One spring, honestly described
The Marrow spring rises in the hillside behind the drying yard and feeds every room in the house. Here is what is actually in it, what we do to it, and what we refuse to do to it.
The Marrow at source, sampled October 2026
| Measure | The Marrow | Typical mains |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature at source | 41 °C | 11 °C |
| pH | 7.4 | 7.2 |
| Total dissolved solids | 1,340 mg/L | 280 mg/L |
| Calcium | 214 mg/L | 55 mg/L |
| Magnesium | 61 mg/L | 12 mg/L |
| Sodium | 88 mg/L | 24 mg/L |
| Sulphate | 402 mg/L | 31 mg/L |
| Bicarbonate | 380 mg/L | 120 mg/L |
| Iron | 0.4 mg/L | 0.02 mg/L |
| Fluoride | <0.1 mg/L | 0.3 mg/L |
Demonstration: these figures are invented for a fictional spring. Do not drink anything on the strength of this page.
What we do to it
- Cool it on purpose. The cascade sheds 41 °C to 39 °C; the Meridian runs at 33 °C; the plunge takes yard water instead.
- Skim and surface-clean every pool at dawn, with a full drain-and-scrub every third Thursday.
- Test three times a day with a house kit and log it in the brass-bound book by the deck door.
What we refuse to do
- No chlorine sweetening beyond the trace the licence requires. The water should smell of the hill, faintly of struck match, not of a swimming lesson.
- No "enhanced" mineral blends sold at the counter. The spring is the product.
- No medical claims. The water is pleasant and warm. It is not a prescription, and the house has said so since 1934.
Drinking water
The deck fountains run on town mains filtered through ceramic, not on the spring. The spring water is for bathing, full stop. This is a 1931 bylaw the house keeps framed in the stairwell, and it settles the argument every time it returns.
Curious about taste? The drying yard sells spring-finished bath salts and barley soap, and the lemon barley cordial in the tearoom, which is the closest thing to drinking the hill.
Bathe in the real thing
Every session uses the same spring the house was built around. Book the dawn and smell the hill yourself.
The Pools
Cascade, Meridian, Mosaic, Plunge, Resting. In that order.
41 °CThe Water
One spring, honestly described, never sweetened.
Since 1926History
Ottilie Marsh, the ward years, the slow clock.
8 ritualsTreatments
Hands, heat, salt and birch, priced plainly.
ArchiveThe Journal
Longer notes from the stairwell cabinet.
VisitPlan a Visit
Trains, towpaths, punts and what to bring.