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THE CHIGWELL ROW MEDICINAL SPRINGS:
A LATE-EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY ACCOUNT OF THEM.
By (?) the Rev. Dr. WILLIAM MARTIN TRINDER.
Edited by MILLER CHRISTY, F.LS.
With Plate I.
WHEN Miss Thresh and myself published, in 1910, The
Mineral Waters and Medicinal Springs of Essex,1 we
knew nothing of the existence of a manuscript, written nearly a
century and a half ago, describing fully the lost Chigwell-Row
well as it then existed. Consequently, we were unable to do
more than give briefly2 such meagre information as we had
been able to gather relative to the history and exact locality
of the well in question, which was filled up and completely
obliterated nearly half-a-century ago.
Recently, however, such a manuscript has come to light.
It has just been presented to the Library of the Essex Field
Club by our member, Mr. T. Fisher Unwin, who acquired it
many years ago, though he cannot now recollect from whom.
It proves, on examination, to be of considerable interest in its
way; and our Editor, Mr. Cole, deeming it (or most of it) worthy
of publication in the pages of the Essex Naturalist, asked me
to edit for press such portions as seemed worth printing—a task
I undertook readily.
The manuscript consists of 64 pages of foolscap-quarto,
trimmed down to 8 by 61/8ins., gathered in sections of eight, the
whole being stitched together roughly with coarse string near
the back, and glued into an uninscribed cover of stout marbled
paper. The text paper is rough Dutch hand-made, water-
marked with the arms of the States of Holland, but undated.
All pages, except the first and last, bear writing. All left-hand
pages, except the first (which bears a drawing), are devoted to
marginal key-notes to the subject-matter of the treatise, which
is written entirely on the right-hand pages. These are folioed
from 1 to 30, the numbering commencing (for some unex-
plained reason) on page 4, which is folioed 1.
There can be no doubt as to the object with which the manu-
script was written, though nothing relating to this point is
stated therein. Clearly it was designed for publication in the
1 Essex Field Club Special Memoirs, vol. iv. (Reprinted, with additions, from the Essex
Naturalist, xv., pp. 185-253: 1909).
2 Op. cit., pp. 43-44.