Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/526

STAFFORD. 514 STAFFORD. The principal river is the Trent, which rises from New- pool, near Biddulph, on the borders of Cheshire, and flows in an irregular south-easterly course of 50 miles across the county to Burton, on the borders of Derby- shire. It is rapid throughout, but is not navigable above Burton. Its chief affluents are the Sow and the Tame from the right, and the Blyth and Dove from the left. The Sow rises on the "Welsh border near Brough- ton, and flows past Eccleshall and Stafford to the Trent, being joined by the Penk, a tributary which comes from Wolverhampton. The Tame is formed by the conflu- ence of several small streams S.W. of Walsall, and has a winding course of 42 miles, partly in Warwickshire, but chiefly in this county, before it falls into the Trent. It flows past Tamworth, and is joined by the Eea, which comes from Birmingham ; the Cole from Colehill ; the Blythe from Watley Moor, in the potteries; and the Anker. The Dove rises in the moorlands to the N.W. of Longnor, and soon enters the vale of Dovedale, where it receives from the right the waters of the Manifold, a subterranean stream, and the Churnet, and, forming the boundary between this county and Derbyshire for several miles, finally joins the Trent. The county has a large railway development. The London and North- Western traverses it in a N.N.W. direction, entering near Bilston, and leaving it near Crewe ; while the Trent Valley, the Shrewsbury and Birmingham, and other branches, bring all parts into easy communication with the midland and south-western lines. The roads are numerous and well arranged, the principal being the old mail-coach road from London to Holyhead, the Chester and Holyhead road, the London and Liverpool, the London and Manchester by Derby, and the road from Birmingham to Derby, connecting the south- western with the northern counties. The canals are extensive and ramified, making up an aggregate length of 250 miles, and cost about 500,000. The Trent and Mersey or Grand Trunk canal enters from Cheshire, near Sandon, on the N.W. and follows the course of the Trent, passing into Derbyshire near Bux- ton. The Stafford and Worcester canal branches from it at Haywood, near the mouth of the Sow, and runs past Wolverhampton, connecting Bristol with Liver- pool and Hull. The Coventry and Oxford canal con- nects the Thames navigation interiorly with the Mer- sey and Humber, joining the Trunk canal at Fradley Heath. The Birmingham canal passes through the coal and iron districts by Dudley and Wolverhampton, and runs into the Stafford and Worcestershire canal near the latter town. A junction line branches from near Wolverhampton to Nantwich, in Cheshire. The Wyrley and Essington canal, with thirty locks in a dis- tance of 23 miles, leaves the Birmingham canal at Wol- verhampton, and runs eastward to Wyrley Bank, com- municating also with the Coventry canal between Fradley Heath and Fazeley ; it has three short branches. The Fazeley and Birmingham canal, only a small part of which is in this county, leaves the Coventry and Oxford canal at Fazeley. In the N. the Newcastle-under-Lyne canal connects that town with the Trent and Mersey canal, from which, in the neighbourhood of Stone, the Caldon canal branches to Hanley in the potteries, and past Leek and "Dttoxeter to the valley of the Dove. There are other canals, some of which are private pro- perty. A substratum of New Red sandstone generally prevails in the central and southern districts, and of limestone in the upland region in the N. Limestone also appears in the Sedgley Hills, at Rushall, and Hay- field, and underlies most of the South Staffordshire coalfields, particularly in the neighbourhood of Dudley. Quarries of sulphate of lime, or alabaster, are worked on the banks of the Dove, and ragstone of a rusty blue c lour at Rowley. Sandstone suitable for mouldings is quarried at Bilston. Clays of great variety are found at the surface, and at mineable depths in abundance. At Darlstown a blue clay, used by glovers, is met with. Pot- ter's earth is extensively procured in the neighbourhood of Newcastle-under-Lyne, and at Amblecoat a kind of clay is raised from 45 feet below the coal strata, in quantities exceeding 4,000 tons a year, which is suitable for making crucibles, fire-bricks, and glass-house pots. Copper is found at Ecton and Butterton, and lead at Ectou and on Stanton Moor. There are extensive works for smelting and refining brass and copper at Brookhouses, Oakamoor, and Whiston, near Cheadle, but the calamine and ore are principally procured from other counties. The great mineral wealth of Stafford- shire, however, consists in its supplies of iron and coal. The North Staffordshire or Potteries coal-field embraces an area of 80 square miles. It is of triangular form, and extends from Lane End in the Potteries to Congleton in Cheshire, a distance of 13 miles. The base of the triangle, which is in the southern part, is 8 to 10 miles in length. The Cheadle coal district, which is to the E. of this, may be considered a portion of the same field. The strata are generally from 3 to 10 feet thick. The coals raised in the southern part, near Cheadle, are for the most part of better quality and thicker than are got in the N. The number of collieries under inspection is 127. From beneath this coalfield the coarse sandstone called millstone grit crops out, and covers a considerable district. The South Staffordshire or Dudley field is celebrated for the thickness of its strata and the excel- lence of its coal, which is specially suited for the smelt- ing of iron. It contains an area of upwards of 100 square miles, and extends from Walsall to Wolverhamp- ton, and from a line in Crannock Chase to a line near Stourbridge, in Worcestershire. Its length is 20 miles from N. to S., and its breadth is 10 miles, but this in- cludes Rowley hills. The number of collieries under inspection in this district is 422. Coal is found in strata in some places of the aggregate thickness of 24 to 36 feet. But iron is the most valuable mineral of the county, which has been called the Chalybia of England. Strata of iron ore are everywhere underlying and alternating with the coal seams, the most abundant mines being at Wednesbury, Wolverhampton, Tipton, Bilston, and Sedgley. The amount annually produced exceeds 600,000 tons, and is only equalled by the South Wales district, which yields upwards of 700,000 tons. The climate, particularly in the high grounds and moorlands of the N.E., is characterised by coldness and humidity, and harvests are in consequence later and more preca- rious than in other parts of the county. The rainfall averages 36 inches, while the amount in London seldom exceeds 21 to 22 inches, and though drainage is carefully attended to in the S., a retentive subsoil in the N. prevents the wet from sinking through, and this moisture affects the temperature of the entire county. The soils vary from light soils managed on the four-course system to the stiffest clay farmed on the six-course principle. About three-fourths of the entire is arable, but much of the land is cold and best suited for moorland oats, which is often grown for three years in succession, and the land then laid down with grass while full of weeds. In the S., however, a better system is observed, and friable loam of a sandy, calcareous nature admits of improved husbandry being adopted. Rich pastures and meadows are found generally on the banks of the rivers, producing excellent cheese. About 10,000 to 12,000 acres of Can- nock Chase are still unenclosed. Lord Hatherton's estate at Tiddesley was formerly a waste part of it, but is now thoroughly drained, and produces good crops. Farm buildings are generally good; farms are mostly held from year to year, and fields are small and sur- rounded by hedgerows. Long-horned cattle are most esteemed, but the short-horns have many admirers, and crosses between them are not unfrequent. Dairy hus- bandry is not much practised ; cheese is made rivalling that of Derbyshire and Cheshire, and quantities of cattle are stall-fed on tur.nips, hay, and oil-cake. Southdown and Leicester sheep are successfully reared, and many other breeds may be found. It is, however, chiefly a manufacturing county. The Potteries in the N. are the principal seat of the earthenware and china business, and to the iron and coal district of the S. England owes much of her wealth and greatness. Both of these branches of industry are of comparatively recent date.