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Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924004551846 
 
80 N.W. 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURYEY. 
 
 ENGLAND AND WALES. 
 
 THE 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY AROUND 
 PRESCOT, LANCASHIRE. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF QUARTER-SHEET 80 N.W., 
 
 AND 
 
 CORRESPONDING SIX-INCH MAPS, Nos. 107 and 108 
 (Lancashire). 
 
 BY 
 
 EDWARD HULL, M.A., F.R.S., F.G.S., 
 THIRD EDITION - , 
 WITH ADDITIONS BY A. STRAHAN, MA., F.G.S. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY OEDEE OF THE LOBDS COMMISSIONERS OF HEB MAJESTY S TEEASFEY. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, 
 
 AHD SOLD BY 
 
 Longmans & Co., Paternoster Row; Trubner & Co., Ludgate Hill; 
 
 Letts, Son, & Co. Limited, 33. King William Street ; 
 
 Edward Stanford, Junior, 55, Charing Cross ; 
 
 J. Wtld, 12, Charing Cross ; and 
 
 T. J. Day, ,53, Market Street, Manchester : 
 
 ALSO BY 
 
 Messrs. Johnston, 16, South St. Andrew Street; Edinburgh : 
 
 Hodges, Figgis, & Co., 104, Grafton Street, and A. TnoM & Co., 
 
 Abbey Street, Dublin, 
 
 1882. 
 
 Price Three Shillings. 
 
LIST OF CEOLOC1CAL MAPS, SECTIONS, AND PUBLICATIONS OF THE 
 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. 
 
 •The Maps are those of the Ordnance Survey, geologically coloured by the Geological Survey of Great Britain and Ireland 
 under the Superintendence of Prof. A. 0. Ramsay, LL.D., F.R.S., &c„ Director-General. The various Formations arc 
 traced and coloured in all their Subdivisions. 
 
 ENGLAND AND WALES. -(Scale one-inch to a mile.) 
 Maps, Nos. S to 41, 44, 64, price 8s. ed. each, with the exceptions of 2. 10, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 32, 88, 89, 68, 4s. each. 
 Sheets divided into four quarters, 42, 43,45,46, (48 SB), 52, 53,54,55, 56,57, (59 NE. SB). 60, 61,62, 63,64, 71.72, 73 74. 
 
 75, (76NS), (77N),78, 79, 80, 81. 82, 87, 88,89, 105 (90 SE, NE,) (91 SW. NW, 93 S¥,HW), (98 NE, SE, SW), (101 SE), 
 
 (109 SE). Price Ss. Except (57 NW),76 (N), (77 NE). Price Is. ed. 
 
 SCOTLAND.— Maps 2, 3, 7, 14, 15, 22, 24, SI, 32, 33, 34, 40 41, 6s. each. Maps 1, 13, 4s. 
 
 IRELAND.— Maps 21, 28, 29, 86, 37, 47, 48, 49, 50, 59, 60, 61, 70, 71, 72, 74, 75, 78 to 92, and from 95 to 205, price 3s. each, 
 ■with the exception of 38, 50,72,82, 122, 181,140,150, 169, 160, 170, 180,181, 182, 189, 190,196,197, 202, 203, 204, 205, price 
 Is. ed. each. 
 
 HOBIZONTAL SECTIONS, Illustrative of the Geological Haps. 
 
 1 to 120. England, price 5s. each. 1 to 6, Scotland, price 5s. each. 1 to 24, Ireland, price 6s. each. 
 
 VERTICAL SECTION'S, Illustrative of Horizontal Sections and Maps* 
 1 to 62, England, price 3s. ed. each. 1, Ireland, price 8s. ed. 1 to 5, Scotland, price 3s. ed. 
 
 COMPLETED COUNTIES OF EVGLAHD AND WAXES, on a Scale of one-inch to a Mile. 
 
 The sheets marked * have Descriptive Memoirs. 
 Those marked t are illustrated by General Memoirs. 
 
 ANGLESE I,— sheets 77 (N), 78. Horizontal Sections, sheet 40. 
 BEDFORDSHIRE,— sheets 46 (NW.NE.SWt, & SEt), 52 (NW, NE, SW, & SE). 
 BERKSHIRE— sheets 7*, 8t, 12*, IS*, 34*. 45 (SW*). Horizontal Sections, sheets 69, 71, 72 80). 
 'BRECKNOCKSHIRE— sheets 36, 41, 42, 56 (NW & SW), 57 (NE & SE). Horizontal Sections, sheets 4, 6; 6, 11; and 
 
 Vertical Sections, sheets 4 and 10. 
 BUCKINGHAMSHIRE,— 7* 18* 45* (NE, SE). 46 (NW, SWt), 52 (SW). Horizontal Sections, 74, 79. 
 'CAERMARTHENSHIRE, 87, 88, 40, 41, 42 (NW &. SW), 56 (SW), 57 (SW & SE). Horizontal Sections 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, « ; > 
 
 and Vertical Sections 8, 4, 5, 6, IS, 14. 
 •CAERNARVONSHIRE,— 74 (NW), 75, 76, 77 (N), 78, 79 (NW.8; SW). Horizontal Sections 28, 31, 40. 
 'CARDIGANSHIRE,— 40, 41, 56 (NW), 57, 58, 59 (SE), 60 (SW). Horizontal Sections 4, 5, 6. 
 CHESHIRE— 73 (NE & NW), 79 (NE & SE), 80, 81 (NW* & SW*), 88 (SW). Horizontal Sections 18, 43, 44, 60, 64, 66, 
 
 67, 70. 
 ■CORNWALL,— 24t 25t, 26t, 29t, 30t, 31t, S2t, & 33t. 
 DENBIGH,— 73 (NW), 74, 75 (NE), 78 (NE & SE), 79 (NW, SW, & SE), 80 (SW). Horizontal Sections 31, S5, S3, S9, 
 
 43, 44, and Vertical Sections, sheet 24. 
 DERBYSHIRE,— 62 (NE), 6S (NW), 71 (NW, SW, &. SE), 72 (NE, SE), 81, 82, 88 (SW, SE). Horizontal Sections 18, 
 
 46, 60, 61, 69, 70. 
 DEVONSHIRE,— 20+, 21+, 22t, 23+, 24t. 25+, 26+, & 27+. Horizontal Sections, sheet 19. 
 + The Geology of the Counties of Cornwall and Devon is fully illustrated by Sir H. De la Beche's " Report." 8vo. 14s. 
 
 DORSETSHIRE,— 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22. Horizontal Sections, sheets 19, 20, 21, 22 56. Vertical sections, sheet 22, 
 
 FLINTSHIRE,— 74 (NE), 79. Horizontal Sections, sheet 43. 
 
 •GLAMORGANSHIRE,— 20, 36, 37, 41, & 42 (SE & SW) . Horizontal Sections, sheets 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 ; and Vertical Sections, 
 
 sheets 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 47. 
 ■GLOUCESTERSHIRE,— 19, 34*, 35, 43 (NE, SW, & SE), 44*. Horizontal Sections 12, IS, 14, 16, 59; and Vertical 
 
 Sections, 7, 11, 15, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51. 
 HAMPSHIRE,— 8+, 9, 10*, II, 12*, 14, 15, 16. Horizontal Section, sheet 80. 
 HEREFORDSHIRE— 42 (NE £ SE), 43, 55, 56 (NE & SE). Horizontal Sections 5, 13, 27, SO, 34 ; and Vertical Sections, 
 
 sheet 15. 
 KENT,— 1+ (SW & SE), 2+ 3+ 4*, 5, 6+. Horizontal Sections, sheets 77 and 78. 
 MERIONETHSHIRE— 59 (NE & SE),60 (NW), 74,75(NE & SE). Horizontal Sections, sheets 26, 28, 29,31, 32, 36, S7, 
 
 38, 89. 
 MIDDLESEX— 1+ (NW & SW) 7*, 8t. Horizontal Sections, sheet 79. 
 MONMOUTHSHIRE,— 35, 36, 42 (SE &NE) 43 (SW). Horizontal Sections, sheets 6 and 12; and Vertical Sections, ■ 
 
 sheets 8, 9, 10, 12. 
 MONTGOMERYSHIRE— 56 (NW), 59 (NE 4 SE), 60, 74 (SW & SE). Horizontal Sections, sheets 26, 27, 29, 80, 32, 34 
 
 85, 36, 88. 
 NORTHAMPTONSHIRE -64, 45 (NW&NE), 46 (NW), 52 (NW, NE, & SW), 63 (NE, SW, & SE), 63 (SE), 64. 
 OXFORDSHIRE —7*, 13*, 34*, 44*. 45*, 53 (SE*, SW). Horizontal Sections, sheets 71, 72, 81, 82. 
 PEMBROKESHIRE— 38, 39, 40, 41, 58. Horizontal Sections, sheets 1 and 2 ; and Vertical Sections, sheets 12 and IS. 
 RADNORSHIRE,— 42 (NW & NE), 66, 60 (SW &. SE) Horizontal Sections, sheets 5, 6, 27. 
 RUTLANDSHIRE,— this county is included in sheet 64. ' 
 SHROPSHIRE-55 (NW, NE), 56 (NE), 60 (NE, SE), 61, 62 (NW), 73 74 (NE, SE). Horizontal Sections, sheets 24, 
 
 25, 80, S3, 34, 86, 41, 44, 45, 68, 54, 68; and Vertical Sections, sheets 23, 24. 
 SOMERSETSHIRE— 18, 19, 20, 21, 27, 35. Horizontal Sections, sheets 15, 16, 17, 20, 21 & ?.2 ; and Vertical Sections, 
 
 sheets 12, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, and 61. - 
 
 STAFFORDSHIRE,— (54 NW), 55 (NE), 61 (NE, SE),'62, 63 (NW), 71 (SW), 72, 73 (NE, SE), 81 (SE, SW). Hori- 
 zontal Sections 18, 23, 24, 25, 41, 42, 45, 49, 64, 67, 61, 60 : and Vertical Sections, sheets 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 26. 
 SURREY— 1 (SW+), 6+, 7*, 8+, 9. Horizontal Sections, sheets 74, 76, 76, and 79. 
 SUSSEX— 4*, 5 6, 8, 9, 11. Horizontal Sections, sheets 73, 75, 76, 77, 78. 
 WARWICKSHIRE— 44*, 45 (NW), 53*. 54, 62 (NE, SW, & SE), 63 (NW, SW, & SE). Horizontal Sections, si .ets *s 
 
 48, 49, 50, 51 82, 83 ; and Vertical Sections, sheet 21. 
 WILTSHIRE— 12*, 13*, 14, 15, 18, 19, 34* and 85. Horizontal Sections, sheets 15 and 59. 
 WORCESTERSHIRE.— 43 (NE), 44*, 6*, 55, 62 (SW & SE) 61 (SB). Horizontal Sections IS, 23, 26. 60, and 69- and 
 
 Vertical Section 15. ' 
 
80 N.W. 
 
 MEMOIRS OP THE GEOLOGICAL SUEYEY. 
 
 ENGLAND AND WALES. 
 
 THE 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTEY AEOUND 
 PEESCOT, LANCASHIRE. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF QUARTER-SHEET 80 N.W., 
 
 AND 
 
 CORRESPONDING SIX-INCH MAPS, Nos. 107 and 108 
 (Lancashire). 
 
 by 
 
 EDWARD HULL, M.A., F.R.S., F.G.S., 
 
 THIRD EDITION, 
 
 WITH ADDITIONS BY A. STRAHAN, MA., F.G.S. 
 
 PPBLIBHED BY OBDEB OP THE LOEDS COMMISSIOHEBS OP HBB MAJESTY'S TBEASXTBY. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, 
 AND SOLD BY 
 
 Longmans & Co., Paternoster Row ; Trubner & Co., Ludgate Hill ; 
 
 Letts, Son, & Co. Limited, 33. King William Street ; 
 
 Edw*jkd Stanford, Junior, 55, Charing Cross ; 
 
 J. Wyld, 12, Charing Cross ; and 
 
 T. J. Day, 53, Market Street, Manchester : 
 
 ALSO BY 
 
 Messrs. Johnston, 16, South St. Andrew Street, Edinburgh : 
 
 Hodges, Figgis, & Co., 104, Grafton Street, and A. TnoM & Co., 
 
 Abbey Street, Dublin. 
 
 1882. 
 
 Price Three Shillings, 
 1l* 
 
NOTICE AND PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. 
 
 This Memoir, by Mr. E. Hull, on the Geology of the 
 Country around Prescot in Lancashire, is the first descrip- 
 tion of any tract in England which has been mapped 
 upon the six-inch scale. Whilst the value of such 
 Surveys to the proprietors has already been manifested 
 by the large sale of those Maps •which simply represent 
 the topography of the country, it is hoped that in 
 Lancashire and other Northern Mining tracts, great 
 advantage may be obtained from the detailed knowledge 
 of the nature and true order of the Strata. 
 
 Roderick I. Murchison, 
 Geological Survey Office, Director-General. 
 
 16th May 1860. 
 
 The Author takes this opportunity of acknowledging 
 with thanks the readiness with which he has been 
 assisted by the various Proprietors and Managers of 
 Collieries in carrying forward the Geological Survey of 
 this district. Without their co-operation it would have 
 been impossible to have produced a Map showing in 
 detail the faults, depths of the shafts, and outcrops of 
 the coal-seams. 
 
 From several mineral surveyors of St. Helen's much 
 valuable assistance has been received, and while it is 
 almost invidious to mention one — where this is due to 
 several — the Author cannot refrain from acknowledging, 
 in an especial manner, the services of Mr. David Bates, 
 of Cowley Hill. 
 
 Some of the particulars regarding old and abandoned 
 Coal Mines have been derived from colliers on the spot, 
 no other source of information being available. 
 
 Q4«92. Wt. 157^9. 
 
NOTICE TO THIRD EDITION. 
 
 Quarter Sheet 80, N.W., was originally surveyed by 
 Professor Hull, and published in 1859. It was re- 
 surveyed for the addition of the Drift, and completed in 
 1878 by Messrs. De Eance and Strahan ; the former being 
 responsible for the North-Western portion (included in 
 Sheets 106, 107, 113, 117, 6-inch Lancashire), the latter 
 for the remaining area. 
 
 The Memoir, as regards the Carboniferous Rocks, 
 remains nearly as it was written by Professor Hull. 
 That portion treating of the New Red Sandstone has 
 been re-written and largely added lo by Mr. Strahan, 
 some changes having been made in the description of the 
 Bunter Beds, and a new classification of the Keuper 
 established (consisting of a separation of the Waterstones 
 from the Lower Keuper Sandstone or Basement Beds) ; 
 while corrections in the detailed mapping have been 
 made, as at Frodsham and Runcorn. ^ 
 
 Other large additions by Mr. Strahan are as follows : — 
 The superficial or surface (Drift) deposits are, for the 
 first time, fully described, and are distinguished, by 
 different colours on a separate edition of the map. An 
 account of various wells situated within the area is given, 
 with the quantity of water got from each, and general 
 remarks on the question of water-supply. Some im- 
 portant information has been added on the recent proving 
 of Coal Measures, beneath the New Red Sandstone. 
 
 Further details on the re-mapping of the Keuper Beds 
 are given in the Memoir on the Geology of the Neighbour- 
 hood of Chester, in which will also be found a list of all 
 the works relating to the Geology of Cheshire. 
 
 H. W. Bristow, 
 Geological Survey Office, Senior Director. . 
 
 28, Jermyn Street, London, S.W. 
 1st April, 1881. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 SOLID GEOLOGY. 
 
 PART III. 
 ECONOMIC GEOLOGY. 
 
 Page 
 
 Introduction ------- i 
 
 Millstone Geit .... -2 
 
 Coal Measures : — 
 
 Croxteth Park District ----- 3 
 
 Prescot ----- 4 
 
 St. Helens - - - .... 7 
 
 The Whiston Inlier - ■ - - 1 1 
 
 Permian Rocks - - 11 
 
 New Red Sandstone : — 
 
 Bunter - - - 12 
 
 Keuper -------14 
 
 Exposures of Faults - • - - 21 
 
 PART II. 
 
 SUPERFICIAL GEOLOGY. 
 
 Introduction - - - - - - -21 
 
 Glacial : — 
 
 Sand and Gravel ------ 22 
 
 Boulder Clay - - 26 
 
 Glacial Striffl - - - - 26 
 
 Boulders - - 29 
 
 Post-Glacial and Recent :— ■ 
 
 River Terraces ... - - 29 
 
 Shirdley Hill Sand - - 30 
 
 Peat and Submarine Foresl s - - - - 31 
 
 Alluvial Deposits ----- 32 
 
 Agricultural ------- 33 
 
 Building Materials, &c. - - - -34 
 
 Water-Supply : List op Wells and Waterlevel - 36 
 
 Q 4292. 
 
Iv 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 Recent Proving ojE 1 Coal-Measckes undek New Red SanDstonE. 
 
 Page 
 Bold Hall Colliery 44 
 
 Collins Green Colliery ------ 44 
 
 Lyme Pits, Haydock Colliery ----- 45 
 
 Win-wick Well and Borehole - - - - 45 
 
 Parkside „ „ - - - - - 46 
 
 Farnworth ,, „ - - - - -46 
 
 Kough Dales ------- 47 
 
 Whiston Pumping Station . - - - - 48 
 
 Netherlee Bridge - - - - - - 48 
 
 Details of Sections - - 49 
 
 Analyses of Sandstones - - - - 65 
 
 Salt Springs in Coal-Measures - - - 65 
 
 Plate 1. Index Map (80, N.W.)> and Sections showing the 
 
 Relation of the Waterlevel to the Surface of the Ground - 36 
 
 Plate II. Section of Borehole at Dallam Lane Forge, Warrington 42 
 
 List of Woodcuts. 
 
 Fig. 1. Section in Croxteth Park 3 
 
 „ 2. Section of the Railway-Cutting east of Whistoa Cross- 11 
 
 „ 3. Section from Weston Point to Halton - - ■>• 14 
 
 „ 4. Current bedding in the Lower Keuper Sandstone (Frod- 
 
 sham Beds) Frodsham Railway Station - - 17 
 
 „ 5. Junction of Waterstones and Frodsham Beds near 
 
 Overton ------ 18 
 
 „ 6. Sand-pit in the Hooton and Ellesmere Branch Railway, 
 
 near Ellesmere Port - - - - 23 
 
 „ 7. Contorted Shale in Pebble Beds, Railway Cutting near 
 
 Ince ------- 27 
 
 „ 8. Contortion in Pebble Beds, Railway Cutting near Ince - 27 
 
 „ 9. „ „ West of Ince Railway Station 28 
 
 „ 10. Ince Ferry, Cheshire - ... - 31 
 
 „ 11. Valley of the Weaver, Dutton Bottoms - 32 
 
GEOLOGY 
 
 OP THE 
 
 COUNTRY AROUND PRESCOT, LANCASHIRE. 
 
 PAKT I. 
 SOLID GEOLOGY. 
 
