Janet Hunt
master brummie
What happens if it is capped off Sean. Surely the water will look for a weak point elsewhere to spring up..(so to speak)?
-
Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.
We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team
Digbeth Mineral Water Works and Well
- Thread starter Seanyb1986
- Start date
hi janet this is what myself and mike was saying...will the spring pop up somewhere else down the line...great find though as we dont often see this happen...thanks again to sean for keeping us updated
lyn
Janet Hunt
master brummie
So true lynn, I look forward to the next update...loving these posts
Janet Hunt
master brummie
Mike that's brilliant
Covroad
master brummie
The
The process to ’cap’ or ’plug’ an aquifer or bore hole is a cement and bentonite mix give a positive pressure over the bore , some times puddling clay will be used . You are correct the is a risk the aquifer (by pressure) will appear again, but normally the area around the area to be plugged can be well pointed ( lower water table) while the plugging is being undertaken.
Janet Hunt
master brummie
Thank you for answering this, bit technical for me but it all sounds good. Question what if it appears some time late in a ground floor room of the new building. Also would having a natural spring underneath give instability in the long run. Surely it would be better to divert or utilise the natural source. Eg ornamental fountain or drinks water fountain.
Covroad
master brummie
Hi,
The initial ground investigation will give an indication of the geology (sub strata) will be undertaken by the designers, and they will determine what foundations, depth of excavation , piling , etc will be required ; within in the design may be culverts to divert the subterranean water.
Sometimes the size (width and depth) plus type of imported backfill of the area for foundations will disperse the water naturally .
I hope this helps .
Seanyb1986
master brummie
Severn trent will be on site tomorrow to investigate and suggest further action, any further information i can gather on the bore hole/water source would be appreciated, the inscription on the tank for instance, somebody sent it to me before but i cant find it now
But would also point out this report from an earlier post referring to water to Lightfoot refrigeration, presumably originally from the spring here, but , according to the addition later from separate bore from the same source, which decreased in output consdierably
Seanyb1986
master brummie
We have found what looks like a large copper pipe surrounded by steel or iron, it could be one of these bore holes, if so 250/300 feet is very very deep for me to chase it down
Seanyb1986
master brummie
It has high pressure so i'd assume its not connected to any other outlet as it was capped (bodged over with concrete), so of it was going to spring up somewhere else after we close it then it would have already done so
Seanyb1986
master brummie
It is right where it should be so what i have found is definetly the source of the digbeth spring, who put it there and when??
Seanyb1986
master brummie
I did find the inscription on the tank in text somewhere before so i could read it, i cant find it now
This is the detail that I can decipher so far
This tank is 6 feet Wide and 12 feet deep ........It is kept Constantly filled with Pure Spring water by the spring which is 8 inches in Diameter and 400 feet deep .......... of tubes to prevent Surface impurities. The well (was opened?) in the year 1854 by Mr Clark of Maida Hill London. The Quantity of water which rises, if allowed, is 72,000 Gallons per Day. The .... is worked by the overflow
Shall try and track down the full transcript. Viv
This tank is 6 feet Wide and 12 feet deep ........It is kept Constantly filled with Pure Spring water by the spring which is 8 inches in Diameter and 400 feet deep .......... of tubes to prevent Surface impurities. The well (was opened?) in the year 1854 by Mr Clark of Maida Hill London. The Quantity of water which rises, if allowed, is 72,000 Gallons per Day. The .... is worked by the overflow
Shall try and track down the full transcript. Viv
Last edited:
Pedrocut
Master Barmmie
Looking at post 38 and Lot X from 1835
….including the Coach-maker's Warehouse. Under are very powerful springs of water. Three pumps erected and a large reservoir is made underground, capable of containing many thousands of hogsheads. This spring being the lowest of the soft water Springs in Digbeth is never dry, and is capable of supplying soft water to the inhabitants to a very great extent.
This suggest that there may be many other springs around, and could be tapped ?
In 1820 there was the overshot mill in Allison Street.
….including the Coach-maker's Warehouse. Under are very powerful springs of water. Three pumps erected and a large reservoir is made underground, capable of containing many thousands of hogsheads. This spring being the lowest of the soft water Springs in Digbeth is never dry, and is capable of supplying soft water to the inhabitants to a very great extent.
This suggest that there may be many other springs around, and could be tapped ?
In 1820 there was the overshot mill in Allison Street.
sean juts a little tip....when you come back to reading any thread always start reading from the last post you made by scrolling up the pages to your last post that way you do not miss any information posted by our members...as mike said he already reposted you the inscription which you will find on post 102 hope this helps
lyn
Last edited:
Some background.
In the 1892 article below about the Birmingham Water Bill, the high quality of water from the Digbeth deep spring artesian well was mentioned, being referred to as “first class”. There’s a reference at the bottom of the extract to the old Clark process for softening water. Is this the Mr Clark who opened the Digbeth well in 1854?
Viv
In the 1892 article below about the Birmingham Water Bill, the high quality of water from the Digbeth deep spring artesian well was mentioned, being referred to as “first class”. There’s a reference at the bottom of the extract to the old Clark process for softening water. Is this the Mr Clark who opened the Digbeth well in 1854?
