391⁄2 | 3 | |
| Ditto | „ | Near Market Place | — | — | 104 | 28 | 151⁄2 | |
| Ditto | „ | Page’s Lane | 98 | — | 98 | |||
| Ditto | „ | Town Well | — | — | 109 | 30 | 19 | |
| Ditto | „ | Near “King’s Arms” | 24 | 84 | 108 | — | 19 | |
| To chalk. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | New Year’s Green Farm | 63 | — | 63 | — | 51 | |
| Ditto | „ | Hurdle Yard | 78 | 391⁄2 | 78 | 391⁄2 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Near Meeting House | 411⁄2 | 1091⁄2 | 115 | 36 | 39 | |
| Ditto | „ | The Union | 51 | 162 | 175 | 38 | 29 | |
| Vauxhall | S. | Burnett’s Distillery | 140 | 186 | 224 | 102 | 55 | |
| Yield, 80 gallons a minute. | ||||||||
| Waltham Abbey | E. | Brewery | 164 | — | 160 | 4 | — | |
| Water supply from bed of sand. | ||||||||
| Walthamstow Marsh | „ | East London Waterworks | — | — | 152 | 140 | — | |
| 15 feet T. | ||||||||
| Wandworth | S. | Young & Bainbridge’s | 170 | 164 | 274 | 60 | 45 | |
| Yield, 10 gallons a minute. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Prison | — | — | 357 | 1261⁄2 | 80 | |
| Yield, 27 gallons a minute. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | County Asylum | — | — | 331 | 6 | 30 | |
| Westbourne Grove | M. | Hippodrome | 240 | 67 | 300 | 7 | ||
| West Drayton | „ | Victoria Oil Mills | 12 | 274 | 186 | 100 | — | |
| Water overflowed. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Vitriol Works | — | — | 1331⁄2 | 451⁄2 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Drayton Mills | 3 | 146 | 149 | — | — | |
| To chalk. | ||||||||
| West Ham | E. | Mr. Tucker’s | — | — | 132 | 306 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Union | — | — | 110 | 55 | ||
| West India Dock | M. | South of Export Dock | — | — | 120 | 240 | ||
| Westminster | „ | Artillery Brewery | — | — | 230 | |||
| Ditto | „ | Chartered Gas Works | — | — | 225 | |||
| Ditto | „ | Vickers’ Distillery | 116 | 184 | 249 | 51 | 70 | |
| Yield, 94 gallons a minute. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Swallow Street | — | — | 210 | — | 60 | |
| Whitechapel | „ | Furze’s Brewery | 130 | 218 | 248 | 100 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Smith’s Distillery | 106 | 264 | 210 | 160 | 36 | |
| 36 feet T. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Smith, Druce, & Co.’s | 1411⁄2 | — | 1411⁄2 | — | 85 | |
| 39 feet T. | ||||||||
| Willesden | „ | Mr. Kilsby’s | — | — | 273 | 97 | 30 | |
| Wimbledon | S. | Convalescent Hospital | 200 | 367 | 537 | 30 | 50 | |
| Ditto, New | „ | Opposite “White Hart” | — | — | 193 | 75 | ||
| Windsor | Berks | Clower Lodge | 40 | 175 | 175 | 40 | ||
| Ditto | „ | Royal Brewery | 72 | — | 72 | — | — | |
| Through clay and running sand to chalk. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Jennings’ Brewery | — | — | 30 | 500 | 12 | |
| Winkfield Plain | „ | Captain Forbes’ | — | — | 304 | 126 | 70 | |
| Witham | E. | — — | — | — | 306 | — | 5 | |
| Woodley Lodge | Berks. | 3 miles east of Reading | 95 | 35 | 130 | |||
| Woolwich | K. | Well of Arsenal | — | — | 541⁄2 | 3111⁄2 | 37 | |
| Ditto | „ | Paper Factory | — | 550 | 51⁄2 | 5441⁄2 | — | |
| Yield, 650 gallons a minute. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | Dockyard | — | 608 | 20 | 588 | 70 | |
| Yield good. | ||||||||
| Wormley | Herts. | Nunsbury | 26 | 761⁄2 | 801⁄2 | 22 | — | |
| Water overflows. | ||||||||
| Ditto | „ | West End | 85 | 1501⁄2 | 72 | 631⁄2 | 62 | |
| Wormwood Scrubbs | M. | — — | — | — | 250 | 116 | 5 | |