 This Quarter-sheet embraces a district extending from the 
 suburbs of Liverpool on the north-west to the margin of the great 
 salt-producing basin of Cheshire in the opposite direction, and 
 contains the towns of Prescot, St. Helen's, Warrington, Runcorn, 
 and Frodsham. The district is divided into unequal parts by the 
 Mersey, which, west of Euncorn Gap, expands into an estuary 
 three miles in breadth opposite Ince. The bed of the estuary is 
 for the most part laid dry at low water, with the exception of the 
 river-channels. The rise and fall of spring-tides at Liverpool is 
 36 feet. 
 
 The region south of the Mersey is most hilly. The broken 
 ridges above Frodsham, Runcorn, and Warrington form the 
 northernmost spurs of a range of Triassic hills, which may be 
 traced continuously ' southward to Malpas in Cheshire. This 
 range marks the junction of the Bunter and Keuper forma- 
 tions, and embraces the escarpments of Helsby, Beeston, and Peck-- 
 forton., As far north as Runcorn Hill the trend of the range 
 is nearly from south to north, but at this point the direction 
 changes from west to east, as the same range is continued through 
 Lymm. 
 
 In the hills of Frodsham and Runcorn the general dip of the 
 strata is easterly. The base of the Keuper forms the crests of 
 the ridges, which present their most abrupt slopes to the west, 
 and these features are repeated by a succession of north and south 
 faults. (See Fig. 3.) 
 
 On the north side of the Mersey the land rises gradually from 
 the water edge, and towards Woolton, "Wavertree, and West 
 Derby, Knowsley, Rainhill, and St. Helen's forms hills of an 
 average elevation of 260 feet. These hills are generally parallel 
 to the strike, and show the position of the harder beds ; those of 
 softer character occupying the intermediate valleys. — E. H. 
 
 The low ground and valleys are occupied by Boulder Clay, and 
 
 must have been damp and unfit for habitation before they were 
 
 drained and brought under cultivation. The hills in which the 
 
 rock rises to the surface through the clay were almost invariably 
 
 Q 4292. » 
 
GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY AROUND PRESOOT. 
 
 Trias, or New 
 
 Eed Sandstone^ 
 
 f. 
 
 selected by the early inhabitants as the sites of their villages. — 
 AS. 
 
 The following formations are represented on the edition of the 
 map for Solid Geology : — , 
 
 T Red Marl f 6 . 
 f Keuper J Waterstones f 6 . 
 
 "" Lower Kenper Sandstone or Base- 
 ment Beds f *. 
 Upper Eed and Mottled Sand- 
 stone f s . 
 Pebble Beds f 2 . 
 
 Lower Eed and Mottled Sand- 
 stone f \ 
 Upper Eed Marl e 2 . 
 _ Lower Eed Sandstone e 1 . 
 
 J Upper and Middle Coal-measures 
 d B . 
 Lower Coal-measures,' or Gan- 
 
 nister Beds d B . 
 Millstone Grit d 4 . 
 
 Bunter < 
 
 Permian Beds - 
 e. 
 
 Carboniferous Eocks 
 d. 
 
 CARBONIFEROUS ROCKS. 
 
 The Carboniferous Eocks occupy four areas in the northern 
 part of the map, being branches from the south-western border of 
 the great Lancashire Coalfield, and we shall commence their 
 description with the Millstone Grit series. 
 
 Millstone Grit. 
 
 This is the lowest member of the Carboniferous series occurring 
 in this district, and it is confined to a small area in Knowsley 
 Park. The uppermost bed, consisting of hard coarse-grained 
 grit, may be seen in an old quarry at Eiding Hill, and close to 
 the south side of the Hall. In the former case, the beds appear 
 to dip southward at an angle of 5° under the Lower Coal- 
 measures which extend to Huyton; and, in the latter, the beds 
 are much shattered, and are probably close to the great fault 
 which throws in the New Red Sandstone on the western side. 
 This coarse grit probably represents the " Rough Rock." Beds 
 still lower in the series may be observed at the Stand Quarry, 
 consisting of grits and micaceous flags resting on shales. These 
 beds dip southward at an angle of 30°. The Millstone Grit series 
 is bounded on the east by the large down-throw fault which- 
 ranges northward by Whi ston Hall. 
 
 Coal-measures. 
 
 The Coal-measures are divisible into three general stages, which 
 may be termed lower, middle, and upper, which are here adopted 
 principally for the convenience of description. The lower stage 
 includes the beds from the Millstone Grit to the top of the 
 
COAL-MEASURES. — OEOXTETH PARK. 
 
 Up-Holland Flag series^ or " Gannister Beds,"* and includes only 
 
 a few thin coal-seams called " Moun- 
 tain Mines." This series is re- 
 presented at Knowsley Park, 
 Whiston, and Huyton.f 
 
 The middle stage contains the 
 whole series of productive Coal- 
 measures, extending from the top of 
 the Up-Holland Flags to the " Lyons' 
 Delf " Coal. This upper limit is not 
 intended to mark any physical break 
 in the series, but is only adopted to 
 show the position of the highest 
 workable coal-seam. 
 
 The upper stage is composed of an 
 assemblage of red and purplish sand- 
 stones and shales, without workable 
 coal-beds, but with a band of lime- 
 stone at Whiston, extending from the 
 Lyons' Delf up to the New Red 
 *" q Sandstone. This formation does not, 
 
 o however, mark strictly the upper 
 
 7 limit of the Coal-measures, as it rests 
 
 ^v„ g ^ upon them unconformably. 
 
 g §• The formation occupies four easily 
 
 denned districts ; those of Croxteth 
 Park, Prescot, St. Helen's, and Oak 
 Farm, near Whiston. These will now 
 be described in the order here named. 
 
 8 
 
 ■8 
 
 g 
 
 o 
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 JSt3 
 
 .2 v 
 
 .2 S 
 
 •&*■> 
 
 PS 
 
 ££■ 
 
 s ™ 
 
 5 SO 
 
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 •ws. 
 
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 ■•83 
 
 <SQtg 
 
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 *5§ 
 
 Croxteth Park District. 
 
 The Coal-measures here form an 
 area extending two miles S.S.E. to 
 N.N.W., and about half a mile across 
 at Croxteth Park. The western 
 boundary is a fault by which the 
 New Red Sandstone is thrown down 
 on the west against the Coal-measures, 
 the dislocation being probably not 
 less than 400 yards. The eastern 
 boundary, at the only place where it 
 was visible during the progress of 
 
 the survey (1858-9), was found to be 
 
 a superposition of the New Red 
 
 Sandstone broken by small faults. This section was laid open 
 
 when the road from Croxteth to Knowsley was being deepened, 
 
 but as it is now covered up it is represented in the section 
 
 (Fig- I)- 
 
 * Prof. Phillips' Manual of Geology. 
 
 f Mr. E. W. Binney, Mem. Lit. Phil. Soc, Manchester, vol. xii. p. 39. 
 
 A 2 
 
4 GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY AROUND PRESCOT. 
 
 The Coal-measures here shown consist entirely of sandstones of 
 dark purple and red colours, dipping N.E., and intersected by the 
 trough faults shown at about the centre of the section. Farther 
 towards the west, and consequently in a position below these 
 beds, coal has formerly been worked in at least two places, 
 E wings Park and Coal-pit Hey, traces of which may still be 
 found on the ground. There is no record, however, either of the 
 thickness, depth, or quality of the coal ; but the fact of the coal 
 having been worked is still within the recollection of old 
 inhabitants. Coal-measure Sandstone has also been proved under 
 Croxteth Hall, but west of this point the ground is deeply covered 
 by Drift, so that no sections can be obtained till we reach the 
 rising ground of West Derby, composed of Pebble beds of the 
 New Red Sandstone, which dip towards the Coal-measures, thus 
 proving the existence of a fault as the boundary between the two 
 formations. 
 
 Prescot District. 
 
 This district is limited on the east and west by faults, and along 
 the south by a supposed regular superposition of the New Red 
 Sandstone. The position of the fault at Knowsley has been 
 proved under the lake. The Hall stands on coarse Millstone 
 Grit, already referred to. The position of the fault was ascertained 
 precisely at the cross-road south of Huyton Lodge. At the Blue 
 Bell Inn there is a quarry in New Bed Sandstone much jointed ; 
 the joints ranging N.-S. The same beds may be seen at Huyton, 
 and they both belong to the highest subdivision of that formation. 
 The position of the fault was also found in a pit sunk in the north 
 side of the railway at Huyton Hey, which went through New 
 Red Sandstone, and in a boring 320 yards south of Tarbock Tile 
 Works. South of the railway the fault is between Upper 
 Mottled Sandstone and Coal-measures, and has here a throw of 
 more than 350 yards. 
 
 At the southern extremity of the coal-field the ground is 
 covered by deep Drift, sand, or clay, but New Red Sandstone 
 may be seen in a quarry near " The Bog," south of the road to 
 Croxton. These be'ds belong to the Lower Mottled Sandstone 
 subdivision, and appear to dip south-west : but owing to current- 
 bedding the dip is uncertain. It is, therefore, probable that there 
 is no fault between these beds and the Coal-measures. 
 
 The boundary fault of the eastern side of the coal-field is open 
 to view in a foss in Old Halsnead ; it was formerly seen in the 
 Manchester Railway, and was struck in the workings of the Main 
 Coal east of Stank Colliery. Its position may be ascertained east 
 pf Prescot at Eccleston Lane, and at Eccleston Hall by the out- 
 burst of springs. 
 
 Lower Coal-measures, or Gannister Beds. — This series of strata 
 occupies the district stretching northward from Huyton Flagstone 
 quarry to ihe Millstone Grit of Knowsley Park. It is bounded 
 on the west by the great fault which throws in the New Red 
 
COAL-MEASURES. — WHISTON. 
 
 5 
 
 Sandstone, and on the east by the fault which passes along the 
 west side of Mr. Bromilow's old colliery at Prescot ; it also forms 
 part of the high ground of Knowsley Park, and is terminated on 
 the east by a large fault, which nearly coincides with the park- 
 boundary at Trap Wood, and throws out the coals which were 
 worked at Burrow's Lane and Gillar's Green Collieries. The 
 highest beds are shown at Huyton Quarry, where they form an 
 anticlinal arch ; they are worked for flagstones and roofing- 
 slates, for which purposes they are in high request over a large 
 
 tract of Lancashire.* 
 side of the quarry : — 
 
 The following: is the section at the east 
 
 1. Sandstone and sandy shale - 
 
 2. Dark ferruginous shales - 
 
 3. Micaceous flaggy sandstone .... 
 
 4. Micaceous flagstones and tiles, ripple-marked, with 
 
 carbonized plants, and tracks of annelides - 
 
 5. Thick-bedded fine sandstone, current-bedded 
 
 6. Fine-grained micaceous flags, ripple-marked, with partings 
 
 of shale - ... 
 
 Ft. 
 
 In. 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 The same beds are again shown at an old quarry at the extremity 
 of Trap Wood, Knowsley Park, dipping S.S.E. at an angle of 
 10°, and occupying a position about 80 yards below the " Little 
 Del/" Coal. 
 
 Below the flagstones there is a variable series of shales, micaceous 
 flags, and grits more or less coarse, together with several thin 
 seams of coal, known as the " Mountain Mines," or " Gannister 
 Coals," associated with shales containing Goniatites, Aviculo- 
 pecten, Spirifer, and other marine shells. One of these coals has 
 been worked at Hag Brow, and is said to have been about two 
 feet thick. 
 
 Strata belonging to the same series are visible in quarries near 
 Hurst House, and in many places at the eastern side of Knowsley 
 Park, At Singleton's Hill a coarse bed of grit occurs, in a 
 position between the flagstones and the " Mountain Mine" coal, 
 so that it cannot belong to the Millstone Grit series. 
 
 The following is the general succession of strataf at the 
 southern portion of this district, with their representatives in the 
 neighbourhood of St. Helen's :-— 
 
 Prescot District. 
 
 Ft. In. 
 
 St. Helen's District. 
 
 Ft. In. 
 
 Measures with thin coals 
 
 1. Fellcropt Coax (with parting) 
 
 Measures - - - - 
 
 2. Pastures Coax (thins out east- 
 
 ward) • 
 
 Measures ■ 
 
 7 
 96 
 
 4 6 
 
 SO 
 
 Iron's Dew - - 
 
 Measures .... 
 
 Loudon Dels - 
 
 ("Coal -4 0") 
 PoTATOE Dexe-J Earth - 4> - 
 (.Coal - ly 
 
 2 8 
 47 4 
 
 2 a 
 
 86 2 
 
 S 3 
 
 41 9 
 
 * For further account of these beds, see Mr. Binney's Memoir, Lit. and Phil. 
 Trans, of, Manchester, vol. xii. 
 
 f A comparative view of the Coal-measures of Prescot, St, Helen's, and Wigan 
 is given in Sheet 61, Vertical Sections. 
 
GEOLOGY OP THE COUNTRY AROUND PRESCOT. 
 
 Gjmotul Section at Whistqn and St. Helen's — cont. 
 
 Prescot District. 
 
 Ft. In. 
 
 St. Helen's District. 
 
 Ft. In. 
 
 S. Discoveree Coal (worked for 
 forges) - 
 
 Measures - 
 
 4. Yaed Mine Coal 
 
 Measures - - - 
 
 5. Cannel Mute Coal (inferior) ■ 
 
 Measures (average thickness) ■ 
 
 6. Higher Bug- Coal (good) 
 
 7. Lowek Bug Coal 
 
 Measures - 
 
 8. Little Bitd, or Cheshire Coal 
 
 Measures - - - 
 
 ("Coal ■) 
 
 9. Tenl anbs Coal < Shale > 
 (.Coal ) 
 
 10. Bastions Coal (inferior) 
 
 Measures - - - , 
 
 11. Sib John Coal - 
 
 Measures - 
 
 12. Prescot Main Coal (about) - 
 
 IS. Kushet Paek Coal (good) 
 
 Measures- 
 14 Little Dele Coal, or Aeley 
 
 Mine - 
 
 3 
 
 57 
 
 3 2. 
 
 42 
 
 5 9 
 75 
 
 6 6 
 
 6 
 
 8 6 
 
 69 
 
 2 S 
 
 252 .0 
 
 90 
 
 4 
 
 100 
 
 3 4 
 
 50 
 
 10 
 
 240 
 
 6 
 
 150 
 
 /"Coal - 1 4' 
 I SsiSS ■ X 
 Earthy Dele-j Coal - 1 
 
 I Earth - 6 
 ICoal - 1 
 
 Little Dele Coal - 
 
 Coal (with 2 partings of warrant) ■ 
 
 St. Helen's Main Coal - 
 Cannel Coal - 
 
 Foue-Foot Coal 
 
 Pigeon House Coal 
 
 6 2 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 4 
 147 8 
 
 53 
 
 al 3 10") 
 - 4 25- 
 -7 Oj 
 
 3 
 
 (■Higher Coal 3 10") 
 Ravenhead < Warrant 
 (.Main Coal 
 
 Bastion Coal 
 Sie John Coal 
 Flaggy Dele Coal - 
 RusheyPabk Coal - 
 
 Little Delf Coal, or Aeley 
 Mine - 
 
 2 3 
 21 3 
 S 2 
 56 
 
 7 
 
 275 
 
 73 
 3 
 
 155 
 
 8 6 
 
 57 
 
 4 8 
 
 458 (I 
 
 4 6 
 
 162 
 
 3 
 
 The lowest beds occur in Knowsley Park, as the Little Delf 
 and Rushey Park coals have been worked to the outcrop at 
 Mr. Bromilow's old colliery, west of Prescot, and also along the 
 northern side of the town itself, as shown on the map. These 
 coals were also worked at Gillar's- Green Colliery, and are said to 
 crop out in Gillar's Lane. From the relative position of the coals 
 here and at Prescot it is necessary to infer the existence of a 
 large fault branching out of the boundary fault of the New Red 
 Sandstone. The probable position of this fault is shown by a 
 broken line on the map, but as no records appear to have been 
 kept of the workings of this district, its precise position cannot 
 be determined. 
 
 From the outcrop of these lowest coals the beds dip towards 
 the south, and may be crossed in succession from Prescot to 
 Huyton and "Whiston Collieries ; but of the district around Hurst 
 House, the Hazels, and that part of Knowsley Park bordering 
 the boundary fault, little is known, except that it contains onlj 
 thin coals, or " Mountain Mines," of the Gannister series. 
 
 West of the main fault of Huyton, which passes by the west 
 side of Huyton quarry, the dip of the beds is changed from south 
 to west, and the coal seams from the Cheshire Mine to the Rushey 
 Park have been proved to crop out in succession from the Railway 
 south to Logwood Mill Lane. The beds dip west at 15°, and the 
 Cheshire Mine crops out near the pit mouth. 
 
 At Hig Hey Colliery the Felcroft Coal is worked at 51 yards, 
 and the Lower Bug at 144 yards. The same coals are reached at 
 Halsnead Colliery at greater depths, and the dip in both these 
 collieries is S.S.W. at an angle of 11°. 
 
COAL-MEASUBES — ST. HELEN'S. 7 
 
 The principal fault is already described as ranging N. and S 
 along the east of Knowsley Park, and throwing down the beds on 
 the east side. The probability of this fault is strengthened by the 
 position of the coals of Burrows Lane Colliery.* Here the St. 
 Helen's Main Delfyvas worked at a depth of about 70 yards, and 
 the level of the beds as seen in the quarry, would cause these 
 coals to strike against the Gannister beds of Trap Wood — a 
 condition of things involving a large fault. 
 
 A fault of 75 yards downthrow on the west, and two others 
 running N.-S., have been proved in Mr. Bromilow's colliery. 
 
 The main fault of Huyton crosses by the west side of the flag- 
 stone* quarries and reverses the dip ; it is a downthrow on the 
 west of unascertained amount. A parallel fault ranges 200 yards 
 east of the main fault, and has been proved at Huyton Hey 
 Colliery ; but, as I am informed, the ground between has not 
 been explored. The other faults at Huyton Hey Colliery and 
 Halsnead have been proved in the workings. 
 
 At Tarbock, or Whitefield Lane End, the structure of the 
 ground, as shown on the map, has been derived entirely from 
 information received on the spot,| as no other sources were avail- 
 able. The Rushey Park Coal was reached at 252 yards in the 
 engine pit. The strata are much broken, and dip at high angles 
 to the south. They are cut off along a fault passing N.W. by the 
 Colliery House Inn. The dip of the beds is at right angles to 
 that which prevails northward of Huyton Lodge, so that a fault 
 probably ranges from west to east, south of Logwood Mill Lane, 
 as shown on the map. Another fault, passing west by Top Row, 
 with a downthrow on the south, is said to have been proved, and 
 the Huyton main fault appears to be distinctly traceable east of 
 Tarbock Tile Works, by the displacement of the outcrops of the 
 coalbeds. 
 
 St. Helen's District. 
 
 The Coal-measures of this district join those of Prescot, round 
 the north end of the promontory of New Red Sandstone of 
 Eccleston Hill. 
 
 The western boundary of the Coal-measures is a large fault, 
 which throws down the New Red Sandstone, ranging north 10° west 
 from Elton Head to the Big Dam at Eccleston. The fault is 
 generally indicated by a feature in the surface, produced by the 
 superior elevation of the Red Sandstone over the ground occupied 
 by Coal-measures. Against this fault, the coal-beds and their 
 associated strata strike in succession through the whole series of 
 productive measures. 
 
