Dr. Ballard's report on the sanitary condition and administration of the Isle of Wight.

  • Ballard, Edward.
Date:
1881
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dr. Ballard's report on the sanitary condition and administration of the Isle of Wight. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    Dr. Ballard’s Report on the Sanitary Condition and Administration of the Isle of Wight. George Buchanan, Medical Department, March 24, 1881. The Isle of Wight, which is about 23 miles in length from east to west, and about 13 miles -wide at its widest part from north to south, is characterised by some geological features which it is necessary that I should briefly point out. From Bembridge Down, near the extreme eastern corner of the Island, to the extreme western part, right across the island near its middle, there stretches a range of high chalk downs, to the south of which the geological formations underlying the surface earth are those of the cretaceous' system, while to the north of the downs are the more recent tertiary and post tertiary or drift formations. At the extreme south of the island there are other chalk downs, and between the two series of downs there is a strip of country where the gault and lower greensand come to the surface, extending across from Sandown bay to Brixton and Ohale bays. These facts have an all important bearing upon the abundance or scarcity of good drinking water in various parts of the island, a point to which I shall have frequently to allude in the progress of this Eeport. The chalk downs and the underlying upper greensand form an extensive collecting area for water, which is held up by the underlying gault, and which, issuing near the bases of the hills on their northern aspect, gives rise to the few streams or rivers which the island can boast of. All of these streams run in a northerly direction except one, viz. the Eastern Yar, which traversing the valley between the two ranges of chalk hills, takes on the whole an easterly direction to terminate in Brading harbour. The water which comes from the southern side of the chalk hills forms only trifling rivulets which speedily fall into the sea, but they are valuable sources of water for all that. To the north of the chalk downs the only water readily obtainable is that which traverses the surface in its northward course from the hills to the sea, surface drainage water from the land, collecting in pools, &c., or such as is collected in pockets of sand or gravel found in the clay, and usually met with at the top of the low hills in this part of the island. The streams or rivers above mentioned widen out into long estuaries at several parts of the northern half of the island, namely, at Yarmouth, Newtown, Cowes, Wootton, and Brading. At low water much of the beds of these estuaries is exposed. The total area of the island is about 93,341 acres, and in 1871 the island had a popula- tion of 66,219. This population has considerably increased since that year, but the in- crease cannot be estimated. For the purpose of sanitary administration a total of about 5,465 acres has been placed under the control of Urban Sanitary Authorities; the remainder of the island (87,876 acres) forming the district of one Eural Sanitary Authority. The Urban districts and the approximate magnitude of each, the number of inhabited houses in 1871 and at present, and the population in 1871 are as follows :— Acres. Inhabited Houses. Population 1871. 1871. I860. Newport (Borougli) - - . Ryde (Borough) . . . West Cowes - - - - East Cowes - - - - St. Helen’s .... Sandown - Shanklin .... Ventnor - - . . 502 791 391 516 1,890 514 241 220 1,422 2,136 1,123 392 434 370 749 1,951 2,588 1,494 617 916 608 567 851 6,947 11,260 5,730 2,058 ? 2,320 2,035 4,841 Newport is situated inland towards the middle of the island ; the others are on the coast. Q 2351. G. 13.