Page:The South Staffordshire Coalfield - Joseph Beete Jukes - 1859.djvu/89

And at Upper Gornal clayworks, the following beds represented the Bottom coal:—

	FT.	IN.	FT.	IN.
[1]Coal			1	6
Parting	0	8	–
Coal			0	4
Fire-clay	1	2	–
Coal			2	0
	1	10	3	10
Total, including partings			5	8

A mile and a half south of this latter locality, at the Graveyards, in what we have spoken of as the south-western part of the coal-field, we get, below the little coal which we have already supposed to be the Fire-clay coal, a set of beds 28 ft. 5 in. in thickness, alternations of fire-clay, rock, clunch, and binds, and containing two " ball ironstone measures," which may perhaps represent the ironstones of the " Poor robin," and " Rough Hill White and below these, a coal 2 feet thick, which may probably represent the Bottom coal.

Similarly at Mr. Gibbons's Level colliery, there was found the following section:—

		FT.	IN.		FT.	IN.
1.	Coal and batt, supposed Fire-clay				1	6
2.	Fire-clay	6	3	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \\\ \\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	20	11
3.	Strong dark clunch, with balls of ironstone	6	5
4.	Strong white rock	4	0
5.	Broad earth, with balls of ironstone	4	3
6.	Coal				1	0
7.	Black batt	0	5	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	6	1
8.	Fire-clay	5	8
9.	Coal and batt				1	5
					30	11

Of which beds 2 to 5 may represent those described in the last section (Nos. 27 to 31), and either 6 or 9, or the group of 6 to 9 inclusive, may represent the "Bottom coal." These are the only localities in this south-west district in which, so far as I am aware, any beds that can be compared with the Bottom coal of the Wolverhampton district have been met with.

We may now return to Willenhall, and trace the Bottom coal towards the north and east, namely, to Bentley, Bloxwich, and the Brown Hills. At the Trentham colliery, near Mumber-lane, the Bottom coal assumed the following form:—

	FT.	IN.	FT.	IN.
[2]Coal			0	11
Parting	0	3	–
Coal			0	5
Parting	0	4	–
Coal			0	7

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1. Mr. J. Kenyon Blackwell.
2. From Messrs. Bate.