 The boundary along the south and east is (as far as can be 
 ascertained in the absence of visible sections), a direct superposi- 
 tion of the Trias or the Permian Rocks on the coal-formation. 
 
 * The infoi^nation concerning these collieries has been picked up in the neigh- 
 bourhood from old miners, but I could get access to no documents, if any such are 
 in existence. 
 
 f Erom Mr. Eoscoe and two Old miners who had worked in the colliery. 
 
8 GEOLOGY OP THE COUNTRY AROUND PRESCOT. 
 
 The beds which appear to rest on the Coal-measures at Sutton 
 belong to the Lower Red Sandstone, which has been referred to the 
 Permian series, and dips away gently from the coal-field. These 
 beds may be seen in a quarry at Paradise Eow, near the St. 
 Helen's Junction ; the dip is here S.E, at an angle of 3°, but 
 wherever the Coal-measures are seen in proximity to the Trias or 
 Permian strata the dip is considerably greater, as the formations 
 are unconformable.* 
 
 This district presents a complete ascending series from the base 
 of the middle division of the Coal-measures towards the top of 
 the upper. The Little Delf and Rushey Park Coals crop out at 
 the north and centre of the Big Dam at Eccleston, as proved in 
 the working of Royal Colliery. On the east side of the large 
 fault which passes through Croppers Hill, the outcrop of the 
 Rushey Park was at one time visible (1858) in an open work at 
 Elm Grove. It was 6 ft. 2 in. thick, resting on " warrant " or 
 underclay with Stigmaria. 
 
 The thick beds of compact white and grey grit, which occur 
 110 yards above the Rushey Park Coal, are quarried largely at 
 Eccleston, where the dip is E.S.E. at an angle of 16°. Plant- 
 remains are numerous ; and at 20 yards above the same coal, there 
 extends over a large tract of country an impure ironstone band 
 full of Anihracosia robusta,^ called by the miners the " Cockle- 
 shell bed ; " a similar band is also generally present some yards 
 above the Little Delf or Arley Mine. 
 
 The outcrop of the Flaggy Delf Coal was visible at Croppers 
 Hill, and has also been ascertained at Royal Colliery. This coal, 
 however, together with Sir John, Roger, and Bastions, is of inferior 
 quality, and in small request. 
 
 The outcrops of the Ravenhead Higher and Main Coals have 
 been ascertained at a coal-pit at Thatto Heath Quarry, where the 
 former coal was worked at 50 yards. It is visible at the south-east 
 side of Ravenhead Plate Glass Works. At Thatto Heath some 
 beds of flaggy sandstone above the Ravenhead Main Coal are 
 quarried. They are here 800 yards from the boundary faults, and 
 dip S.E. at 20°. The Pigeon-house Coal next succeeds, and above 
 this the St. Helen's Main Coal, and its subordinate Cannel and 
 4-feet Coals. The following is the order of succession of this 
 important group of coalbeds : — 
 
 Ft. In. 
 
 Sandstone roof, "Main Stone" - 71 
 
 St. Helen's Main Coal - - - 9 
 
 Black bass - - - - 4 6 
 
 Flag - - - - - 4 6 
 
 St. Helen's Main J Cannel - - - - - 2 3 
 
 Coal Series. \ Warrant (underclay) - - - 3 
 
 Flag - - - - - 13 9 
 
 Black bass - - - - 1 5 
 
 Four-feet Coal - - - - 3 4 
 
 Bass and Warrant - - - 15 3 
 
 * These beds were referred to the Permian series by Mr. K Binney, Mem. Lit. 
 and Phil. Society, Trans, of, Manchester, vol. xii. p. 37. 
 
 t The species was determined by Mr, Salter, formerly of the Museum of Practical 
 Geology. 
 
COAL-MEASUKES. — ST. HELEN'S. 9 
 
 The outcrops of these coals have been proved at Thatto Heath. 
 In a small coalpit on the hill north of Green Gates the pillars 
 supporting the old workings in the St. Helen's Main Coal were 
 found only a few feet from the surface. The outcrops also have 
 been ascertained at Old Kavenhead Colliery ; also at the New 
 Eavenhead Colliery, of which the deepest shaft is 80 yards to the 
 St. Helen's Main Coal, and 9£ yards more to the 4-feet Coal. At 
 Peasley Cross Colliery the Main Coal occurs at a depth of 216 
 yards. Further towards the north, the outcrop has been proved 
 in the workings of several collieries now abandoned in consequence 
 of the coal having been exhausted. 
 
 The Cannel seam which lies under the St. Helen's Main Coal 
 is of fair quality, though not equal to that of Wigan. It is now 
 worked by Messrs. Bournes and Robinson at Peasley Cross 
 Colliery, St. Helen's, and upon examination at the works of the 
 Liverpool United Gaslight Company, was proved to yield from 
 10,000 to 11,511 cubic feet of gas per ton, and gave the following 
 analysis : — 
 
 Fixed products, or coke ... - 54 - 60 per cent. 
 
 Volatile products ..... 46'40 „ 
 
 100-00 „ 
 
 The per-centages of sulphur and ash were found to be as 
 follows: — 
 
 Sulphur - - - - - 1"22 per cent. 
 
 Ash 4-25 „ 
 
 5'47 „ 
 Specific gravity of the Cannel - 1*275 
 
 Between this fault and another to the east, which ranges N. 25° 
 W. by the side of Parr Stocks Colliery, the ground is composed 
 of Upper Coal-measures, consisting partly of red mottled marls 
 (Ascott Bridge), black shales, and purple grits, which have been 
 sunk through at Smith Field Colliery, where a " 7-foot " coal was 
 worked for a short time.* 
 
 This great fault of 340 yards, as it is calculated, down on the 
 west, throws the outcrops of the coals far to the south ; for, as 
 will be seen on referring to the' map, the upper coals crop out at 
 Ashton's Green Colliery on the upcast side. The crop of the 
 St. Helen's Main Coal is cut through in the Broad Oak branch- 
 railway near Ashton's Green, and the strike of the beds, as proved 
 in the workings, is about W. 20° S. , 
 
 East of the Field House fault there are threeA>thers intersecting 
 the Coal-measures. These range nearly north, and have been 
 drawn on the map from working plans of the collieries. Beginning 
 with the most westerly, No. 1 has a downthrow on the west, and 
 
 * This is supposed to have been the St. Helen's Main Coal, but I should think it 
 more likely to have been the Potato Delf, or one of the associated coals, as the Main 
 Coal must be at a great depth here. The works are said to hare been abandoned for 
 the faulty nature of the ground. 
 
10 GEOLOGY M 1 THE COUNTRY AROUND PRESCOT. 
 
 dies out a short distance northward ; No. 2 has a downthrow of 
 16 yards on the west ; No. 3 of 60 yards on the east.* 
 
 The faults shown on the map at Southfield Colliery have been 
 drawn from working plans, but there are no details regarding 
 their throws. 
 
 The only other fault of consequence which deserves to be 
 noticed occurs at Ravenhead. It ranges parallel to the boundary 
 fault of the New Red Sandstone. The throw is 100 yards down 
 on the west, opposite Ravenhead House, and north of Croppers 
 Hill has decreased to 60 yards. 
 
 Upper Coal-measures. — Above the. beds just described there 
 occur from 400 to 500 yards of Coal-measures, unproductive of 
 coal sufficiently thick for working. The greatest thickness of 
 these beds occurs along a line drawn from the outcrop of the 
 Lyon's Delf to the boundary of the New Red Sandstone at Sutton 
 Leech, and nearly in the line of Horizontal Geological Section 
 (Sheet 67). Over this ground the strata are not unfrequently 
 exposed to view, and the spots are shown on the map by dips. 
 The strata are found to dip steadily to the S.E. at angles varying 
 from 10° to 15°. The lower beds consist of grey and brown sand- 
 stones, with blue shales and thin partings of coal, one of which 
 may be seen in Burrow's Lane. The higher beds are visible in 
 cuttings of the Manchester Railway, and along the bank of Sutton 
 Brook. 
 
 In a quarry 80 yards west of Chester Lane, by the north 
 bank of Pendlebury Brook, we find the following section, which 
 shows the nature of these upper CoaL-measures through a con- 
 siderable depth : — 
 
 1. Purple shales becoming dark and bituminous - -2 feet. 
 
 2. Purple and dark mottled shales - - - - 8 „ 
 
 3. Grey and purple grit - - - - - 1 „ 
 
 4. Brown sandy shales - - - - . 5 ,, 
 
 The dip is here S.S.E. at an angle of 10°. 
 
 At Sutton Mill Bridge we find beds of hard brownish-red and 
 speckled sandstone resting on soft purple sandstone, and striped 
 reddish marls ; at Sutton these marls contain casts of Modiola 
 Macadami.\ 
 
 East of Sutton "Workhouse Bridge we find red and purple shales 
 dipping S.E., and faulted against black shales on the western side 
 of the bridge, and in the lane leading from the bridge to Sutton 
 Heath Potteries, we cross two ridges of brown and purple fissile 
 sandstone, dipping 10° in a direction E.S.E., the intervening 
 valleys being in all probability formed of shales. These sand- 
 stones resemble those of Permian age in other localities, but here 
 they distinctly underlie true Coal-measure sandstone and shales 
 seen in the railway-cutting. In connexion with the colour of 
 these sandstones, it may be stated that it has been found in the 
 neighbourhood of Rainf ord, that sandstones, which at the surface 
 
 * AloDg -with other colliery managers in this neighbourhood, my thanks are 
 specially due to Mr. Reeves, of Ashton's Green Colliery, 
 f Mr. Biiiney, Mem. Lit. and Phil. Society, Trans, of, Manchester, vol. xii. p. 38. 
 
UPPER COAL MEASURES.— PEEMIAN BOCKS. 
 
 11 
 
 
 s « 
 
 6» u ' 
 
 i& 
 
 ™ ea purple colour, are found to be brown or grey where 
 
 pierced by coal-shafts, and this is probably one of the distinguishing 
 
 characters of Coal-measure sandstone 
 
 as compared with those of Permian 
 
 ' a s e - 
 
 The Whiston Istliee. 
 
 The existence of this triangular area 
 of Coal-measures near Royal Oak Tarm 
 would have been unknown, but for the 
 cutting of the Manchester and Liver- 
 pool Railway. It is bounded on two 
 sides by faults, and the third side is 
 probably a natural superposition of the 
 New Red Sandstone. The beds con- 
 sist of purple shales, resting on purple 
 micaceous sandstone, dipping N.W. 
 from 15° to 20°. Under the sandstone 
 occurs a bed of compact limestone, 4 feet 
 thick, with Microconchus carbonarius. 
 These beds occupy the cutting for a 
 distance of 150 yards, and are cut off 
 on the east and on the south-west by 
 faults which throw down in these^di- 
 rections the Lower Mottled Sandstone, 
 as. shown in the accompanying section. 
 (See also Appendix, p. 45.) 
 
 Peemian Rocks (?) 
 
 The only locality within the limits of 
 *&> fHO ",, I this district where strata referable to 
 the Permian period are known to exist 
 is at Sutton, and here they m^ht have 
 lain altogether unobserved, or "at least 
 unidentified, but for the exertions of 
 Mr. E. W. Binney.* 
 
 The formation elsewhere consists of 
 two divisions, — the Lower Red Sandstone 
 forming the base, overlain by purple marls 
 with bands of fossiliferous limestone. 
 
 The Lower Red Sandstone (?) is visible 
 in a pit west of St. Helen's Junction, 
 where it was formerly excavated for 
 moulding purposes. It consists of soft, 
 fine-grained red and streaked sandstone 
 altogether undistinguishable from the 
 Lower Mottled. Sandstone of the Trias.' This sand has been 
 
 * On the Permian Beds of the North-west of England, Mem. Lit. and Phil. Soc. 
 Trans, of, Manchester, vol. xii. '' 
 
12 GEOLOGY OP THE COUNTRY AROUND PEESOOT. 
 
 found upwards of 90 feet in thickness, containing abundance of 
 water, and was overlain by large blocks, resembling conglomerate, 
 but supposed by Mr. Binney to be merely chemical aggregations 
 of different substances* These blocks have now disappeared. 
 The, purple and mottled marls with Permian fossils (Schizodus, 
 Bakevellia, and Turbo) have never been seen here, but a shale, 
 30 feet in thickness, has been proved in the wells of the brewery. 
 It is overlain by soft, bright-red sandstone, possibly the base of 
 the Trias, exposed to view in a small pit at Peckus Hill Lane. 
 (See Appendix, p. 47.) 
 
 NEW EED SANDSTONE, OR TRIAS. 
 Bunter. 
 
 Lower Mottled Sandstone. — This subdivision forms the base of 
 of the Tfiassic group. It consists of a series of soft, bright- red, 
 yellow, and mottled sands, some fine-grained, without pebbles or 
 fragments of foreign rocks. 
 
 Sections may be seen in a quarry at Stand House, Croxteth. 
 The sandstone is current-bedded, and contains veins of siliceous 
 iron ore. The same beds may be seen at Eccleston, in the 
 railway cutting at Whistbn, in two quarries near St. Helen's 
 Junction, and in the quarry already alluded to at Tarbock. 
 
 The thickness of this subdivision does not appear to be very 
 great, not exceeding 250 feet at Parr, and still less at Eccleston 
 HalL The subdivision appears to rest directly on the Coal- 
 measures at Croxteth Park, Eccleston Hall, and Parr; and east 
 of Prescot is faulted against them. (See also Appendix.) 
 
 Pebble Beds. — This subdivision attains a thickness of from 600 
 to 800 feet. It is composed of reddish-brown sandstones, of a 
 more compact nature than those of the Lower Mottled Sand- 
 stone, and contains also rounded pebbles of quartz, generally of a 
 purple and grey colour, which have' not yet been identified with 
 any known English rdek, and whose origin is therefore still a 
 matter of uncertainty. Besides coloured quartz, there occur in 
 less abundance fragments of other rocks, as grits, hornstone, and 
 white quartz. The proportion in which these pebbles occur is 
 very variable in different localities, but they are always to be 
 found when the section is of sufficient extent. 
 
 The subdivision forms a district of rising ground extending 
 from West Derby to Hale. The beds dip generally E.N.E. 
 under the less elevated ground of the Upper Mottled Sandstone, 
 which is for the most part covered deep with Boulder Clay. 
 Sections are numerous, but the most complete are shown in the 
 railway cuttings of Wavertree, and west of Rainhill Station, The 
 beds in both these sections are precisely similar, and are visible 
 nearly to the base of the Upper Mottled Sandstone. 
 
 At Roby these beds are thrown to the surface by the fault 
 which forms the boundary of the Coal-measures at Croxteth 
 Park. The beds are shown in a large quarry dipping S.E. at 
 an angle of 12°. 
 
NEW RED SANDSTONE J BDNTER. 13 
 
 At the Oak Lane Quarry the Pebble Beds were proved by 
 boring to extend to a depth of 160 feet, when soft, deep-red 
 sandstone, partly gritty, was entered. 
 
 The greater part of the promontory of New Eed Sandstone, 
 bounded on the east and west by the coalfields of St. Helen's and 
 Prescot, is composed of Pebble Beds. They assume an anti- 
 clinal arrangement along a line drawn from Prescot to Sutton 
 Heath, as the beds may be observed dipping west at an angle of 
 10° in Twist's Quarry, and in the opposite direction along Mill 
 Lane, these localities being respectively situated on the west and 
 east sides of the promontory. 
 
 At the northern part of the promontory of Eccleston Hill the 
 beds dip towards the south, as may be observed in the quarries 
 At the St. Helen's Waterworks, situated at an elevation of 260 
 feet, a well has been sunk in these beds to a depth of 210 feet, 
 from which a good supply is obtained. 
 
 The section Of these beds at Rainhill may be observed for a 
 distance of 730 yards. The beds dip steadily west, at an average 
 inclination of 20°, whicih gives a thickness of 800 feet for this 
 subdivision. This is less than the full amount, as the base is not 
 seen, 
 
 Sections also occur, amongst others, at Pex Hill, Farnworth, 
 Bold Park, Newton, Winwick ; on both sides of the Mersey at 
 Runcorn Gap, and along the southern coast of the estuary at 
 Ince, and Pool Hall Rocks. 
 
 Upper Mottled Sandstone.— This subdivision is very Bimilar in 
 lithological character to the Lower Mottled Sandstone, consisting 
 of variegated, soft, loosely-cohering sands, frequently current- 
 bedded, and without pebbles. On the north side of the Mersey 
 this subdivision generally occupies low-lying ground covered with 
 Drift, and is consequently seldom exposed to view. Its presence, 
 , however, over these areas where sections are scarce is inferred 
 from the well-known succession of the sub-formations of the 
 Bunter Sandstone, and from their mode of occurrence over large 
 areas of the north-western counties. j 
 
 The best section is that shown in the railway-cutting west of 
 Cumber Lane where the beds consist of soft, bright-red sandstone, 
 dipping west ; but on account of the irregularity of the bedding 
 the angle cannot be determined. 
 
 Another interesting section occurs at Old Halsnead, where the 
 beds may be seen faulted against the Coal-measures. 
 
 On the south side of the Mersey this subdivision assumes a 
 more prominent position, rising to a considerable elevation on the 
 flanks of the Runcorn and Frodsham Hills, where, along with the 
 superimposed freestones of the Lower Keuper Sandstone, they are 
 quarried for building and other purposes. Where quarried at a 
 considerable depth from the surface, the blocks are of uniform 
 texture and moderately firm, but are incapable of withstanding 
 atmospheric influences for a long period, and ought never to be 
 used in buildings which are intended to be permanent. The 
 thiokness of this sub-formation a few miles further south has been 
 
14 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY ABOUND PRESCOT. 
 
 found to reach 650 to 700 feet. 
 (Horizontal Sections of the Geo- 
 logical Survey, Sheet 43.) 
 
 Keuper. 
 
 Lower Keuper Sandstones — 
 This subdivision appears only on 
 the southern side of the Mersey. 
 It there forms the crests of the 
 principal hills, and, through its 
 repetition by faults, appears in 
 the successive ridges of Hill 
 Cliff, Daresbury, Norton, Hal- 
 ton, Weston Point, and Overton. 
 These, and such names as Beetle 
 Rock and Beeston, testify to the 
 nature of the feature. 
 
 The following section (Fig. 3) 
 drawn from Weston Point east- 
 ward to Hatton will serve to ex- 
 plain the structure of this hilly 
 district. From this section it 
 will be observed that wherever 
 the Basement Beds rise to the 
 surface they form an escarpment, 
 presenting its most abrupt flank 
 to the westward in consequence 
 of the easterly dip of the beds, 
 and that this feature is repeated 
 through the agency of faults. 
 
 On the other hand, the valleys 
 have been hollowed out along 
 the lines of fault, and in the 
 areas occupied by the soft strata 
 of the Upper Mottled Sandstone 
 and ,Ked Marls. This section 
 affords a good illustration of the 
 dependence of the outward con- 
 figuration of the surface on its 
 geological structure. — E.H. 
 
