The volume is described as a 'wast-book' although it appears to be written up neatly and may therefore be a fair copy of rougher notes as can be found in the Savile collection for both transit instrument and quadrant observations. It is in the same hand as both the rough and fair notes of the 1740s in for example MSS. Savile 67-73. This volume begins with a description of the mural quadrant and how it is to be deployed, followed by an explanation of the layout of the volume in twelve columns. Not all the columns are filled for each observation. The first column records the date of the observation; the next nine columns measure the movement of the object; the last two columns record the state of the atmosphere from barometer and thermometer readings. On 5-6 Dec 1741 (fol. 3v) there is a note that the quadrant has been moved to make observations to the southward, and a statement that observations taken were 'for the sake of observing the differences of their transits by the telescope of the quadrant and that of the transit instrument.' There is a further explanation of the purpose of the observations on fol. 4r, with notes on the adjustments of the position of the quadrant on fols. 4r, 5v, 6r, 7r and 9r. According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry for George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield, the records of his observations for the quadrant extend from 1743 to 1793. The earliest Shirburn Castle quadrant observations in the Savile collectionile date from 24 Jan 1743 (MS. Savile 79). This 'Wast-Book' runs from 13 Nov 1741 to 8 Nov 1742, and so would appear to be the earliest record of the quadrant observations.