Where are the Wootton Bassett Mud Springs and what has caused this phenomenon?
The mud springs in Wootton Bassett were first discovered back in 1974 by some local Rivers Authority workmen. In fact the landowner says they have existed for many years, and that at times cattle have been lost into them. The cause of the mud springs, and the reason for their existence, has led to controversy. There is no immediate explanation. W. I. Stanton had the following to say: In Templar’s Firs, on the right bank of the stream, I found three mounds each about 10 metres long by 5 metres high. They were ‘mud blisters’, consisting of a more or less liquid mud core contained within a living skin created by the roots of rushes, sedges and other swampy vegetation, including shrubs and small trees. The workmen had cut into the end of one blister, allowing it partly to deflate. The liquid core was (and is) at least 2 metres deep, as I ascertained by probing with a stake that had been sharpened and left there by other investigators. Grey liquid mud oozes from splits in the skin. The grou