 The Basement Beds consist of 
 three or four courses of pale 
 brownish red sandstone, weather- 
 ing to an ash grey. Small pebbles 
 of quartz occur throughout them, 
 but more abundantly towards the 
 base of each course of sandstone, 
 which is sometimes also breccia- 
 ted, and frequently contains rolled 
 lumps of red or green clay. The 
 courses of sandstone are separated 
 by beds of fine soft sandstone 
 
 £ 
 
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 "'«* 
 
 X 
 
 '**, 
 
 a 
 P 
 
 a 
 
 U 
 
 a . 
 
 a 9 
 
 * S 
 
 OS 
 
 u a 
 
 Z u 
 
 < u 
 
 o 
 
 pa 
 
 £ 
 
 a 
 
 « 
 
NEW RED SANDSTONE ; KEUPER. 15 
 
 with occasional shales, which, constituting lines of weakness in the 
 rock, give a terraced form to the escarpment. These softer 
 sandstones are scarcely distinguishable from the Upper Mottled 
 Sandstone, and often present a line of erosion beneath the base 
 of the overlying grit so as to produce an appearance of uncon- 
 formity along these horizons. The base of the lowest conglomeratic 
 sandstone has been taken as the base of the Keuper. & The junction 
 is exposed to view at Hill Cliff, near Bell Fields, at Halton, the 
 Stenhills, Runcorn, the north end of Weston Hill, south of Weston 
 Village, and in Dunsdale Hollow near Frodsham. In the last named 
 it is to be seen in the side of the road at the south-east end of the 
 hollow ; the following divisions occur in descending order : — 
 
 Feet. 
 ("Red Sandstone (top not seen) - - - 15 
 
 I Soft sandy parting - - - -2 
 
 Keuper - -i Brown conglomeratic Sandstone - - 18 
 
 1 Conglomerate of lumps of Marl, &c, - - to & 
 
 (_Grey seam ' - - - - - i 
 
 Buntbb - Soft, red and white current-bedded Sandstone. 
 
 36 
 These beds afford the best building-stone of the district. The 
 chief quarries are Kekewick Hill, near Newton-by-Daresbury ; the 
 Stenhills and the Bridgewater Quarry, Runcorn ; Weston Point ; 
 Five Crosses, near Frodsham ; and Helsby and Manley (Quarter- 
 sheet, 80 S.W.). At the Stenhills the building-stone occurs in 
 three courses, as shown in a descending section at the east end : — 
 
 Feet. 
 Hard Stone, with pebbles of Quartzite, the largest f in. X i in. 
 (Top Rock) - - - - - - - 20 
 
 Soft Shale and sandy parting - - - - 1 to 2 
 
 Hard Freestone - - 12 
 
 Shale passing horizontally into shaly roach - - 2 
 
 Shale - 2 
 
 Hard Stone with pebbles - - - - - -20 + 
 
 58 + 
 A section was taken in the Quarry of the Bridgewater Company 
 as follows, descending : — 
 
 Feet. 
 Sand and Roach (Frodsham Beds, vide p. 18) - - 12 top not seen. 
 
 Sandstone (Top Rock) - - - - - 35 
 
 Line of Shale-lumps - - - - - % 
 
 Sandstone - - - 14 
 
 Conglomerate - - - -,- -9 to i 
 
 Sandstone - - - 12 
 
 Shale - - - - - - - 3 to 4 
 
 Sandstone - - - - - -12 + 
 
 92 + 
 The conglomerate in the above consists of lumps of shale, sand- 
 stone, and pebbles of quartzite cemented firmly into a very strong 
 rock, known among the quarrymen as " Take-work." It thins in 
 a distance of 20 yards from 9 feet to a mere line of large shale 
 lumps, marking a parting in the sandstone. The soft and worth- 
 less sandstones are locally known as " roach."* 
 
 * See Appendix, p. 65, for comparative analyses of hard and Boft red sandstones. 
 
16 GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY AROUND PRESCOT. 
 
 A section was measured in the quarry of J. Brookes & Co. at 
 Weston as follows : — Feet. 
 
 1. Sandstone - - - - - - . - 10 + 
 
 Current-bedded Sand with Iron-pan, thinning out - - 6 
 
 Marl, two inches - - - - - 
 
 2. Good Sandstone - - - - - - 40 
 
 " Roach," Marl, and loose Sand - - - - 12 
 
 3. Good Sandstone ' - - - - - -34 
 
 " Roach " ( Upper Mottled Sandstone). 
 
 102 + 
 No. 2 is said to thin towards Buncorn. The junction of this 
 bed with soft sandstone or roach is seen in a lane running from 
 "Weston Village, south of Weston Quarry. But for the exposure 
 of No. 3 it might have passed as the base of the Keuper. 
 
 An analysis of the Iron-pan mentioned in the above section has 
 been made by Mr. J. Northing, and was given to me by Mr. 
 Timmins, showing the following results : — 
 
 15 " 80 per cent, of metallic iron — 
 
 Fe 2 3 - - 22-50 
 
 Si0 2 76-00 
 
 98-50 
 The well of the Kuncorn Waterworks* is situated a few yards 
 to the east of the north and south fault which throws the 
 Keuper Marls against the Lower Keuper Sandstone of Weston 
 Hill. The section is as follows : — Ft. Ins. 
 
 Greyish-brown Shale (Keuper Marl) .- - - 50 
 
 Fault. 
 Soft red rock (Frodsham Beds) taking away the water - 36 
 Good hard red rock, with grey bands (Lower Keuper 
 
 Sandstone) --.... 214 
 
 Red Rock (Upper Mottled Sandstone) - - - 98 
 
 398 
 The threefold division of the building-stone, as seen in the 
 above section, is observable in the Beacon Hill, near Frodsham, 
 where a small outlier of the " Top rock " forms the cap of the 
 hill. In a quarry near Five Lane Ends I observed worm-casts, 
 ripple-marks, sun-cracks, and small reptilian footprints on the 
 under surface of a shaly bed. The section is as follows, in 
 descending order : — 
 
 Feet. 
 Soft red current-bedded Sand - - - - 18 
 
 Rocky Shale (footprint bed) - - - - - 3£ 
 
 White rock passing into red - - - 6 to 8 
 
 Pale-red and white building-stone - - - - 20 + 
 
 The footprints of the Cheirotherium have been noticed at 
 Weston,f DaresburyJ and Storeton.§ 
 
 * This information was given me by Mr. A. Timmins. The details of the section 
 were obtained fiom one of the men employed in sinking the well, no record of 
 which had unfortunately been kept. 
 
 f Black, Quart. Journ. Geol. Boo., vol. ii. 65. 
 
 j Williamson, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xxiii. 56. 
 
 § Cunningham, Qutu\ Tourn. Geol. Soc, vol. ii. 
 
NEW EED SANDSTONE ; KEUPER. 
 
 17 
 
 The two lower-courses of building-stone are worked at Helsby,* 
 with a parting of 20 feet of loose white sand and red shale. 
 A stone of a warm-brown tint is obtained at the quarries described 
 above, but at Manley (Quarter-sheet 80 S.W.) the highest bed 
 affords a pure white stone of good quality. The Euncorn stone 
 was used for the interior of the piers of the Menai Tubular Bridge. 
 
 The brown conglomerate and building-stones are overlaid by a 
 variable thickness of soft bright-red, yellow, or white sandstone, 
 closely resembling some of the beds of the Bunter series. The 
 finest section of this bed occurs in the Railway-cutting at Frods- 
 ham. The current-bedding, which is a common characteristic, 
 here assumes magnificent proportions, the planes forming long 
 sweeping curves, resembling those produced by contortion. The 
 beds are of a deep-red colour with an occasional vein or 
 concretion of iron. 
 
 Fig. 4. — Current-bedding in the Frodsham Beds. Frodsham Station. 
 
 When the district was first examined, it was considered that 
 this sandstone belonged to the upper division of the Bunter, it 
 being believed that its position was due to a fault which ran 
 , nearly through the station in a S.E. direction, throwing this bed 
 against the white sandstone, which is seen in the Overton Road, 
 and is known to be of Lower Keuper Sandstone age by its 
 relation to the Waterstones. The red and white sandstones are 
 similar except in colour. 
 
 During the recent survey of this area I found a section opened 
 in the field opposite the railway station, clearly showing that the 
 red beds pass into the white by a gradual loss of colour, and that 
 there is no fault in the place indicated. About a quarter of a mile 
 up the Overton Road, the junction of the white sandstone and the 
 Waterstones is exposed. The whole, therefore, of the red and 
 white soft sandstone must now be regarded as belonging to the 
 Lower Keuper Sandstone, and as overlying the conglomerates and 
 building-stones of this age, which must here have been thrown 
 down to the level of the river by the Overton Hill fault. 
 
 * See Geology of the neighbourhood of Chester (Geol, 
 Q 4292. 
 
 Mem.), p. 7. 
 B 
 
18 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY AROUND PRESCOT. 
 
 This view is further confirmed by the accompanying section 
 seen in a lane running N.W. from Overton Church. 
 
 Fig. 5. — Junction of Waterstones and Frodsham Beds. 
 
 a. Waterstones. 6. Band of hard grey grit. 
 
 c. Soft current-tedded sandstone (Frodsham Beds).,) 
 
 The Waterstones are resting on a current-bedded sand, the 
 upper 2 feet of which are white, but the remainder deep-red and 
 indistinguishable from the beds exposed in the Railway-cutting. 
 A few yards further on, the Overton Hill fault is exposed, 
 throwing shattered Lower Keuper Sandstone against tipper 
 Mottled Sandstone. 
 
 From the great development and fine exposure at Frodsham of 
 these soft beds in the Lower Keuper Sandstone, it is proposed to 
 give them the name of the Frodsham Beds. 
 
 Another section of these beds occurs in a lane near Five Lane 
 Ends, where, with a small patch of the overlying Waterstones, 
 they have been thrown down by a branch of Overton Hill fault. 
 The whiter portions were in former days excavated for sanding 
 the floors of cottages. There are large caves made for the same 
 purpose in a thick bed of soft , red and white sand which runs 
 round the brow of the hill above Five Crosses. This bed 
 occupies a position in the Lower Keuper Sandstone below that of 
 Frodsham Beds, and is overlain by a bed of hard Keuper grit, 
 which forms the roof of the caves. Similar caves occur in the 
 Upper Mottled Sandstone of H e lsby and Beesfion. 
 
 A very fine section of the Frodsham Beds has been opened in 
 the Railway-cutting at Runcorn. At the Goods Station the rock 
 is of a red tint, but towards the south a gradual fading of the 
 colour leaves it a pure white. Opposite the signal-box it passes 
 under deep-red micaceous shales and even-bedded flags, con- 
 stituting the base of the Waterstones. Each formation preserves 
 its characteristics up to the actual line of junction, so as to 
 present a very striking contrast between the soft current-bedded 
 sand and the . superimposed deep-red shales. The junction may 
 be traced up both the sides of the cutting as far as a fault which 
 throws it below the level pf the rails. 
 
 Northwards I observed it in brick pits near the Waterloo Road, 
 the shales dipping under Runcorn and soft bright-red and yellow 
 sand occupying the space between the road and the railway. A 
 north and south fault brings in Pebble Beds under the south 
 end of the viaduct, and in the slope above must throw the 
 
NEW BED SANDSTONE; KEUPEK. 19 
 
 Frodsham Beds against the Upper Mottled Sandstone, but no 
 exposure is seen of this interesting apposition. 
 
 The Frodsham Beds may also be observed in the Stenhills, 
 Runcorn, passing from a bright-red at the west end of the 
 quarries to a yellow or white towards the east ; and again south 
 of RoUin Hedge, near Moore, where they are of a bright-red 
 colour. 
 
 Waterstones. — This term, which has of late years, been applied 
 to the whole of the Lower Keuper, is now used, as it was originally 
 by Messrs. Ormerod and Binney, for a series of sandstones 
 interbedded with "shales, as descriptive of the abundant supply 
 of water they afford in consequence of the alternation of porous 
 and impervious beds.* The stratification of these beds is 
 extremely regular and the shales are finely laminated. Ripple- 
 marks, pseudomorphs of rock-salt, footprints of the Cheirotherium, 
 sun-cracks, and the casts of the tracks of worms are of frequent 
 occurrence. 
 
 As no hard-and-fast line can be drawn between the Waterstones 
 and the Red Marls above, the passage between them being com- 
 plete, an approximate division only has been dotted on the map. 
 There is, on the other hand, in this district a sharp divisional line 
 between the Waterstones and the Frodsham Beds, the distinctive 
 character of each being preserved up to the actual junction. This 
 line being persistent over a large area has been traced and added 
 to the geological boundaries of this Quarter sheet. Exposures of 
 this junction occur in the Runcorn Railway-cutting ; near Rock 
 Savage ; in the Frodsham arid Overton Road ; and in a lane 
 N.W. of Overton Church (Fig. 5). 
 
 So far as the present district is concerned, a natural lithological 
 division of the Trias occurs at this horizon. For the Waterstones 
 are inseparable from the Red Marls, while the sands and conr 
 glomerates (Basement Beds of the Keuper) were thrown down 
 under conditions similar to those which produced the sands and 
 conglomerates of the Bunter Series. 
 
 Sections in the Waterstones occur in the Frodsham Road near 
 Weaver Bridge, where the beds bend over towards a fault, 
 forming a small Anticlinal. A bed of marl, 15 feet thick, 
 weathering into cubical fragments, underlies a brown even- 
 bedded sandstone. The same beds appear in the Runcorn 
 Railway-cutting, where the descending section is as follows : — 
 
 Feet. 
 Red Marls - Shales - 
 
 [" Soft sandy and micaceous Sandstone - 20 
 Waterstones - ■{ Red Marl weathering into cubes - 28 
 
 I Flaggy even-bedded Sandstone and Shales 
 
 A six-inch boring put down in search of water in the Runcorn 
 and Crewe Railway-cutting, nearly opposite Rock Savage, 
 passed through the following beds : — 
 
 * Previous to the first survey of this district hy Professor Hull, the Waterstones 
 were considered to be the base of the Keuper, the underlying sub-division, now known 
 as the Lower Keuper Sandstone or Basement Beds, being included in the Bunter. 
 
 B 2 
 
m. 
 
 Ins. 
 
 70 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 41 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 27 
 
 6 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 18 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 45 
 
 
 
 80 
 
 p 
 
 320 
 
 
 
 20 GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY AROUND GPRESCOT. 
 
 Marl 
 
 Rock 
 
 Marl 
 
 Rook 
 
 Red and grey Marl 
 
 Marl and Sand 
 
 Red Rock - 
 
 Red and grey Marl 
 
 Rock 
 
 Red and grey Marl 
 
 Red Sandstone 
 
 The boring commenced in the Red Marls and probably ended 
 in the Waterstones. No good supply of water was obtained. 
 
 At the Tan-yard, Preston Brook, a well 9 feet in diameter 
 was sunk to a depth of 51 feet from the surface with a borecole 
 to a further depth of 404 feet. The water stands in this well at 
 62 feet from the surface, at about the level of Sutton Tunnel. 
 
 The section is as follows : — * 
 
 Glacial Deposits : 
 
 Red Clay - ... 
 
 Sand - - 
 
 Stony red Clay - 
 
 Red Marls : 
 
 Red Marl ... 
 
 Rock ... 
 
 Red Marl 
 
 Red Rock - - - 
 
 Marl - 
 
 Rock ..... 
 
 Marl - ... 
 
 Rock and Marl - 
 
 Hard Rock - 
 
 Red Marl - - 
 
 Rock - 
 
 Ft. 
 
 Ins. 
 
 34 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 6 
 
 136 
 
 6 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 6 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 199 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 455 
 
 This boring also probably ended in. the "Waterstones. 
 There are also sections in the Waterstones on Preston Hill at 
 Brow, and in the canal cutting at Higher Walton. 
 
 The Red Marls. — The finest exposures of these beds occur in 
 the railway-cuttings between Halton and Norton, at Rock 
 Savage, and in the deep channels which have been cut down 
 through the Drift along the banks of the Weaver. In a cliff 
 nearly opposite Kingsley Ford a shattered bed of shale has been 
 recemented by thin veins of gypsum. 
 
 Throughout a considerable thickness from the base upwards, 
 the strata consist of interstratified grey and red sandy shales. 
 
 * The details of this and the preceding section were furnished by Mr. A. Timmins. 
 He also informed me that the public drihking-fquntain in Runcorn is supplied by a 
 spring near the Big Pool. The spring is probably thrown out -at the line of fault 
 separating the Waterstones and Keuper Sandstone. 
 
GLACIAL AND POST-GLACIAL DEPOSITS. 21 
 
 They are frequently ripple-marked, micaceous, and contain pseudo- 
 morphs of salt crystals.' The higher beds are more argillaceous. 
 
 The district occupied by this formation is the extreme north- 
 west limit of the great tract of Bed Marl which extends to the 
 Hawkstone Hills on the south and the borders of the North 
 Staffordshire Coalfield on the east. 
 
 The rock-salt of Central Cheshire occurs in the Keuper Marls, 
 but is not known within this district. At the Old Salt Works at 
 Frodsham Bridge, tidal water strengthened by brine from North- 
 wich was used. The marls were bored into here to a depth of 
 475 feet without meeting with rock-salt, though a weak brine- 
 spring was found at 288 feet.* 
 
 Exposures of Faults.— In the Chester, and Manchester Bailway 
 near Daresbury. The fault terminating Daresbury Hill to the 
 south at Newton Bank. Small step faults in the Stenhills and the 
 Bridgewater Company's quarry at EunGorn. Buncorn Bail way- 
 cutting. The Overton Hill fault in a lane N.W. of Overton 
 Church. In a lane S.W. of Five Lane Ends. The Bed Marl 
 boundary fault in a lane near Five. Crosses. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 SUPERFICIAL GEOLOGY. 
 
 The following subdivisions of the superficial deposits are 
 distinguished by colour on the Edition of this Quarter-sheet 
 showing the superficial or surface geology : — 
 
 Alluvium, tidal and fluviatile - Becent. 
 
 Peat and submerged Forest Beds -~\ 
 
 Shirdley Hill Sand - - y Post-Glacial. 
 
 Biver Terrace -J 
 
 Sand and Gravel -J 
 
 The northern portion of the district included has been de- 
 scribed in a separate Memoir.f The whole country is thickly 
 spread with Boulder Clay, except the hills formed by the harder 
 beds of the Bunter series, and the more massive Keuper Sand- 
 stones, amounting in all to less than 30 per cent, of the area. 
 
 South of the Mersey, the Drift thins off against the bold 
 features of the Keuper Sandstone escarpment, but runs up the 
 valleys and spreads over the less broken ground occupied by the 
 Keuper Marl. 
 
 * A bed of rock-salt is said to have been proved at a depth of 44 yards at 
 Whitley, near the margin of this sheet. Ormerod, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soe., vol. iv., 
 p. 262., 1848. 
 
 t The Superficial Geology of the Country adjoining the Coasts of S.W. Lancashire, 
 (Geol. Survey Memoir) by C. E. De Eance, F.G.S. 
 
