Council Meeting – 15th October 1896
Thursday, October 15th, 1896
Twenty-fourth meeting of the Parish Council held in the School Room, Great Longstone, on Thursday, October 15th, 1896.
Present: Mr J. Orr, Chairman; Messrs Buzzard, Eyre, J. Johnson, S. Johnson, Spanton, and T. Shimwell, Clerk.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
Water Supply
The Clerk produced a letter which he had received from Mr Hawes, Clerk to the Bakewell Rural District Council, allowing the Parish Council to formulate a scheme of their own for a water supply to the village.
On the motion of Mr Orr, seconded by Mr Eyre, the Clerk was directed to write to Mr Leicester Bateman of Weston-super-Mare, Water Engineer and Diviner, asking what his terms would be to come and inspect the place and provide the best plan for outlay.
Carried unanimously.
Mr Bateman having replied that his terms would be £8. 8. 0, inclusive, it was decided to engage him to come on the 30th.
James Orr
Chairman
Nov. 6th, 1896
In the Wider World – Rural Engineering and Water Divining
The Parish Council’s engagement of a professional water diviner and engineer reflects the experimental nature of late Victorian civil engineering. “Water diviners,” often using rods or pendulums, were still widely employed to locate underground springs before the advent of modern geological surveying. Engineers like Leicester Bataker combined empirical science with traditional methods — part of a period when Britain’s rural infrastructure was evolving from local craft to technical expertise.
