Salisbury Cathedral's foundations are so shallow that it effectively rests on a bed of gravel and water. If the water gets too low, it has to be topped up to keep the building up.
Which is why the cathedral, as well as attracting dubious Russian tourists, inspiring The Spire by William Golding and housing a bust of Richard Jefferies, has a dipstick.
This was used to measure the water level under the cathedral, so it could be topped up if necessary.
Paul Whitewick says a system of sluices was built to make this possible, but today the water is monitored automatically by the Environment Agency, so the Holy Dipstick of Salisbury is just for show.
But he couldn't discover where the water it taken from.
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