22 GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY AROUND PRESCOT. 
 
 At Frodsham, Ince, and Stanlow, and between Runcorn and 
 "Warrington, land has been reclaimed from the tide by embank- 
 ments and is under cultivation, ' 
 
 Sand and Gravel. 
 
 This subdivision of the Glacial Deposits rarely appears at the 
 surface in the district North of the Mersey, though it has been met 
 with in many of the wells, and is probably present under the 
 Boulder Clay over the greater part of the area. It generally rests 
 directly upon the rock. 
 
 Warrington: — Sand and gravel rise to the surface in 
 Sankey Street (6 feet + in depth). In the Railway -cutting at 
 Frog Hall Lane Bridge a section showed — 
 
 Feet. 
 Boulder Clay - - - - 2 
 
 Sand - -• - - - - 8 (+) 
 
 and at the Dallam Lane Ironworks, the section is 
 
 Boulder Clay - 
 
 Sand ..... 
 
 Jtock ..... 
 
 At Little Sankey I saw exposed — 
 
 Boulder Clay - 
 
 Gravel - 
 
 Sand - - - - - 
 
 Well at Robert Dales and Co., 200 yards East of Bridge :* 
 
 Soil - - - - - ' . .- 
 
 Sand - - - - 
 
 Clay - 
 
 Quicksand - - - - 
 
 Clay ..... 
 White Rock (probably a Boulder) - 
 Clay 
 
 Feet 
 
 
 23 
 
 
 0tol6 
 
 Fee( 
 
 
 - 8 
 
 
 - 3 
 
 
 - 15 ( 
 
 ;+) 
 
 f Bridge : 
 
 Ft. 
 
 Ins. 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 8 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 87 5 
 
 Sankey Whitelead Co.'s Well at Sankey Bridges* 
 
 Soil - - - .... 
 
 Sand ..... 
 
 Boulder Clay ..... 
 
 Gravel (Spring) - 
 Boulder Clay - 
 
 Sand with Coal dust .... 
 
 , Clay with bands of Gravel (Springs) 
 
 Sand rises again near Cuerdley Cross in a dome-shaped mass, 
 throwing off Boulder Clay on every side, A similar dome has 
 
 • Eeade. Froc. Liverpool Geol. Soe., 1871-72. 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 45 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 100 
 
GLACIAL ; SAND AND GRAVEL. 
 
 23 
 
 been cut through in the Railway cutting near Ellesmere Port 
 where the bottom of the sand was not reached at 18 feet. The 
 superposition of the Boulder Clay (a) on the sand (b) is well 
 exposed; a "pan" of iron oxide (x) about £-inch thick holding 
 up water runs below the base of the former. The sand beneath 
 the Iron-pan is perfectly dry (Fig. 6). 
 
 In the above-named sections the appearance of the sand at the 
 surface is due to the irregular distribution which is characteristic 
 of this member of the Drift. Its uneven surface is covered with 
 Boulder Clay in the hollows, but rises through it at intervals in 
 ridges or hillocks. 
 
 Beds of sand frequently occur in the Boulder Clay. In the 
 cutting of the Cheshire Lines of railway such a bed rims under a 
 
 Fig. 6.^-Sand-pit near Ellesmere Port. 
 
 thickness of 10—12 feet of Boulder Clay from Garston to Hunt's 
 Cross^ where it thins away to nothing. West of Dungeon the 
 following section occurs : — 
 
 Feet. 
 .;ShirdIey Hill Sand - - - . 2 to 3 
 
 Boulder day with few boulders- - - - - 20 
 
 Laminated red Clay with a thin bed of Sand - 6 
 
 Stony Boulder Clay - . 8 + 
 
 At Dungeon Point the laminated clay runs down to the foot of 
 the cliff. Some of the surfaces in it show ripple-marks. 
 
 A bore-hole at the old Salt Works proved that the lower clay 
 in the preceding section rests upon a bed of sand 82 feet thick, 
 under which the rock was found.* East of Dungeon a bed of 
 sand at the foot of the cliff give's rise to springs which cause the 
 constant fall of masses of Boulder Clay by undermining. 
 
 Widnes: — The Drift here attains an unusual thickness. Mr. 
 Mellard Eeadef has shown that it fills in a deep channel in the 
 rock-surface running north of Westbank under Ditton Marsh. 
 This channel during the submergence of the glacial period became 
 filled with Drift, consisting, as is often the case under such con- 
 ditions, of interstratified beds of Sand and Boulder Clay. The 
 following well-sections are given by Mr. Keade and others : — 
 
 * Information by Mv. G. M. Williams, Patent Stone Works. 
 
 t The Buried Valley of the Merssy. "-ac. Liverpool Geol. Soe., 1871-72. 
 
24' 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY ABOUND PKESCOT. 
 
 Lambert's Copper Works. 
 
 Cinders 
 Soil - 
 Clay 
 
 Quicksand - 
 Strong Clay 
 Quicksand - 
 Strong Clay 
 Sand and Gravel 
 
 Marsh Clay - 
 Quicksand - 
 Brown Clay - 
 Quicksand 
 Boulder Clay 
 
 N. Mathieson fy Co.* 
 
 Gaskell, Deacon, fy Co. 
 200 yards from the Station. 
 
 Brown Clay - 
 
 Quicksand - ' 
 
 Clay 
 
 Red Sandstone 
 
 Sullivan #. Co. 's Bristol Alkali Works. 
 2 wells, 500 yards apart. 
 
 No.l. 
 
 Soil - 
 
 Stony brown Clay - 
 
 Quicksand - 
 
 Sand and Pebbles - 
 
 Stony brown Clay - 
 
 Quicksand and Pebbles 
 
 Rock 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 Ft. 
 
 Ins. 
 
 fi 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 6 
 
 19 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 6 
 
 95 
 
 9 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 163 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 90 
 
 10 
 
 136 10 
 
 Ft. 
 
 Ins. 
 
 45 
 
 
 
 18 
 
 
 
 135 
 
 
 
 198 
 
 
 
 Ft. Ins. 
 
 2 
 
 36 
 
 17 
 
 2 9 
 
 61 
 
 5 
 
 123 9 
 
 Soil 
 
 - 2 
 
 
 
 Stony brown Clay - - - - 
 
 - 28 
 
 
 
 Quicksand - ... 
 
 - 21 
 
 
 
 Soft Clay 
 
 - 16 
 
 1 
 
 Soft red Sandstone ( Upper Mottled Sandstone) 
 
 - 143 
 
 
 
 Pebble Beds - -■ 
 
 - 249 
 
 0+ 
 
 459 
 
 The Supply crfwatfr from the Quicksand in these two wells is 
 affected by rain. 
 
 * Report on the Circulation of Underground Water to the British Association, 
 1876. 
 
GLACIAL; BOULDER CLAY. 25 
 
 The section of a boring at Carter's House has more similarity 
 to that met with. at Dungeon :— 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Boulder Clay 37 
 
 Sand with a few shells and -fragments of Coal - - 90 
 
 Gravel with blueish boulders - - - 14 
 
 Sandstone .---.- 
 
 1284 
 
 At the Garston Ironworks : — 
 
 Red Clay with Boulders 
 Rock ... 
 
 At Stock's "Well, Oronton :— 
 
 Soil 
 
 Hed Clay with Boulders 
 Light blue clunch - 
 Red Sandstone 
 
 In the Railway cutting at Farnworth there is exposed Boulder 
 Clay 10 to 12 feet thick, -with a parting of sand 6 inches thick in 
 the centre. The clay rests directly on the rock. 
 
 At Netherlee Bridge a well and borehole were sunk through : — 
 
 Ft. Ins. 
 
 Clay 6 
 
 Sand - .... 3 
 
 Clay - - - - - ,30 
 
 Sand - - - - - -65 
 
 Clay 11 7 
 
 Soft red Sandstone - - - - • 272 
 
 Ft. 
 
 Ins. 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 Ft. 
 
 Ins. 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 28 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 36 
 
 
 
 302 
 
 It will be noticed that the alternations of sand and clay are 
 chiefly confined to the Drift which fills in the deeper depressions 
 in the rock. Both at Widnes and Warrington, the usual arrange- 
 ment of the Drift is twofold, namely : — 
 
 Boulder Clay. 
 Sand and Gravel. 
 
 South of the Mersey. — Drift Sand has been exposed in the 
 numerous ravines cut down through the overlying Boulder Clay 
 along the Banks of the Weaver. It skirts the Alluvium under 
 Rock Savage, but from thence starts up the hill-side to Sutton 
 and Aston, where it occupies gound 225 feet above the sea, and 
 extends thence by Bar*tington beyond the margin of the map. 
 The range of this sandbank is from W.N.W. to E.S.E. It has 
 been noticed in the country further south- (Quarter-sheet* 80, S.W.) 
 that the sand-banks usually occur on the S.E. side of a hill, 
 extending from it in an E.S.E. direction ; such banks would be 
 
 * Geology of the Neighbourhood of Chester (Geol. Survey Mem.), p, 17. 
 
26 GEOLOGY OP THE COUNTRY AROUND PRESCOT. 
 
 formed behind any obstacle to a current from the "W.N.W., the 
 sand being deposited under the lee of the obstacle. 
 
 The Aston and Bartington Sand is seen to pass under Boulder 
 Clay in the river banks below Aston and in the deep ravines at 
 Dutton. On the other hand it rests directly upon the rock. It 
 thus occupies the same geological position as the main sand-bed 
 at Dungeon, Parkside, &c. , The two-fold arrangement of the Drift 
 therefore prevails over the area embraced by this Quarter-sheet. 
 
 In character, the sand is of a pale yellow colour, occasionally 
 consolidated by iron oxide, as at Dutton. It is remarkably free 
 from shingle, but contains beds of grit or fine gravel in which 
 may be found rolled fragments of Tellina, Cardium, Turri- 
 tella, &c. Beds of loamy sand, lying horizontally or in gentle 
 curves separate current-bedded deposits of running sand and grit. 
 It contains fragments of coal at Widnes, Warrington, and near 
 Preston Brook, probably derived from the Prescot Coalfield by 
 the N.W. currents before spoken of. 
 
 The Sand-bed, 12 feet 6 inches thick, met with in the Tan 
 Yard well near Preston Brook (p. 20) is probably an accidental 
 bed in the Boulder Clay. 
 
 Boulder Clay. 
 
 As shown in the table on page 33, the Boulder Clay occupies 
 a larger area than any other formation on the map. It forms 
 heavy wet land, of little value without careful draining. It 
 passes insensibly from a pale red in the northern portion of 
 the district to a deep red in the neighbourhood of the Triassic 
 Marls. It contains numerous striated boulders, the larger 
 number- of which have' travelled from the Lake District; 
 the boulders are less numerous and smaller in size towards 
 the South. Fragments of the shells of Turritella, Tellina, and 
 Cardium are met with everywhere. Pockets and beds of sand 
 occur in the Boulder Clay, particularly where a depression in the 
 rock-surface has admitted of a great development of Drift. 
 
 Near the surface the clay is traversed by minute vertical joints, 
 which are lined with a green, protosalt of iron, the result of the 
 reduction of the peroxide by soil^-water. 
 
 In the absence of the Drift Sand, the Boulder Clay rests 
 directly upon the rock, in which case the surface of the latter is 
 found to show glacial striae, wherever it has been of sufficient 
 hardness to receive and retain them. The following have been 
 met with and recorded on the map : — 
 
 Height above 
 Direction.* Ordnance Datum. 
 
 Farn worth Churchyard - - W. 8 N. - - 160 feet. 
 
 Brick pit, N.E. of Appleton - W. 8 N. - - 90 „ 
 
 S.of Apphiton ■ W.8N. - - 80 „ 
 
 Runcorn Gapj N. Bank - - W. 8 Nv - - 14 „ 
 Bridgewater Company's Quarry, 
 
 Runcorn (by information) - W.N.W. (about) 
 
 Pool Hall Rocks - - - W.47N. - 6 „ 
 
 * Corrected for magnetic variation. 
 
GLACIAL ; BOTTLDEB CLAY. 
 
 27 
 
 
 Direction. 
 
 Height above 
 Ordinance Datum, 
 
 By Mr. Mellard Reade is recorded : 
 *Wavertree, Victoria Park 
 
 - W. 58 N. 
 
 * 170 „ 
 
 And by Dr. Rioketts :— 
 fThatto Heath, Railway cutting 
 
 - W.40N. 
 
 - 290 „ 
 
 It will be noticed that the striae near Runcorn Gap have all 
 precisely the same direction, while both here and at Pool Hall 
 their direction coincides with that of the lines of drainage. Such 
 an effect might be produced by a glacier descending the valley 
 of the Mersey, but the existence of striated surfaces in parts of 
 Lancashire far removed from the river valleys must be accounted 
 forljy the supposition either of an ice sheet by which not only 
 the valleys were filled, but the high ground submerged ; or by the 
 action of coast ice on a slowly sinking land surface. J 
 
 I have not in any of the cases given above detected evidence 
 of the direction of the iceflow, but it is noticeable that shales and 
 the softer beds of the rock throughout the district frequently 
 show evidence of a forcible disturbance, which has affected them 
 to a depth of 4 or 5 feet from the surface and has consisted in 
 the bending back and squeezing of the strata from W. to E. 
 The following figures give the appearance presented. (Figs 7, 8, 
 and 9.) 
 
 Fig. 7. — Contorted Shale in Pebble Beds, Railway Cutting near Ince. 
 
 W. E. 
 
 Fig. 8. 
 Contortion in Pebble Beds, Railway Cutting near Ince. 
 
 E. W. 
 
 * Report of the British Association for 1870. 
 f Proc. of the Liverpool Geol. Soc, 1869-70. 
 
 % Vide Glacial Stria? around Liverpool, by G. H. Morton, Proc. Liverpool Geol 
 Soc, 1876-77. 
 
98 geology op the country around prescot. 
 
 Fig. 9. 
 
 Contortion in Pebble Beds, West of Ince Railway Station. 
 
 B. W. 
 
 The disturbance is such as might have been produced by the 
 passage of a heavy body from W. to E. 
 
 The Boulder Clay occasionally shows traces of stratification, 
 either in containing thin seams of sand or in the boulders being 
 partially arranged in horizontal lines. When it is inter-bedded 
 with sand, it is sometimes finely laminated. A bed of laminated 
 loam o.ccurs in the clay at Dungeon. Another modification of 
 the Boulder Clay occurs at Sankey, near Warrington, where the 
 following sequence is found : — 
 
 Wash of Shirdley Sand on an eroded surface of Boulder Clay, 
 (o) Chocolate and blue clay = the Top Marl or Brick Clay, 
 (fi) Hard bright-red rocky clay, full of sandstone, and useless for brick 
 making. 
 
 Yellow unstratifled stony gravel. 
 
 Sand, with an undulating surface. 
 
 (a) is the common form of the Boulder Clay ; (b) more 
 resembles a local till, such as is met with in the more hilly 
 districts. 100 yards N. of the section at Little Sankey given on 
 p. 22 there occurs — 
 
 (a) Boulder Clay 
 (6) Rocky Clay - 
 
 :} 
 
 27 ft. + 
 
 The finest exposure of Boulder Clay occurs in the cliffs ex- 
 tending from Dungeon to Garston. Numerous boulders are 
 washed out by the tide, some of large size, and nearly all glaciated. 
 The greater number have been derived from the Lake District 
 and Scotland. Fragments of Keuper Marl with pseudo-morphs 
 of salt-crystals occur, and have probably come from the Keuper 
 Marls of West Lancashire. Chalk flints, which are very rare 
 in the northern part of the area, are more common here ; the 
 occurrence of Antrim Chalk,* in conjunction with the north- 
 westerly drift of this period, points to the north of Ireland as the 
 probable source of the flints. 
 
 * Glacial Deposits of Tranmere and Oxton, by Chas. Ricketts, M.D., F.G.S., 
 Proo. Liverpool Geol. Soc, 1876-77. 
 
KIVER TERRACES. 29 
 
 The following percentage of Boulders was made in Speke Cliff 
 in company with Mr. De Ranee : — 
 
 New Red Sandstone - - - - - - 3 
 
 Carboniferous Limestone - - - - 2 
 
 Keuper Marls - - - - - - -1 
 
 Permian Breccia - - - - - - -1 
 
 Coal Measure Sandstone - - - - - -2 
 
 Silurian Grits - - - - - - -15 
 
 Lake District Volcanic Series - - - - - 70 
 
 Granites --.---.- 6 
 
 100 
 
 A block of Carboniferous Limestone, full of Syringopora and 
 measuring 13"xl2"x6" occurred here. 
 
 In the Railway cutting at Farnworth I estimated the boulders 
 as follows : — 
 
 New Red Sandstone and Keuper Marls .... - - 12 
 
 Coal Measure Shales, Coal, and Ironstone-Nodules - - 14 
 
 L. D. V. S. and Silurian Grits - - - - - 72 
 
 Granites - - - - - - v - 2 
 
 100 
 
 Boulders occur on all parts of the Keuper Sandstone escarp- 
 ment beyond the limits of the Drift deposits. The following have 
 been noticed : — 
 
 Ft. 
 
 Ft. Ft. 
 
 5 
 
 X 4 x 3 
 
 4 
 
 x 3 x 14 
 
 5 
 
 X 4 x 2 
 
 l* 
 
 X 2 x 2 
 
 3 
 
 X 2 x 
 
 4 
 
 X 3J x 2 
 
 3 
 
 X 3 x 24 
 
 3 
 
 x 14 x 1 
 
 24 
 
 X 24 x 2* 
 
 3 
 
 x 3 x 14 
 
 4 
 
 X 24 x 2 
 
 3 
 
 X 2 x 2 
 
 4 
 
 X 3 x 3 
 
 5 
 
 X 4 x 3 
 
 + 
 
 East side of Overton Hill : Grey Granite 
 
 33 33 33 " 
 
 ft )3 ft 
 
 Mickle Dale : Lake District Volcanic Series 
 
 „ Granite .... 
 
 Cross Roads, East of Mickle Dale : Granite 
 Near Quarry ,, „ „ 
 
 „ „ „ Lake District 
 
 Volcanic Series 
 Sunny Side Farm, Cuerdley : Pink Granite 
 Near L. & N.W.R., East of Widnes : Granite 
 
 » 3) 33 * " 
 
 Ditton Bank : Lake District Volcanic Series 
 Upton Green ? 
 
 Red Brow, on the foreshore : Greenstone - 
 Halewood, Morris' Farm . Lake District Volcanic 
 
 Series - - - - - -4x2x2 
 
 Netherlee Brook, near junction of Mill Brook : 
 
 Granite - - - - - -3x3x1 
 
 Ft. Ft. Ft. 
 
 Winwick, Woodshcad : Lake District Volcanic Series 5 x 3 x 2 
 „ ,, Granite - - 4 x 24 x 2J 
 
 „ „ Lake District Volcanic Series -3x2x3 
 
 Newton Parks, near Newton-le- Willows : Granite - 4 x 2i x ? 
 
 Tarbock : Green Slate - - -3x24x2 
 
 River Terraces. 
 
