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160 Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
General Sanitary Work in 1909.
The following list shows the special inspections made by me
during the year ;—
(1.) An inspection was made of the land at Putney Vale
Cemetery about to be purchased by the Council for an
extension of the same, and the following report was submitted
to the Burials Committee :—
"10th May, 1909.
"In accordance with your instructions, I have made
an inspection of the land which it is proposed to add to
the Putney Vale Cemetery, and have to report as
follows :—
"This land has a frontage of 469 feet on to Kingston
Road, and is a continuation of the land which is at
present used as a cemetery. The highest point of the
land, which is close to Wimbledon Common, is about 90
feet above ordnance datum, and the lowest point, which
is close to Kingston Road, is about 54 feet.
"Generally speaking, the soil is a mixture of loam,
gravel, and clay, with an average of 1 ft. 6 in. of mould
on the surface. Seven trial holes have been dug, as
shown on the plan drawn out by the Borough Engineer
and Surveyor, and these, on inspection, showed that,
generally, the geological conditions are similar to those
existing in the present Cemetery. In the trial holes,
where water was found, the level of this averaged five
feet from the surface, and I am of opinion that this is
about the average of the ground water level in this
locality.
"There will be no difficulty in properly draining
this ground to the depth necessary to render the graves
dry, as there is a sewer in close proximity.
"The ground water naturally flows towards Beverley
Brook, the water level at that Brook being about 29½