Viv
Viv
The Clark of the Clark Process was of the right period , in that he published his method for softening water in 1841, but I think it very unlikely that it was the same Clark, as the that one was Prof of chemistry at the University of Aberdeen, and the Digbeth Spring one , from the inscription, was from Mill Hill in London
The Clark of the Clark Process was of the right period , in that he published his method for softening water in 1841, but I think it very unlikely that it was the same Clark, as the that one was Prof of chemistry at the University of Aberdeen, and the Digbeth Spring one , from the inscription, was from Mill Hill in London
Seanyb1986
master brummie
If we could track down the full transcript i think it would make it a lot easier for me to explain to my boss in the morning to assess the situation, all info is good info
Seanyb1986
master brummie
I might need glasses because im struggling to make it out
In the book: A Brummie in the Family: Family and Local History in Birmingham
by Vanessa Morgan, it mentions the well - see para 3. It first refers to other wells, but later talks about the Allison Street well.
From this we now know Mr Clark was a London engineer. We also know Goffe was in business from 1837 producing soda water and ginger beer (as per the business established date in the advert in post #1). Goffe’s later moved over to producing simply mineral water. Would Goffe’s have used the well for their early soda and ginger beer? If so that takes the well back to at least the 1830s. The extract illustrates the proliferation of wells/pumps (eg the Cock Pump Bull Ring and Ladywell) in 1818 (as per Charles Pye’s account) even some existing in cellars around the area. So is it possible that the spring might have been in use before the 1830s ?
Viv
by Vanessa Morgan, it mentions the well - see para 3. It first refers to other wells, but later talks about the Allison Street well.
From this we now know Mr Clark was a London engineer. We also know Goffe was in business from 1837 producing soda water and ginger beer (as per the business established date in the advert in post #1). Goffe’s later moved over to producing simply mineral water. Would Goffe’s have used the well for their early soda and ginger beer? If so that takes the well back to at least the 1830s. The extract illustrates the proliferation of wells/pumps (eg the Cock Pump Bull Ring and Ladywell) in 1818 (as per Charles Pye’s account) even some existing in cellars around the area. So is it possible that the spring might have been in use before the 1830s ?
Viv
Last edited:
Pedrocut
Master Barmmie
From post 40 below we see that in 1820 and in Allison Street that there was an overshot mill and reservoir, containing 1240 square yards of water.
birminghamhistory.co.uk
Digbeth Mineral Water Works and Well
The cattle lairs and slaughter house make sense now, lots of animal bones are being found, i have been working on the area for nearly 6 months now, knocking down another more recent building, it is only now i am finally digging down and it is getting interesting, i will update on here when i...
birminghamhistory.co.uk
Thanks Pedro. So that takes it back to at least 1820 as a known spring and actively being used as a source of water supply. So was it at this time a source of water for an industrial process only rather than for human consumption ? Viv.
The late Peter Walker mentioned the well in his thread Delving Round Digbeth in which he states it was bored in 1870:
Allison Street
First into Allison Street, with a good Victorian building on the corner and towards the railway bridge. On the right before you get there is Shaw’s Passage, with a lively veggie restaurant and food store on the near corner.
Continuing under the bridge on the left are the remains of one of the many cast iron gents loos, which were very important in the days when Digbeth was a place for hard workers and hard drinkers. All sealed up today for obvious reasons. Further down on the right is a good-looking Victorian building used 20 years ago for making crisps, but built in the early 1870s for Corder & Turley, umbrella makers. Just past there on the right is Well Lane, which got its name from the artesian well bored about 1870 to supplement the water supply delivered by horse and cart to the majority of Birmingham householders at that time. Piped water was a luxury for the wealthy, supplied by a private company until Chamberlain municipalised it in 1875. Before 1870 the main public source of water was the natural spring near Ladywell.
Extracted from
birminghamhistory.co.uk
Viv
Allison Street
First into Allison Street, with a good Victorian building on the corner and towards the railway bridge. On the right before you get there is Shaw’s Passage, with a lively veggie restaurant and food store on the near corner.
Continuing under the bridge on the left are the remains of one of the many cast iron gents loos, which were very important in the days when Digbeth was a place for hard workers and hard drinkers. All sealed up today for obvious reasons. Further down on the right is a good-looking Victorian building used 20 years ago for making crisps, but built in the early 1870s for Corder & Turley, umbrella makers. Just past there on the right is Well Lane, which got its name from the artesian well bored about 1870 to supplement the water supply delivered by horse and cart to the majority of Birmingham householders at that time. Piped water was a luxury for the wealthy, supplied by a private company until Chamberlain municipalised it in 1875. Before 1870 the main public source of water was the natural spring near Ladywell.
Extracted from
Delving Round Digbeth
Delving round Digbeth, Part1 Last Tuesday, having seen a good weather forecast the day before, I got myself ‘advance’ tickets over the internet from London Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill (return cost £7.90 on a senior railcard). Armed with two ‘Discovery Trails’ the Museum & Gallery did...
birminghamhistory.co.uk
Viv