 On the re-elevation of the land at the close of the Glacial 
 Epoch, the rivers for the most part regained their former .courses. 
 Successive stages in the process of re-excavation of their channels 
 are marked by the terraces of river gravel which border the 
 
30 GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY AROUND PRESOOT. 
 
 modern alluvium at various heights above it. In the upper 
 valley of the Mersey and Irwell, as many as five rise one 
 above the other (Explanation 89 S.E.). A terrace extends from 
 the Bank' Quay to the Mersey Bridge in Warrington. It con- 
 sists of stratified gravel and fine sand resting on Boulder Clay, 
 and rising to a height of 10 feet above the modern alluvium. 
 Towards the north it rests against a bank of Boulder Clay, which 
 once formed the bank of the river ; to the south it ends in a bank 
 against which rests the stiff blue clay and " slutch " of recent date. 
 The following sections occur in the old river gravel : — 
 
 Mersey Bank : — 
 
 Feet.' 
 Blue Loam - - - - - ' - to 3. 
 
 Gravel • - - - - -6„8 
 
 Boulder Clay - - - - - 6 + 
 
 , Atherton Quay : — 
 
 Mould - - - - - 1 to 3 
 
 Gravel - 1 „ 2 
 
 Fine current-bedded Sand - - - | „ 1 
 
 ' Boulder Clay - - - - - 1 + 
 
 On the south side the terrace is being cut back by the northerly 
 bends which the river makes at the Bridge and at Bank Quay. 
 By the undermining of the banks on their outward or convex 
 sides, such bends travel slowly down the valley, cutting down in 
 their advance the old terraces to the level of the recent marsh. In 
 Arpley Meadows the change of level is gradual. 
 
 A river terrace occurs in the valley of the Weaver at a height 
 varying from 15 to 20 feet above the modern alluvium. It con- 
 sists of stratified coarse gravel and sand, resting against a bank of 
 Drift or Keuper Marl on one side, and presenting a steep face to 
 the modern alluvium on the other. (See Fig. 11, p. 32.) 
 
 Shirdley Hill Sand. 
 
 This name was given by Mr. De Eance to a subaerial deposit 
 irregularly distributed over the country between Bootle, Orms- 
 kirk, and St. Helen's, after a knoll of that name, which appears 
 to be a portion of a line of ancient sand dunes.* 
 
 A deposit in all respects similar to the above occurs in the 
 valley of the Mersey, In the low ground north of Warrington, 
 and bordering Sankey Brook towards Earlstown, the Boulder Clay 
 is overlaid by a yellow, ashy grey, or pure white sand, 2 to 4 feet 
 deep, and thinning away on the rising ground. 
 
 It is spread over higher ground at Bold Heath, and though very 
 thin, completely changes the character of the soil. At Sankey 
 Bridges it was found to be 8 feet deep. 
 
 It re-appears at intervals between Warrington, Euncorn, and 
 Frodsham, generally bordering the tidal alluvium, or capping low 
 bluffs of Boulder Clay in the neighbourhood of the river. The 
 best sections are found in the cliffs extending from Hale Head to 
 Grarston. 
 
 * Superficial Geology of S.W. Lancashire (Geol. Survey Mem.), p. 58. 
 
PEAT. 
 
 31 
 
 It consists of a fine ailicious sand with occasional current- 
 bedding or lamination, sometimes snow-white, more frequently 
 tinged with iron or ashy grey under peat. It is free from gravel, 
 but rests on an eroded surface of Boulder Clay, occasionally a 
 a line of stones intervening, with traces of vegetable mould 
 resembling an ancient soil. 
 
 Peat and Submerged Forest Beds. 
 
 In the examination of the drift deposits of South Lancashire, it 
 was found that a thin covering of the Shirdley Hill Sand on the 
 impervious Boulder Clay frequently led to a growth of peat. 
 
 The same fact is observable in the valley of the Mersey. Dal- 
 lam and Halton Mosses are upon the sand, while Parr Moss, from 
 the traces of it to be found at the margin of the peat, probably 
 originated upon an outlying patch which it subsequently com- 
 pletely enveloped. The last named moss contains at its base the 
 stocks and prostrate trunks of Birch and Hazel. 
 
 A submerged Peat and Forest Bed underlies the tidal alluvium 
 of Frodsham, Helsby, and Ince Marshes. These marshes, which 
 were formerly covered at high water, have been artificially banked 
 in. Previous to this every tide deposited a layer of mud, forming 
 the laminated tidal alluvium or slutch. 
 
 The following section occurred in a brick pit at Marsh Green, 
 near Frodsham, near the margin of the Marsh : — 
 
 Feet, 
 (a.) Blue Clayy used fer bricks (Tidal Slutch) - - - 3£ 
 
 (6.) Peat (Forest Bed), - - - - - ■ 1 
 
 At Ince Light-house, the scour of the tide has exposed the 
 section shown below. (Fig. 10.) 
 
 Fig. 10. 
 Ince Ferry, Cheshire. 
 
 a. Tidal Slutch. 
 c. Sand. 
 
 Forest Bed. 
 Ordnance Datum. 
 
 The Forest Bed (b) consists of a layer of oak trunks prostrate 
 among stools of the same, which are imbedded by their roots in a 
 white sand (c), resting on and containing fragments of the rock. 
 Towards the river the sand increases in thickness from 6 inches 
 to 4 feet in a distance of 12 or 15 yards. 
 
 In the new lock cut at Dutton, the following section was 
 opened. (Fig. 11.): — 
 
32 GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY AROUND PRESCOT. 
 
 Fig. 11. 
 Valley of the Weaver, Dutton Bottoms. 
 
 References and Scale same as in Kg. 10. 
 
 Feet. 
 
 (a.) Reddish alluvial clay, passing intq blue clay > - 5 
 
 \b.) Peat, tree-stools, and stems (Forest Bed) - - to 1 
 
 Greyish-green silt, with stools in the upper part - -, 8 
 
 r Sand with bands of green clay in the tipper part, and full 
 
 ) •< of springs in the lower - - - - 5 to 6 
 
 L Grayel - - - - - - about 2 
 
 Keuper Marl ._---- 
 
 The skull of a. deer was said by the overseer to have been 
 found lyiug on the surface of the Marls. 
 
 In the Bewsey Valley, Warrington, Mr. Mellard Keade* 
 found : — 
 
 ( C .) 
 
 (a.) Marsh Clay - - - - - - 
 
 Blue Clay with Triceratiwm Favus and segregated particles 
 of phosphate of Iron - - 
 
 (b.) Peat with the skull and bones of bear - 
 
 (a) Sand and Gravel with a few whelks 
 
 Rock • ------ 
 
 Feet. 
 5 
 
 12 
 
 4 
 I to6 
 
 In the abo vesectiorts the deposition of sand followed by the forma- 
 tion of peat and the growth of trees indicates denudation of the 
 river valley, succeeded by a check to the currents in consequence 
 of a' silting up channel and a diminished gradient. During this 
 period the tide had no access to the marsh, but subsequently, 
 either through sinking of the land or bursting of a barrier, over- 
 spread the former land surface, to the extreme limits of the marsh, 
 and buried the whole under 4 to 5 feet of slutch. 
 
 This land-surface is of the same age as that met with, in the 
 North Docks, Liverpool, and as the great Peat of the Lancashire 
 Plain. The latter rests on a series of sands and grey clays, which 
 replace one another within short distances, and are considered by 
 Mr. De Ranee to be marine equivalents of the Shirdley Hill sands, 
 varying according to local circumstances.t The sand (c.) may be 
 also of this age. 
 
 Alluvium, Tidal and Fluviatile, 
 The tidal Alluvium, locally known as Slutch, varies from a blue 
 clay in sheltered portions of the tidal marshes to a fine laminated 
 loam, where the current is stronger. It contains a large quantity 
 of decomposing organic matter, the gases from which escape by 
 numerous circular vents, resembling worm pits. I estimated that in 
 
 * The Geology 'and Physics of the Post-Glacial Period 
 cashire and Cheshire. Proc. Liverpool Geol. Soc, 1871. 
 f Superficial Geology of S.W. Lancashire, chap. iii. 
 
 in Lan- 
 
AGRICULTURAL. 
 
 33 
 
 Richmond Marsh in every square foot of surface there were 
 four such vents, each producing about 1| cubic inches of gas in 
 four minutes under a hot sun. By the shifting of the deep 
 channel through the marshes, the mud is continually worked up 
 and redistributed. The margins of the marshes, to which only 
 higher tides have access, are grass-grown, and considered valuable 
 as leas or pasturage grounds. 
 
 The Slutch overlaps all earlier estuarine deposits, and running 
 up the tributary valleys mingles insensibly with the freshwater 
 alluvia. 
 
 In a depressed area, bounded by Upton and Pex Hills to the 
 east, and Wootton and Halebank on the west, and drained by 
 Ditton Brook, a considerable space is occupied by Marsh Clay, 
 washed from the slopes of Boulder Clay, and deposited in the 
 bottoms, the gradient having been insufficient to produce currents 
 with transporting power. 
 
 'A depression at Grimsditch near Hatton is probably the site of 
 a former lake. In cutting the main drain down the centre, east 
 of the Mill, 8 feet of blue clay were found to rest upon a quick- 
 sand, the bottom of which was not reached. The water at present 
 escapes through a ravine, cut in the Keuper Marl. The choking 
 of this outlet would re-convert the area into a lake. Rock salt is 
 said to have been proved at 44 yards depth in the neighbourhood.* 
 
 PART III. 
 ECONOMIC GEOLOGY. 
 
 Agricultural. 
 
 The Edition of this map for Superficial Geology, by showing 
 the distribution of the beds which underlie and have formed the 
 soil, indicates the character of the soil itself for any locality. The 
 formations may be classified as follows, according to the character 
 of the soil they produce : — 
 
 
 i 
 
 North of the 
 ' Mersey. 
 
 Square "Miles. 
 
 South of the 
 Mersey. 
 
 Square Miles. 
 
 , 
 
 Sandstone (in absence of Drift) 
 Glacial Sand and Gravel 
 Shirdley Hill Sand 
 
 Sandy Soil - - 
 
 ion 
 
 8& 
 
 3ft 
 
 IV* 
 
 1010 
 
 Red Marls and Waterstones 
 Boulder Clay 
 
 Clay Sou- 
 
 
 67« 
 
 } «« 
 
 67f! 
 
 «« 
 
 Alluvium and Peat 
 
 5M 
 
 9& 
 
 
 * By a boring in Whitley Township. Ornierod. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. iv. 
 p. 2G2. 
 
 Q 4292. O 
 
34 GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY ABOUND PRESCOT. 
 
 The Sandy Soils can be greatly improved by marling. For 
 this purpose the Boulder Clay, Waterstone Shales, and Keuper 
 Marls have all been used with apparently similar results. The 
 two last are known as Slate Olay and the first as Clay Marl by the 
 workmen. The cost of marling varies according to local circum- 
 stances* The Sandstone areas, from their elevation above the 
 sea, are generally more accessible from the marl-pits rathe Water- 
 stones than in the Boulder Clay. The Shirdley Sand, on the other 
 hand, occupies low ground, and rests on Boulder Clay, which can 
 usually be got at without much expense near the banks of a stream 
 where the sand has been partly washed away. There is a con- 
 siderable area of Boulder Clay land surrounding the main masses 
 of Shirdley Sand, over which the character of the soil is changed 
 by the presence of 2 to 6 inches of sand. A heathy character is 
 given to the land by this sandy covering, but the underlying clay 
 can often be reached and mixed with the soil by deep ploughing. 
 A large part of the Shirdley Sand area is devoted to growing 
 potatoes. 
 
 The most suitable localities for obtaining marl may be found by 
 examining the map. 
 
 Clay Soils. — Marling was formerly employed over the Boulder 
 Clay districts. Pits were opened in almost every field, and the 
 clay spread over the ground with a view to renewing the soil 
 without the labour of deep ploughing. The practice has been 
 almost abandoned, but the overgrown marl-pits are still useful 
 as drinking places for cattle in a district where springs are rare 
 and the streams are liable to run dry in the summer droughts. 
 The water in these pits does not decrease much in dry weather ; 
 it is probably supplied by slow percolation from the surrounding 
 mass of clay. 
 
 The Boulder Clay forms rich pasturage ground, and after 
 careful draining is good for growing corn ; but is difficult to 
 plough, and liable to form large and stubborn clods. 
 
 The "Waterstones form a more tractable soil from the alter- 
 nation of shales with loamy sandstones. They are covered by 
 drift, except in the hilly districts. 
 
 The Marsh Land that has been reclaimed from the tide is 
 chiefly under grass. The salt-marshes to which the higher tides 
 still have access are valuable as " leas " or pasture grounds. 
 
 Building Materials, &c. 
 
 Sandstone. — The chief quarries have been described above. 
 The " Roach " and softer beds are occasionally used for building 
 sand, and in former days for sanding the floors of cottages (p. 18). 
 The sand used at the Patent Concrete Stone Works, Dungeon, 
 is obtained from tiie Lower Keuper Sandstone Quarries at 
 Storetori. After being carefully dried, it is mixed in a mill with 
 Silicate of Soda. It is then, in a half plastic condition, carefully 
 
 * The cost of reclaiming and marling portions of Delamere Forest is given in 
 the Geology of the Neighbourhood of Chester (Geol. Survey Mem.) pt. iii. 
 
BtJILDING MATERIALS, &C. 35 
 
 hammered into a wooden mould and saturated with solution of 
 Chloride of Lime. A mutual reaction is set up and Silicate of 
 Lime is precipitated in the interstices of the mass, firmly cement- 
 ing the grains of sand together, while Chloride of Sodium is left 
 in solution. The stone is then repeatedly washed and water 
 forcibly drawn through it by " suckers "connected with a vacuum 
 pump, until the Chloride of Sodium is completely removed ; after 
 which it is dried and is ready for use. It is prohable that the 
 silicious grains are superficially attacked during the chemical 
 action, as the silicic acid passes from the one combination to the 
 other, and that the cohesiveness of the stone is thereby increased. 
 The sand must be perfectly pure and clean to insure a successful 
 result.* 
 
 The Upper Mottled Sandstone is worked near Weston Point 
 for moulds for brass-casting. 
 
 The Drift Sand is dug in numerous places for building pur- 
 poses. It varies from a sharp gritty sand to a fine loam ; the 
 former character is more common in the hilly districts, but 
 alternations of sharp sand and loam often occur in the same pit. 
 The beds of gravel are sifted for road-metal. They are irregular 
 and incontinuous. 
 
 The Boulder Clay is the chief source of bricks. It is usually 
 worked to a depth of 6 to 8 feet, the weather having favourably 
 affected it to that depth. The workmen take advantage of a 
 natural vertical jointing to wedge off the clay from the sides ot 
 the pit in large masses, which are then broken up and left to 
 temper during the winter, the stones being picked out by hand. 
 Owing to the difficulty of picking out all the fragments, especially 
 those of Limestone, the bricks are not of first-rate quality. At 
 the Brewery Lane Glass Works the clay has been worked to a 
 depth of 16 feet, and after being ground with its included boulders 
 transferred at once to the machine. 
 
 The Shirdley Sand is used for glass-making. Open wooden 
 troughs are sunk in the ground to a depth of 3 or 4 feet and a 
 gentle stream of water passing through or over the sand allowed 
 to fall in at one end. The tanks in the course of a few days are 
 filled with sand ready sifted and cleaned. It has been tried 
 without success in the manufacture of artificial stone, and is not 
 often used for building. 
 
 Marsh Clay, or tidal slutch, has been tried at Warrington for 
 brick-making, but proved worthless from its sandy nature, but 
 at Frodsham, a tough bed of blue clay 4 feet thick resting on 
 peat proved to be of better quality. It passed seawards into the 
 ordinary alluvial slutch. 
 
 A reddish marl forming the most recent alluvial deposit of the 
 Weaver at Dutton Bottoms was used in making bricks for the 
 new locks. 
 
 Peat. — The Sutton and Parr Peat Moss has been drained of 
 late years, with the usual result of causing a considerable sub- 
 
 * I was enabled to see the working of this process by the kindness of Mr. G. M. 
 Williams of the Patent Concrete Stone Works. 
 
 C 2 
 
36 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTEY ABOUND PEESCOT. 
 
 sidence of the ground. The peat has been treated with tar and 
 spirits and used for smelting copper and generating steam in 
 boilers. Experiments on its adaptibility for smelting iron are in 
 progress. 
 
 "Watee Supply. 
 The following table contains a list of the principal wells of the 
 
 district which draw their su 
 
 pply from the New Red Sandstone 
 
 : — ■ 
 
 
 Well. 
 
 Bore-hole. 
 
 
 
 Level of 
 water 
 
 Level of 
 water 
 
 ; below 
 
 surface 
 when 
 
 pump- 
 
 Restoration 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Height 
 
 Gallons 
 
 below 
 
 , of level ' 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 above 
 Ordnance 
 
 pumped in 
 a day of 
 
 surface 
 when 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 cessation 
 
 
 Depth. 
 
 Diam. 
 
 Depth. 
 
 Diam. 
 
 datum. 
 
 "24 hours. 
 
 not 
 pump- 
 
 of pumping 
 in hours. 
 
 
 feet. 
 
 feet. 
 
 feet. 
 
 inches. 
 
 
 
 ing. 
 
 ing. 
 
 
 Dudlow Lane 
 
 2471 
 
 12x9 
 
 196 
 
 18 
 
 198 
 
 1,240,440* 
 
 
 
 
 Belle Vale Bore-hole 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 52 
 
 58,000 
 (issuing at 
 surface.) 
 
 . ~° 
 
 
 
 Netherlee Bridge 
 
 — 
 
 — . 
 
 — . 
 
 4 
 
 37 
 
 45,000, about 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 — . 
 
 Bore-hole. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (issuing at " 
 surface.) 
 
 
 
 
 Netherlee Bridge 
 
 Well.t 
 Cronton Well 
 Litton ,, A - 
 „ B - 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 37 
 
 360,000 -* 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 so 
 
 30 
 
 10 
 10 
 
 270 
 
 24 
 
 65 
 } 10—15 
 
 800,000 
 900,000 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 f 4 in 1869 
 I 12 in 1875 
 
 Whiston „ AandB 
 
 225 
 
 9, 
 
 87 
 
 18 
 
 ] 200 
 
 
 
 
 
 „ (auxiliary) C 
 
 225 
 
 m 
 
 240 
 
 18 
 
 938,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (about) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Eccleston Hill Well 
 
 210 
 
 10 
 
 178 
 
 — ■ 
 
 260 
 
 _ 
 
 — 
 
 — , 
 
 ' d _ 
 
 Winwick Well, A • 
 ., B - 
 
 50 
 60 
 
 "- 
 
 200 
 
 — 
 
 ] 110 
 
 - 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Garston Iron Works 
 
 100 
 
 7 to 14 
 
 251i 
 
 6 
 
 15 
 
 240,000 
 
 10 
 
 80 
 
 is ;■{ 
 
 Dungeon Patent 
 
 — 
 
 -i- 
 
 260 
 
 ■ — 
 
 35 
 
 1,000 per hour 
 
 11 
 
 16 
 
 
 Stone Works. $ 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 for (?) hours. 
 
