As the pit so immediately borders on this county; and as the curious reader, judging from the practise of former writers, will undoubtedly refer to the neighbourhood of Woburn, when desirous of acquiring information on this subject; we trust that we shall not be charged with any impropriety of arrangement, if the particulars we have been enabled to obtain concerning the invaluable substance under consideration are inserted in this place. The surface of the earth may be divided with artificial limits; but the interior, strata, in this instance, is unquestionably continued into both counties. British cloth is chiefly indebted to the cleansing qualities of this celebrated earth, for its great superiority over that manufactured by other nations. In no other country is it found so free from foreign admixture; for this reason, as well as its importance in the woollen trade, several severe laws have been made, at different periods, since the reign of Charles the Second, to prevent its exportation. Nor are these acts of the British legislature without precedent. History informs us, that the fulling business was an object of Roman attention, and that laws were expressly made by that nation to regulate the employment, This earth is truly a MARL, commonly of a greyish ash-coloured brown; yet it greatly varies, and is found of different shades, from the very pale, to the dusky, or almost black; but always with a tinge of the yellowish green. The pit at Wavendon consists of two tunnels; one with a ladder for the convenience of the labourers; the other to raise the earth up. The descent is very disagreeable, and the inside of the pit very damp. The wood-work on the top and sides of the excavated angles is continually wet, and almost covered with Boletus Lachrymans, (Dryrot Boletus.) The strata are disposed in the following order. From the surface to the depth of six or seven feet are several layers of sand, all of a reddish colour, but of different tints. Beneath is a thin stratum of sand-stone, and under this the fuller's earth. The upper stratum is about a foot thick; but being generally impure, or mixed with sand, it is thrown aside; and the rest is taken up for use. The earth is disposed in layers (com monly monly about eighteen inches between one horizontal fissure and another) continued to the depth of eight or ten feet. Between the centrical layers is a thin stratum of matter, of less than an inch, which in taste, colour, and external appearance, bears a striking resemblance to Terra Japonica. Beneath the whole is a bed of rough white free-stone, about two feet thick: this is seldom dug through; when it is, more strata of sand are discovered. The depth of the pit varies, it being from twenty to thirty feet below the surface. Though fuller's earth is of the most material service in cleansing cloth, and imbibing the tar, grease, tallow, &c. which, from the operation of many causes, is often mixed with the wool, yet the present price is scarcely sufficient to defray the expences of raising it; being only ten shillings a ton, and the quantity sold not amounting to more than thirty tons annually. The labourers are occasionally employed, to the number of five, six, or seven, in proportion as the earth is wanted. The pit belongs to the Duke of Bedford: and, as we understand, by a recent purchase. Its situation is nearly opposite to that in the parish of Aspley, which is also on the duke's estate. About twenty years since there was a pit in use on the estate of Colonel Moore: but this has been levelled, and the field is now in pasturage. The earth lay about four feet from the surface. The few authors who have written on the topography of this county, are unanimous in ascribing a petrifying quality to a small spring said to be in the parish just mentioned; and not only the water, but the surrounding earth also, is reported to partake of the same property. Camden informs us, that those who belonged to the monastery, showed " a wooden ladder, which, after lying some time in the earth, was dug up all stone." The risible absurdity of this sentence can only be exceeded by the folly of Michae! Drayton, poet-laureat to James the First, who inserted the following lines on this subject in his Poly-Olbion. The brook which on her bank doth boast that earth alone, This wonder of the poet, like many more extraordinary circumstances, hath had its nine days of admiration payed by the gaping multitude. The story has now grown into general discredit; and we are informed, from the most unquestionable authority, that there is no such spring in the parish! yet we have heard of some bits of the petrified wood, said to have been obtained here, which appeared handsome when polished; and also, that a pair of buttons has been made of it. But we have said enough on a baseless subject; and, as the stream is wanting, whose qualities could alone give the tale credibility, shall dismiss it with the common motto, Ex nihilo, nihil fit. About one mile east of the town is WOBURN ABBEY, THE seat of the Duke of Bedford. This extensive and magnificent pile of building is situated in the midst of a large park. Its effect is imposing and dignified; and the mind readily acknowledges that it is truly worthy of being a ducal residence. The ground-plan of this elegant mansion forms a square of more than 200 feet, containing a quadrangular court in the inside. It was erected on the site of the old abbey, by John, the fourth Duke of the Russel family. The original building was founded in the year 1145, by Hugh de Bolebeck, a nobleman who had large possessions in the vicinity. It was intended for monks of the Cistercian order, a sect of religionists that sent many swarms into this country about the middle of the twelfth century. On the suppression of the religious houses, its revenues, according to Dugdale, amounted to 3911. 8s. 2d. In the first year of Edward the Sixth, it was granted, with many other ecclesiastical estates, to John,* afterwards Lord Russel, a gentleman who was honored with several employments by Henry the Eighth. In his family the possession has ever since remained. The "No family," Mr. Pennant observes, "profited so much by the plunder of the church as that of Bedford. To the grant of Woburn, in 1547, it owes much of its property in this county, and in Buckinghamshire. To that of the rich abbey of Tavistock, vast fortune and interest in Devonshire: and to render them more extensive, that of Dunkeswell was added. The donation of Thorney |