[draft, in the hand of WHFT]

Alex^r Bassett Esq Tredegar Mineral Estate Office Cardiff
26 Nov 72

D^r Sir- In reply to yrs of yesdy About 15 yrs ago, in the year 1857 as I remember, I had sev^l 1 or more pits of iron ore opend on my farm at Nethermore [illegible deletion] of w^ch several remain open to the present day, and you are very welcome to inspect the land them whenever you please & to open pits in places

The ore was sent to London to be assayed, & the report was very favorable- Not content with that I sent some to Glamorganshire to one of the principal iron masters, who had it tested by the Chemist resident at his work, & the result was greatly favorable; the percentge of iron being large, & with a total absence of sulphur and phosphorous- Too much silex is present, w^ch is the only drawback. About that the year time 1858 came on a great depressⁿ in the iron trade & further examⁿ of the ores was con^y abandoned

I have got these Analyses of ore still, but c^d not lay my hand on them immed^ly-

The land at Nethermore is adjacent to L^d Land prop^y - The land ground soil is cov^d strewed with small pieces of iron slag, relics of former workings The ore hav^g evi^ly been much worked in Roman times. Indeed I found

The ore lies just beneath the surface & could be worked as an open quarry- I believe I could send you a box full of the ore to examine if you wish it

My son thanks you for your rememb^ces of him & says he shall be very happy to point out to you the sites of the localities-

[expanded version]

Alexender Bassett Esq
Tredegar Mineral Estate Office
Cardiff
26 Nov 72

Dear Sir-/p>

In reply to yours of yesterday. ^<1>

About 15 years ago, in the year 1857 as I remember, I had several, one or more, pits of iron ore opened on my farm at Nethermore ^<2>[illegible deletion] of which several remain open to the present day, and you are very welcome to inspect the land them whenever you please and to open pits in places

The ore was sent to London to be assayed, and the report was very favorable- Not content with that I sent some to Glamorganshire to one of the principal iron masters, who had it tested by the Chemist resident at his work, and the result was greatly favorable; the percentge of iron being large, and with a total absence of sulphur and phosphorous- Too much silex is present, which is the only drawback. About that the year time 1858 came on a great depression in the iron trade and further examination of the ores was consequently abandoned

I have got these Analyses of ore still, but could not lay my hands on the immediately-

The land at Nethermore is adjacent to Lord Lansdowne's ^<3>property - The land ground soil is cov^d strewed with small pieces of iron slag, relics of former workings The ore having evidently been much worked in Roman times. Indeed I found

The ore lies just beneath the surface and could be worked as an open quarry- I believe I could send you a box full of the ore to examine if you wish it

My son thanks you for your rememberance of him ^<4> and says he shall be very happy to point out to you the sites of the localities-

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Notes:

1. This letter has not been located.

2. Nethermore Farm is about 2.5 km. east of Lacock. For discussion of WHFT's earlier hopes on this, see Doc. No: 07418 and passim.

3. Bowood House, nr Calne, Wiltshire, 8 km. northeast of Lacock, the seat of Henry Charles Keith Petty Fitzmaurice, 5^th Marquess of Lansdowne (1845-1927); WHFT's cousin.

4. Charles Henry Talbot (1842-1916), WHFT's only son. Their previous contact is unknown. Bassett, although a generation older, was born at Cheverell, educated at Marlborough and in the1840s wors with Brunel on the Wilts and Somerset Railway, all in Wiltshire.