 
 
 
 Gaskell, Deacon, 
 
 80 
 
 6 
 
 825 
 
 3 
 
 T 
 
 
 
 
 
 & Co:, A. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Gaskell, Deacon, 
 
 39 ' 
 
 12. 
 
 639 
 
 4 
 
 \ I" 
 
 500,000 
 
 _ 
 
 „ 
 
 35 
 
 & Co., B. 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Gaskell, Deacon, 
 
 37 
 
 8 
 
 429 
 
 9 to 6 
 
 J 
 
 
 
 
 
 & Co., C. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mathieson & Co. 
 
 80 
 
 41 
 
 336 
 
 6 
 
 10 
 
 4,000 (about) 
 
 6 
 
 25 
 
 5 
 
 Sullivan & Co., A - 
 
 58 
 
 6 to 5 
 
 838 
 
 4 
 
 25 
 
 140,000 
 
 10 
 
 
 4 Or 6 
 
 B - 
 
 60 
 
 10 to 8 
 
 349 
 
 14 
 
 15 
 
 600,000 
 
 6 
 
 ' ' , — . 
 
 1 or 2 
 
 Warrington Wire Co. 
 
 — 
 
 — - '' 
 
 212 
 
 18 
 
 — 
 
 63,360 
 
 
 - ■ , , 
 
 
 Roberts, Dale, & Co. 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 225 
 
 9 
 
 — 
 
 28,000 
 
 „ 
 
 , 
 
 __ 
 
 Jas. Owen & Co., 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 212 
 
 18 
 
 — 
 
 -461,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Warwick. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 "^ 
 
 Runcorn Water- 
 
 800 
 
 24 x 8 
 
 98 
 
 14 
 
 250 
 
 38,000 
 
 ^L 
 
 
 
 __. ■ 
 
 works.? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 per hour. 
 
 
 
 
 The whole of this supply of water is obtained from the three 
 subdivisions of 'the Bunter, which, though varying locally in 
 texture, may be classed as a whole as porous throughout. The 
 " water-level " in this mass of rock has been proved to form a 
 slightly undulating plane, higher inland than at the sea coast, and 
 rising under high ground. While it is maintained by capillary 
 attraction in the pores of the rock, its increase in height from the 
 addition of that portion of the rain-fall which is absorbed is pre- 
 vented by a slow circulation of the underground water towards 
 
 * This well yielded 368,098,760 gallons in 7,884 hours of pumping in the year 
 
 t A well sunk by the corporation of Widnes on the site of an old bore-hole, 
 j From Mr. G. M. Williams. 
 § From Mr. A. Timmins. 
 
WATER SUPPLY. 37 
 
 the sea, or to the deepest valleys. It is clear that the underground 
 watersheds must as a rule be nearly coincident with those of the 
 surface. 
 
 In Plate I. the water-level is indicated by a blue line along 
 three sections traversing the district. It will be noticed that it 
 rises above, the surface of the ground in the depressed area 
 occupied by Halewood Green, Tarbock, and Cronton. A proof 
 of this fact was obtained in the bore-holes at Netherlee Bridge 
 and Cronton, where the water rose above the surface as soon as 
 the impervious covering of Boulder Clay was penetrated, and 
 continued to overflow until the pumping commenced. The level 
 in the Pebble Bed Hills, extending through Wavertree and 
 Woofton, is lowered in consequence of the neighbourhood of the 
 coast-line, but in the high ground, towards Farnworth and Rain- 
 hill, it rises partly through the influence of the overlying mass of 
 rock, and partly also towards the underground watershed of the 
 whole geographical area. 
 
 The level of the water in a well, after it has been lowered by 
 pumping, is restored with a rapidity which varies according to 
 local circumstances; the supply obtainable from the rock being 
 dependent on the rate of restoration. It has been deduced by 
 Mr. Mellard Reade* from Mr. Roberts' experiments that this rate 
 is greater than can be accounted for by percolation from the pores 
 of the rock surface exposed in the well. For taking the case of 
 Messrs. Gaskell, Deacon, & Co.'s wells, where the largest propor 
 tion of rock-surface to supply is found, the rate is 1.13 gallons per 
 square foot, while by Mr. Isaac Roberts' experiments! a block ot 
 rock 1 foot square and 10 inches thick will allow 108 gallons per 
 day to pass under a pressure of 10 lbs. per square inch ; an insuffi- 
 cient amount, " assuming the water to ooze out at the same rate 
 from top to bottom which is manifestly absurd." In other cases, 
 as in the Green Lane Well, where 95 feet of surface yield 817,000 
 gallons per day, the disproportion is more manifest. 
 
 From the experience of well-sinkers it is known that fissures 
 and bedding planes in the rock constitute the chief water-feeders. 
 By traversing the rock in numerous directions, they lay an 
 indefinite area of rock-surface under contribution. As they are 
 more likely to be encountered in a deep than in a shallow well 
 without reference to diameter, it is evident that the last is of less 
 importance so long as it is sufficient to allow the passage of the 
 supply. For example, in October 1870 the Dudlow Lane Well 
 was bored 1.42 feet deeper, and the yield was thereby increased 
 from 771,000 to 1,415,000 gallons per day .J Horizontal tunnel- 
 ling also has resulted in the discovery of water-bearing fissures. 
 At the Whiston Pumping Station, two wells sunk to a depth of 
 1 35 feet, and carried on to a depth of 225 feet supplied 400,000 
 gallons per day ; a tunnel driven horizontally eastwards en- 
 
 * Report on the Circulation of Underground Waters to the British Association, 
 1877. 
 t Idem. 1875. See also the same author, Proc. Liverpool Geol. Soc, 1868-69. 
 j Report of the Water Engineer to the Borough of Liverpool, 1875. 
 
38 GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY ABOUND PEESCOT. 
 
 countered a fissure from which, the water entered with such 
 violence as to endanger the lives of the men, and the yield 
 increased to 900,000 gallons per day. 
 
 A vast quantity of sand was washed into th<3 well in the course 
 of two or three years. It is probable that underground water- 
 channels become enlarged by the passage of water through them 
 towards a well. 
 
 In the Eccleston Hill Well a bore-hole 60 feet below the 
 bottom of the well met with no water-bearing strata. 
 
 Effect of pumping on the Water-level. — It has been a universal 
 experience that after continued pumping the yield becomes 
 smaller, and that on a cessation of pumping the water will no 
 longer rise to the former water-level. The Water Engineer to the 
 Borough of Liverpool reported in 1875 a diminution of two per 
 cent, in the yield of the public wells. Owing to the extension of 
 works "the total quantity of water now pumped is greater than 
 " in 1850 ; but in relation to the dimension of the present works 
 " and the expenditure of fuel in pumping the quantity is less." 
 
 Messrs. Sullivan & Co. report that the yield from their A well 
 is much less than when it was first sunk some years ago. 
 
 At the Garston Ironworks the level is stated to have been 
 lowered by pumping, and at Stocks "Well, Cronton, the water 
 takes seven hours longer than formerly to reach the surface after 
 the cessation of pumping. 
 
 At the same time the water-level in the adjoining districts is 
 similarly affected to a distance varying from 1 to 2^- miles from 
 the Main Well, the time elapsing before the alteration is observ- 
 able, and its extent being proportional to the distance. In the 
 sections on Plate I. the new local water-level produced by the 
 Dudlow Lane and Whiston Pumping Stations is indicated by a 
 dotted line. 
 
 In the former case when the pumps are at work the following 
 localities are affected* : — 
 
 
 Distance from Well. 
 
 
 Miles. Furlongs. 
 
 Quarry at Oakfield, Roby - 
 
 Mr, Hale's, Farm Well .... 
 Grange Lane Well .... 
 Cock's Head Farm Well - - - 
 Boby Hall Well 
 
 2 If 
 I 1 
 1 3 
 
 1 4 
 
 2 
 
 The Netherlee Bore-hole, at a distance of 2 miles 5| fur- 
 longs, and the Belle Vale Bore-hole, at 1 mile 7 furlongs, are 
 
 * Report of the Water Engineer to the Borough of Liverpool, 1875. 
 
WATER SUPPLY. 
 
 39 
 
 not known to be affected; the water-level still rising above the 
 surface at these points, so that the water continues to issue, 
 though probably in diminished quantity. 
 
 After the increase of supply from the Dudlow Lane Well, 
 in consequence of the additional depth bored in 1870, the yield 
 of the Green Lane Well, at a distance of 2 miles, fell from 
 3,741,000 to 3,580,000 gallons per day. 
 
 In 1872 the pumping at Dudlow Lane Well ceased, and the 
 Green Lane yield increased to 3,667,000. When the pumping at 
 Dudlow Lane was resumed a yield of only 1,183,857 gallons 
 per day was obtained, showing a diminution of 231,143 gallons 
 per day.* 
 
 In the case of the Whiston Pumping Station of the St. Helen's 
 Corporation the following localities were successively affected 
 between the dates 1871 and 1876, in the order in which they are 
 placed.* ■>'■ 
 
 
 Distance in 
 
 Depth in 
 Feet. 
 
 Height of Surface 
 above Ordnance Datum. 
 
 
 Yards. 
 
 Cumber Lane Well 
 
 110 
 
 66 
 
 200"l 
 
 
 Higher.Sides Well 
 
 290 
 
 75 
 
 180 
 
 
 Presoot Union Well 
 
 750 
 
 84 
 
 223 
 
 Water 
 
 Sandfield Cottage Well » 
 
 817 
 
 51 
 
 160 
 
 * disappeared. 
 
 v Fairchild's Farm Well 
 
 1,067 
 
 50 
 
 150 
 
 
 Dean's House Well 
 
 1,130 
 
 10 
 
 178 
 
 
 Holt Hill House 
 
 900 
 
 83 
 
 240' 
 260 
 
 Water 
 
 Twist's Quarry - 
 
 1,233 
 
 30 
 
 reduced. 
 
 The Winwick Well of the Warrington Waterworks was sunk 
 before the year 1856 ; Mr. Pennington's Well at Woodshead Farm 
 at a distance of 1,230 yards and 130 feet above the Ordnance 
 Datum is 57 feet deep and contained 9 feet 6 inches of water 
 at this date. In 1875 this was reduced to 2 feet 6 inches, and 
 at the same time the adjoining quarry at a distance of 1,500 yards 
 from the Winwick Well was drained of water. 
 
 I am informed by Mr. Adamson of the London and North- 
 Western Kailway Company, that in the Parkside Well the water 
 rose to 9 feet from the surface 14 years ago, but now stands at 
 69 feet from the surface. 
 
 The Eccleston Station of the St. Helen's Waterworks at the 
 last reliable gauging, viz., that taken in 1871, showed a diminution 
 of the yield of 9£ per cent, in four years, f 
 
 Mr. Mellard Keade states that there is good evidence that the 
 water in the wells at Widnes formerly rose above the surface, 
 when the Boulder Clay overlying the rock was penetrated, and 
 that the level has been permanently lowered to an average of 
 about 8 feet below the surface by pumping.} 
 
 * Stooke. Proc. Inst. C. E. vol. xlix. 
 
 f Eeport of the Water Engineer to the Borough of Liverpool, 1875. 
 J Report on the Circulation of Underground Waters to the British Association, 
 1877. 
 
40 
 
 GEOLOGY OP THE COUNTRY AKOTJND PRE SOOT. 
 
 Quality.— The following; analyses of some of the public wells 
 mentioned above are extracted from the report of the Under- 
 ground Water Committee to- the British Association for .1876. 
 
 DISSOLVED MillEKB' in paetb pbe 100,000. 
 
 
 ■a . 
 
 B3 !» 
 
 w ^ 
 S ft 
 
 ■s a 
 
 1 
 
 ! 
 
 si 
 
 s 
 
 •B 
 
 o 
 
 a 
 a 
 
 3o 
 
 Sir 8 
 
 •a 
 
 a) 
 
 a . 
 
 a ^ 
 
 » a 
 
 S-..8 
 
 §4g 
 
 i 
 i 
 
 3 
 
 o c 
 ft-a 
 
 4a ! 
 
 at 
 
 O 
 
 •a 
 
 eg 
 
 e 
 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 •< 
 
 SS 
 
 
 i s l 
 
 o 
 
 ehW 
 
 #* 
 
 
 tf 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 &H 
 
 fi ° 
 
 
 
 *. 
 
 
 
 Dndlow Lane 
 
 18 
 
 -091 
 
 •031 
 
 •003 
 
 •368 
 
 •402 
 
 v _ 
 
 2-87 
 
 ■■ 
 
 _ 
 
 8 
 
 clear 
 
 „ „ 
 
 19'64 
 
 •604 
 
 
 
 •003 
 
 •679 
 
 ■681 
 
 6,eoo 
 
 2-61 
 
 •5 
 
 6-5 
 
 7 
 
 turbid 
 
 Eccleston Hill 
 
 21 '66 , 
 
 
 
 , 
 
 
 
 ■436 
 
 •436 
 
 4,040 
 
 1-94 
 
 fi-9 
 
 6-8 
 
 12 - 7 
 
 clear 
 
 ^Fountain, Runcorn, 
 
 60-80 
 
 •118 
 
 ■on 
 
 
 
 •382 
 
 •393 
 
 3,510 
 
 7-00 
 
 8-1 
 
 17"2 
 
 25-3 
 
 clear 
 
 Winwick 
 
 84-34 
 
 •087 
 
 •002 
 
 
 
 ■310 
 
 '312' 
 
 2,780 
 
 1-64 
 
 7-,9 
 
 W2 
 
 18-1 
 
 clear 
 
 Messrs. Sullivan and Co. state that a gallon of water from their 
 wells leaves a residue of 24 grains after evaporation, consisting 
 chiefly of Salts of Calcium. 
 
 Dr. J. Campbell Brown* reports that there are no regular 
 differences in the hardness of the water in winter and summer, but 
 that it diminishes after rainy weather and increases under an 
 increased rate of pumping, the change being in the amount of 
 Calcium Salts. The hardness, moreover, becomes permanently 
 increased after continued pumping, in the same way that the water 
 > level becomes permanently lowered. 
 
 On 2nd December 1868, the hardness of the Dudlow Lane water 
 
 was -- - ' - - - • - - . 6§° 
 
 „ 24th September 1,872, „ „ „ „ - 6° 
 
 „ 30th September 1872, „ „ „ „ . 71° 
 
 „ 20th October 1873, „ „ „ „ . 7° 
 
 During 1874 when the pumps were frequently stopped, the 
 average was 5f°. The water from the Buncorn Well in 1878 
 showed 11° of hardness, but in 1880 had increased to 12 .f 
 
 The water obtained from the deep bores is sometimes harder 
 sometimes softer than that from the wells, as at Dudlow Lane : — 
 
 On the 1st June 1875, the hardness of the bore-water was - 7°'86 
 
 „ ,. » „ „ well-water „ - 8°*00 
 
 „ 4th September 1876, „ bore-water „ - 8° "88 
 
 » , »■ >. „ „ well-water „ - 8° '00 
 
 The facts detailed above are also observable in the other public 
 wells. 
 
 Source bf the supply. — In a few of the wells only has any 
 change been detected that can be attributed to , weather. In 
 some cases the hardness of the water is temporarily reduced 
 after heavy rain, when no change in the quantity is observable ; 
 
 * Report on the Circulation of Underground Waters to the British Association, 
 1877. See also, The Wells and Water of Liverpool, by I. Roberts, Proc. Liverpool 
 Geol. Soc, 1868-69* e 
 
 t Information from Mr. A. Timmins. 
 
WATER SUPPLY. 41 
 
 in others an increase in the supply takes place at an interval 
 varying from a few days to a few weeks after rainy weather. 
 
 Messrs. Gaskell, Deacon and Co.'s well is affected after - 1 month. 
 The Litton Well „ „ „ „ - 10 days. 
 
 „ Cronton „ „ „ „ „ - ? 
 
 „ Iron Works, Garston „ „ „ - ? 
 
 In the case of the wells near the banks of the Mersey, it is 
 possible that a portion of the supply is derived from the river, the 
 salts in solution being removed from the water during its passage 
 through the pores of the sandstone.* Messrs. Gaskell, Deacon, & 
 Co.'s well, for example, is affected by the rise and fall of the tide, 
 and wells in Liverpool in the neighbourhood of the river have had 
 to be abandoned in 1 consequence of the increasing saltness of the 
 water, induced by hard pumping. 
 
 On the other hand, the variation in level may be due to a 
 temporary check to the seaward flow of the underground water by 
 the rise of the tide. 
 
 Over the greater part of the area, the underground store must be 
 supplied by the absorption at the surface of a portion of the rain- 
 fall. The amount absorbed is dependent upon the permeability 
 of the surface deposit. The areas in square miles in this Quarter 
 Sheet occupied by pervious and impervious formations are as 
 follows : — ' 
 
 North of the South of the 
 Mersey. Mersey. 
 
 Pervious - - - - 11 9Jj 
 
 Impervious ... - 76^5 24^| 
 
 The Shirdley Hill Sand rests on Boulder Clay, and is therefore 
 included in the impervious. 
 
 It may be estimated that over the pervious area 30 per cent, of 
 the rain-fall is absorbed, as compared with only 10 per cent, on the 
 impervious.t The Eain-fall of the district is given by Mr. Symons 
 as 3000 inches a year, giving a total absorption of 9 inches a 
 year over 11 square miles, and of 3 inches over 7G^ square 
 miles a year, representing an annual loss of 20 per cent, of the 
 rainfall owing to the presence of Drift. This impervious cover 
 must therefore limit the rapidity with which the underground 
 store can be replenished after pumping, though it cannot affect 
 the storage capacity of the rock. The, lowering of the water-level 
 and progressive hardening of the water is evidence that up to the 
 present time the demand has been greater than the rate of re- 
 plenishment. There is little doubt that if the demand ceased, 
 the old conditions would be recovered in two or three years. 
 The new water-level therefore can be only considered permanent 
 so long as the existing demand balances the supply. But it is 
 probable that the latter is now exceeded, and that a continued 
 
 * The possibility of this was proved experimentally by Mr. Isaac Koberts. Report 
 on the Circulation of Underground Waters to the British Association, 1878. 
 t Rainfall and Evaporation. Proc. Inst. C.E., vol. xlv., Sess. 1875-76, Part iii. 
 
42 , GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY AROUND PRESCOT. 
 
 depression of the water-levelwill take place, and districts further 
 removed from the pumping stations will be successively affected. 
 
 Mr. Beck informs me that at the Dallam Lane Forge, a bore- 
 hole was sunk to a depth of 887 feet in search of water in the 
 years 1876-77; The rocks passed through consisted of soft red 
 and white sandstone with two thin shale beds, belonging to the 
 Upper Mottled Sandstone.* At a depth of 750 feet, the bore 
 passed through a fault marked by shattered white sandstone, with 
 strong slickenside, and entered Pebble Beds, containing the usual 
 liver-coloured quartzite pebbles, and closely resembling the con- 
 glomeratic red sandstone of Winwick. The last 75 feet were in 
 soft red and white rock, probably belonging to the Lower Mottled 
 Sandstone. The f>ult passed through may be a continuation of 
 the Westerly downthrow which ranges north and south through 
 Lower Walton. It probably runs on in this direction to the west 
 of Winwick, as indicated on the map, and cuts off the Pebble 
 Beds of this place on the strike, so as to bring in the soft Upper 
 Mottled Sandstone under the depressed area,bordering Sankey 
 Brook. ■", ( ;av ; '^,. 
 
