THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 209
before the Royal Commission, 'that whatever pollutions there may be, and they
are not many, they are all oxidised by the natural forces before reaching
the East London intake or that of the New River to which I have before
referred.' "
Our attention was arrested by a most abominable odour just below Ware
Lock, and at once came questions to Major Flower as to its cause. Could he do
otherwise than admit that the cause was the Hertford sewage discharge into the
famous "Manifold Ditch" and refer the Club to pp. 20 and 21 of "The River
Lee up to Date" for explanation ? He did more ; he explained a scheme of his
own for intercepting this abomination and taking it down below Ware Tumbling
Bay, a point which he subsequently pointed out, and there filtering the effluent
through earth on a sufficient area of land. The only question seemed to be,
"Who is to pay for it ?"
It was interesting, as passing along the river through Ware, to note the
dry mouths of the disused sewers which conveyed all the filth of the town into
the Lea, and other indications of abandoned sources of pollution.
We noted also "Ware Priory," the pretty home of Mr. Walters, who greeted
us as we passed. The Priory, relics of which remain, belonged to a body of
Benedictines, who were subordinate to the Abbey of St. Ebrulf, at Utica in
Normandy.
About a mile below Ware was noticed the junction of another tributary, the
Ash river.
Arriving at Stanstead St. Margaret's, a halt was made, for, whether it was
the odours of the Manifold Ditch, or otherwise, "all hands "were ravenous—some
suggested "breaking bulk" of ample provision provided for "afternoon tea ; how-
ever, this was "barred,"—and some of the more agile of the passengers leaped ashore
as a foraging party, soon returning with an ample supply of scones, biscuits, fruit,
and other creature comforts, sufficient to allay the cravings of hunger, for our halt
for lunch (ordered at 2) was not likely to be attained before 3 p.m. We were late,
but no one wished to hurry, and with such lovely weather and pleasant scenery
and surroundings, who cared ?
We soon arrived at the Rye House, famous as the place where the plot
against King Charles II.'s life was hatched. The Castle is reputed to have
been built in 1440.
Between Rye House and the junction of the Stort, great interest was shown
in the large quantity of the Yellow Mimulus (Mimulus luteus, Willd.), which was
growing on the Herts bank of the river. It was apparently quite wild, and we
were told that it had been naturalised there for years.
The sewage of Ware is carried down to this place and disposed of on an
area of land, the sub-soil being the drift gravel of the valley.
We next reach Fieldes Weir, a point of extreme importance, for here is the
junction of the River Stort with the Lea, and the volume of water passing down
the Lea is gauged. The party landed to examine the process of gauging the flow
of water, which was explained by Major Flower. The River Stort, from Bishop's
Stortford to Harlow, was traversed by the Club on July 18th, 1888 (see Essex
Naturalist, vol. ii., pp. 224-227).
At this point also the rainfall is measured by one of Mr. Symons' gauges.
This was an object of much interest on the part of one distinguished member, who
promised us a few words on the subject at a later period.