224 MINERAL WATERS AND MEDICINAL SPRINGS OF ESSEX.
Trinder, writing in 1783, describes another mineral water
from West Tilbury, namely, that "from the Rector's well":—
" This water rises [he says101] at a little distance from Tilbury Hall, on the
side of the hill, and it issues from a pump in the parsonage house. It is
inodorous ; its taste is agreeable ; but it is somewhat less full in the mouth, and
it has less of the amber colour than the other water."
It was, he adds, practically the same water as that of Tilbury
Hall, but contained far less "mineral" matter, in the form of
fixed alkali, This is shown in the analysis by Dr. Bryan
Higgins, "as published by Mr. Ellison," wherein he says he
found that a Winchester gallon contained :—
" Nevertheless [continues Trinder105], the late Rector of Tilbury, the Church-
wardens, and the other inhabitants of the parish did certify 'that the Rector's
Well water had been analysed by several eminent physicians, who found it to
afford the same principles as the other, except that, in this, they are in greater
quantity.' "
This was apparently in 1759.106 Dr. Higgins says107 that the
certificate on which they acted was fabricated.
This water "from the Rector's Well" was being sold in
London in 1783 by a Mr. Owen, another dealer in mineral
waters, who had warehouses near Temple Bar and in Savile
Row. Between him and Ellison, there appears to have been
keen competition and some bitterness.
When the Tilbury Wells lost their repute is not clear. Both
the compiler of the Beauties of England and Wales (1803)108 and
Hughson (1809)109 speak as though the well was still resorted to
when they wrote; but their statements seem to have been copied
from Morant and were probably obsolete when published.
The Tilbury Hall Well still exists. It is in the position
described by Andre—namely at the Hall, about two miles north
104 Medicinal Waters in Essex, pp. 9-10 (1783).
105 Op. cit. p. 11 (1783).
106 See Synopsis of Analyses by Dr. Higgins, p. 5 (1788).
107 Op. et loc. cit.
108 Op. cit., v., pp. 252 and 485.
109 London, vi., p. 152.