Memorials of Shrewsbury / being a concise description of the town and its environs, adapted as a general guide for the information of visitors and residents

by Henry Pidgeon

SUTTON SPA,

situated in a retired dell near the margin of the Reabrook, and the property of the Right Hon. Lord Berwick.

The spring issues from a rocky stratum of ash-coloured clay, or argillaceous schistus. The water is colourless, and exhales a faint sulphureous smell, much more perceptible in rainy weather. It has been compared with the Cheltenham water, but in reality bears a stronger affinity to sea water, possessing, however, an advantage over that in containing iron. In those cases, therefore, for which sea water is usually recommended it has been found most beneficial, and proves highly serviceable in the treatment of glandular affections, scrofula, and other diseases of the skin. A tumbler glassful operates as a brisk aperient.

The following analysis of the water was recently read at one of the scientific meetings of the Shropshire Natural History Society:—

Eleven cubic inches of the water contain about half a cubic inch of carbonic acid, partly free and partly in a combined state, a quarter of a cubic inch of atmospheric air, and a trace of sulphuretted hydrogen.

Sixteen fluid ounces contain of—

Iodine and bromine, each a trace

Carbonate iron, about 0.7 grain

— lime and siliceous earth, each a trace

Anhydrous muriate magnesia, 8.8 grains

— — lime, 30 grains

— — soda, 121.3 grains. [200]

The importance of this spring is generally acknowledged, and it is matter of regret that proper accommodations for the advantageous use of the water have not been more effectually provided. A stone cistern, within a little shed, is the only receptacle for the water, the refuse from which, after being confined within a covered drain for a few yards, flows into the brook, and has produced an artificial morass, whose surface (from the deposition of iron oxyd) is covered with an ochery scum.

The care of the spring and baths is entrusted to the occupier of a cottage on the spot.

On an elevated situation in an adjoining meadow stands the primitive parish church of Sutton, a characteristic specimen of the little Norman churches erected in villages. The west front is crowned with a cupola, and displays a modern window, but those on the other sides of the fabric are of the earliest kind, narrowing towards the exterior surface of the wall. The town may be regained by different routes over the meadows, which lead to