 The water obtained from the bore-hole was te'stedfor Chlorides 
 at various depths, as indicated on Plate II. The number of 
 grains in a gallon precipitated by Nitrate of Silver increased from 
 40 grains at a depth of 237 feet to 4,500 grains at 818 feet, the 
 principal ingredient being Chloride of Sodium. The number of 
 grains of Chlorides in a gallon of the water of the Mersey at 
 Liverpool at half ebb tide are, stated by Mr. Isaac Roberts! to 
 amount to only 1,386*42 grains per gallon, clearly showing that 
 the saltness of the water in the bore-hole is not due to percolation 
 from the tide. 
 
 I am informed by Mr. Webbe, superintendent of the Loco-r 
 motive Department of the London and North- Western Railway 
 Company, that a well situated close to the first bridge north of 
 Warrington Railway Station had to* be abandoned on account of 
 the saltness of the water, the supply being afterwards obtained 
 from a well in the railway cutting near Moore. Ormerod also 
 mentions brine-rsprings at Woolstone, 2 miles E.N.E., and at 
 Woolden, 7 miles N.E. of Warrington, on the borders of Chat 
 Moss. (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. Vol. iv., p. 262.) Both these 
 places are situated on the Upper Mottled Sandstone. In other 
 parts of Warrington good water has been obtained-^ 
 
 Brine has also been found in the Bunter at Aldersey in 
 Che shire, § at Salt Houses in Lancashire, and at Ordsall near 
 Manchester.! In the last-named a bore-hole for water was 
 
 * The thickness of these beds renders it impossible that they can belong to the 
 Frodsham Beds, which do not exceed 100 feet in the neighbourhood. 
 
 ■f Proc. of the Liverpool, Geol. Soc, 1868-69.' 
 
 X Eeport on the Circulation of Underground Waters to the British Association 
 1876. 
 
 § Geology of Country round Chester (Geol. Survey Mem.) p. 39. 
 
 || Geology of Country around Bolton (Geol. Survey Mem.) p. 22. 
 
WATER SUPPLY. 43 
 
 abandoned at a depth of 460 feet on account of the saltness, but 
 it has been since deepened to 1,500 feet in search of coal. The 
 Coal measures were entered at 860 feet, but it was not ascertained 
 from what part of the bore-hole the salt was derived. 
 
 It is probable that in all these instances the brine rises from 
 the Coal-measures, salt-springs being very commonly met with in 
 these beds. A list giving the occurrences of such springs will be 
 found in the Appendix. 
 
 The supply of Sankey White-lead Works (p. 22) is obtained 
 solely from the Drift. The level of the well is about 20 feet 
 above the Ordnance Datum, and the water stands at 3 feet 
 6 inches from the surface. It is not known to be affected by 
 seasons. The yield is 40 gallons per minute derived from beds 
 of sand and gravel interstratified with the Boulder Clay. The 
 last 15 feet increased the yield by about 30 gallons per minute.* 
 
 I am informed by Mr. A. Timmins that an abundant supply of 
 good water has been obtained in a well and bore-hole, recently 
 sunk in Ditton Marsh near Ditton Station. The solid contents 
 of a gallon amounted to 18 grains. The well is 25 feet 6 inches 
 deep, with a 6-inch boring to a depth of 120 feet 5 inches from 
 the surface. The beds passed through were as follows : — 
 
 Feet. 
 Dark grey marsh-silt - - - - - 5 
 
 Dark brown earth - - - - -13 
 
 Peaty earth, with remains of trees, and bones - - 16 
 
 Coarse gravel - - - - - 4 
 
 Sandy micaceous earth - - - 1 
 
 Red Sandstone, with pebbles - - - - 51 
 
 Fine brown argillaceous earth - - - 6 
 
 Coarse light-red Sandstone ... 24$ 
 
 This section may be compared with those given on pp. 31 and 
 32. Mr. Timmins informed me that a Roman coin was found at 
 a depth of about 12 feet. This would prove that the over- 
 spreading of the old land-surfaces by the tidal slutch has taken 
 place since the Roman Occupation. 
 
 * Report on the Circulation of Underground Waters tolthe British Association, 
 1876. 
 
44 GEOLOGY OP THE COUNTRY ABOUND PEESOOT. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 EECENT PROVING OP COAL-MEASURES UNDER NEW RED 
 SANDSTONE. 
 
 , The lowest beds of the New Bed Sandstone, and probably the marl 
 and underlying soft sandstone of St. Helen's Junction, were passed through 
 in the pits of the Bold Hall Colliery,i sunk in the years 1875-78 on the 
 southern margin of the Bold Peat. Moss. A detailed section of the strata 
 is, given hereafter at page 49. Of the strata traversed in- the No. 2 pit, 
 the soft red sandstone at the top is probably the equivalent of the 
 similar bed seen at Peckus Hill, while the Coal-measures appear to have 
 been entered at a depth of 186 feet. According to this view the red and 
 white metal ,30 feet 4 inches in thickness corresponds to , the shale that 
 was proved in the wells of the brewery, and the underlying red sand- 
 stone 57' feet 9 inches in thickness to the moulding sand of the St. Helen's 
 Junction. It is believed that the discordance between the details of the 
 two pits is due to the continuation of the Derbyshire Hill fault, which 
 has been proved at Ashton's Green to throw the beds 60 Yards down on the 
 East side. 
 
 Allowing a dip of 1 in 10 for the Bed Sandstone, the position of its 
 boundary will be 620 Yards to the north-west, or nearly under the centre 
 of the peat-moss. It was formerly considered that this boundary ran from 
 Moss Nook, near Ashton's Green Colliery, to Havannah, the marl and the 
 lower soft sandstone of Sutton being overlapped at the former place, so 
 that to the Ncrth-east the soft red sandstone of Peckus Hill rested directly 
 on the Coal-measures. It was moreover believed that the sandstone by a 
 rapid overlap rested on Coal-measures not many yards above the Lyon's 
 Delf at Ashton's Green, the evidence of this consisting of a note of 16 yards 
 of red sandstone passed through in the easternmost pit of the Ashton's 
 Green Colliery. 
 
 It will be seen, however, from the section of the Bold Hall Colliery that 
 this involves an overlap not only of the marl and soft sandstone of Sutton, 
 but of more than 1,500 feet of Upper Coal-measures in a distance of less 
 than a mile, a more rapid overlap than is known in any other locality along 
 the southern margin of the Coal-field. 
 
 It is sometimes difficult to distinguish the Coal-measure Sandstones 
 from the Permian or Trias, in consequence of the infiltration of the red- 
 colouring matter. The red sandstone met with at Ashton's Green may 
 therefore have been a red bed in the Coal-measures. It is noticeable that 
 it must be at nearly the same distance above the Lyon's Delf, as the lower 
 of the two beds of sandstone of Sutton Heath, described on p. 10, as 
 closely resembling Permian Sandstone. 
 
 On this supposition the necessity of the rapid overlap is done away with, 
 and the base of the New Bed Sandstone may occupy the position above 
 assigned to it from a consideration of the depth at which it was met with 
 at Bold. The greater part of the unproductive measures proved in this 
 sinking will then crop to the surface towards the northern part of the peat- 
 moss. 
 
 The marl and soft sandstones of Sutton are probably cut off on the strike 
 by the Field House Fault, which by throwing' -down the beds 340 yards 
 to the west causes each succeeding outcrop to be. about 1,400 yards further 
 to the north on the same side. This fault belongs to the system of, E.S.E. 
 faults, which repeatedly displace the boundary of the New Bed Sandstone 
 along the whole of the southern boundary of the coal-field. It may be 
 continued in that which runs along the Preston Brook valley and throws 
 Keuper Marl down on the west against the Waterstones of Preston Hill. 
 
 About three-quarters of a mile to the north-east of the Bold Colliery, two 
 pits have been sunk by the Collins Green Colliery Company (see section). 
 
COAL-MEASURES UNDER TRIAS. 45 
 
 The Coal-measjires were entered at a depth of 310 feet 10 inches ; the upper 
 part of the sinking was in Pebble Beds and Lower Mottled Sandstone, while 
 the red metal 22 feet 4 inches thick, and the underlying dun rock and brown 
 sandstone, may be the same as the marl and soft sandstone of St. Helen's 
 Junction. The brown sandstone was soft and incoherent, and contained 
 numerous round or slightly flattened balls of sand cemented by iron 
 pyrites. They varied from half an inch to two inches in diameter, and some 
 had a small projection in the centre of the upper side. Generally, they 
 showed the stratification of the sand undisturbed, the Iron pyrites having 
 merely acted as a cement to fix the grains in their original position. The 
 spherical form is the result of the concentration of the pyrites by concre- 
 tionary action round a nucleus. The peroxide of iron to which the colour 
 of the red sandstone is due may have been the source of the iron, for at 
 Winwick, where similar concretions were found, the sand containing them 
 was perfectly white. 
 
 The dip of the New Bed Sandstone was ascertained by comparing the 
 depths at which its base occurred in the two pits, and was found to be 1 
 10 (6°) to the south-east, while that of the Coal-measures was 1 in 6 (10°) 
 in the same direction. I was informed that the discordance between the 
 two was clearly visible in the shafts. 
 
 At this inclination the position of the boundary of the New Bed Sand- 
 stone at the surface should be about 1,000 yards to the north-west. 
 
 A third sinking for coal through the New Bed Sandstone has been made 
 by the Haydock Colliery Company in the Lyme pits (see section) near 
 Newton Bace Course (89S.W.). By the courtesy of Mr. Glover and Mr. 
 Burns, who was in charge of the Lyme pit, I was enabled to examine the 
 lower beds of the New Bed Sandstone in the shaft. There appeared to be 
 no equivalent here of the soft red sandstone of Peckus Hill, while the marl 
 and underlying soft sandstone of Sutton, if represented at all, had thinned 
 out to 9 feet and 7 feet 6 inches respectively. The red sandstone, 259 feet 
 thick, belongs probably to the Pebble Beds. It is moderately hard, and 
 contains rolled lumps of clay and a few pebbles. The " Soap Stone " or red 
 metal 9 feet thick resembles the beds of shale which are often met with in 
 the Trias. It is of a deep red colour, and evenly bedded. When wetted, it 
 becomes exceedingly greasy. It is underlain by a bed of hard brown 
 compact sandstone, 7 feet 6 inches thick, fine : grained in the upper part, but 
 with fragments of shale, and small grit towards the base. In parts of it 
 may be seen small round grains of quartz scattered .through a more compact 
 matrix, in which it resembles the beds which were met with in the lower part 
 of the bore-hole at Bootle. * Under it occurs a metal of the usual Coal-measure 
 character, but crumbly in the upper part, apparently through having been 
 disturbed and redeposited. The dip of the " Soap Stone " and hard brown 
 stone is towards the east at 1 in 7 or 1 in 8 (between 7° and 8°), that of the 
 metal is about 1 in 10 quicker (or about 13° or 14°) in the same direction. 
 In consequence of this difference in dip, the red clay or soft warrant, 8 inches 
 thick, is only 3 feet below the base of the hard brown rock in Nos. 1 and 2 
 shafts as compared with 14 feet 8 inches in No. 3 shaft. The boundary of 
 the red Sandstone north of this point is a fault with a downthrow south of 
 about 170 yards. The, workings- of the Wood pit have been extended into 
 Coal-measures to the south of the fault, and therefore beneath a covering 
 of New Bed Sandstone, without experiencing any additional inconvenience 
 from water. 
 
 Coal-measures have also been proved under the TriaB in three boreholes, 
 at the Winwick Waterworks, in the Parkside Well, and by the side of the 
 St. Helen's and Widnes Eailway near Farnworth. 
 
 A section of the Winwick bore-hole is given on p. 39.f The Pebble Beds 
 
 extended to a depth of 127 feet, when a compact close-grained sandstone, 
 
 with round grains of quartz scattered through it, waB entered. This bed 
 
 which was 45 feet thick, resembled the lowest bed of the Trias at the Lyme 
 
 * pits, Haydock. 
 
 At 201 feet 5 inches and 214 feet 5 inches respectively, there occurred 
 
 * Described by Mr. De Ranee as "millet seed " grain, 
 f I am indebted to Mr. A. Timmins for this section. 
 
46 GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY AROUND PRESCOT. 
 
 «imilar Hard and compact sandstones, tout effervescing freely ■with acid. 
 The lower bed showed crystals of calcite on the joint faces, and contained a 
 few small lumps of shale ; towards the bottom it was very hard and heavy. 
 Below it occurred a bed of shale 31 feet 7 inches thick, underlain by very 
 soft red sandstone containing a white bed completely disintegrated, 21 feet 
 7 inches thick. Scattered through this white part there were small 
 irregularly-shaped lumps and nodules of iron pyrites. They probably have 
 a similar origin to the Sulphur Balls met with at the base of the Trias of 
 Collin's Green. Below the soft sandstone a bed of red shale 11 feet thick 
 was found similar to the first, but at 341 feet purple and variegated marls 
 were entered, exactly resembling stained Coal-measures, and containing 
 at a depth of 360 feet a bed of dull red fine-grained micaceous sand- 
 stone 5 feet thick, of the usual Coal-measure character. At 408 feet the 
 marls, which were calcareous in the lower part, were found to rest on a 
 bed of limestone. The bore was abandoned in this bed at a depth of 
 412 feet. The limestone was of a dull red or purplish brown colour, fine- 
 grained, but brecciated in bands, showing small dull red or whitish lime- 
 stone fragments embedded in a red limestone matrix. An analysis by 
 Mr. A.Timmins proved that it was soluble in Hydrochloric Acid with a very 
 small residue of earthy matter. Iron was present as an impurity. There 
 were no indications of magnesia. 
 
 I compared it with specimens of the Whiston and Ardwick* (top bed) 
 limestones, and found they were identical in character and appearance, all 
 presenting the peculiar brecciated character, while under the microscope 
 they were all three found by Mr. Siddall of Chester, to whom I submitted 
 them for examination, to contain Microeoncjms ca/rbmwms and a small shell 
 seen only in section, but resembling Cyfhwe (LeperdAtia). The marls and 
 shales overlying the Winwick Limestone are similar to those associated 
 with the Whiston. bed. The dip of these Coal-measures at Winwick was at 
 a low angle. 
 
 The section of the Parkside Well and bore-hole, given on p. 59, was 
 furnished to me by Mr. Timmins, by permission of the London and North- 
 western Railway Company. The Pebble Beds, which crop oujt in the 
 railway cutting, extended to a depth of 125 feet, and were then succeeded 
 by soft red and yellow sandstones, flaggy and micaceous in the upper part, 
 and with the " millet-seed " grain in the lower part ; there also occurred 
 beds of shale similar to those found at Winwick. The distance between " 
 the two localities is about 1-*- miles, and though it is not possible to identify 
 bed for bed in the two sections, as indeed could hardly be expected in 
 rocks so variable as the Trias, yet there is a general similarity between 
 them. Placing the base of the Pebble Beds at the top of the thick marl 
 bed in each case, we get a thickness of 112 and 141 feet, in the two sec- 
 tions respectively, of beds of very similar character intervening between 
 this subdivision and the Coal-measures, and probably belonging to the 
 Lower Mottled Sandstone. The purple and green mottled marls were 
 precisely similar to those found at Winwick. 
 
 In the Famworth Bore-hole, of the 130 feet of strata traversed none can 
 be with certainty attributed to the Pebble Beds, although from the prox- 
 imity of this rock in quarries, it is certain that the beds cannot be far 
 below the horizon of its base. The sandstones are in general similar to 
 those of the sections described above, the " millet-seed " grain being here 
 also observable though not so abundantly, but the marl of St. Helen's 
 Junction (attributed to Permian, p, 11) and the shales found at Bold, 
 Collins Green, Haydock, Winwick, and Parkside appear to be absent' 
 there being only three feet of clay in the whole section. The description 
 of the purple marls and limestone of Winwick and Whiston, given above, 
 applies equally well to those found at Farnworth. 
 
 It will be- noticed that this borehole is situated near the junction of two 
 ranges of Pebble Beds, the one with an easterly dip striking through 
 Pex Hill to Eainhill and Eccleston, the other with a westerly dip striking 
 by Bold Mill towards Bold Hall. The intervening strata thus occupy the 
 
 * The latter kindly obtained for me by Mr. W. J. Grimshaw, F.G.S. 
 
COAL-MEASURES UNDER TRIAS. 
 
 47 
 
 crest of an anticlinal axis, which coincides in direction and is probably- 
 connected with the Thatto Heath fault. , 
 
 It is clear from the dips that the strata along this axis must underlie the 
 Pebble Beds which flank them on either side, and, from the result of this 
 boring, it seems reasonable to suppose .that they consist almost entirely of 
 the Lower Mottled Sandstone. Therefore, in the area included between 
 the boundary of the Coal-field and the two ranges of Pebble Beds described 
 above it may be expected that the depth to the Coal-measures is limited to 
 little more than the thickness of the Lower Mottled Sandstone. It seems 
 probable that the base of the Pebble Beds should be drawn in a more 
 southerly direction than at present, so as to run nearly to Farnworth, and 
 that a similar change should be made in' the boundary of the Lower 
 Mottled Sandstone, making it more nearly parallel to the strike of the 
 Coal-measures as shown by the Coal-crops and including the neighbour- 
 hood of Micklehead Green and Boughley House in the Coal-measure area. 
 The whole of the ground however is overspread by Boulder Clay, and it 
 has not been considered advisable to change the positions of the boundaries 
 on the evidence of the bore-hole only. 
 
 The Colliery and Bore-hole Sections referred to above prove that the shale 
 and underlying soft sandstone of St. Helen's Junction, which have been 
 referred to by Mr. Binney and afterwards by Prof. Hull, to the Permian 
 Formation (p. 11), are confined to a limited area. Eastwards they are 
 proved by the Colliery Sections to be only doubtfully represented at a dis- 
 tance of 2| miles. Southwards they are proved by the Farnworth Borehole 
 to be absent at a distance of 3£ miles. Westwards undoubted Lower 
 Mottled Sandstone rests directly on the Coal-measures. Moreover, judging 
 from the following thicknesses taken from the Colliery Sections, they 
 disappear by gradual attenuation in themselves, not in consequence of an 
 unconformable overlap : — 
 
 — 
 
 St. Helen's 
 Junction. 
 
 Bold 
 Colliery. 
 
 Collin's Green 
 Colliery. 
 
 Haydoclc 
 Colliery. 
 
 Shale 
 
 Soft Sandstone 
 
 30 feet 
 
 90 (estimated) 
 
 30 feet. 
 57| „ 
 
 221 feet. 
 
 44 „ 
 
 9 feet. 
 
 Taking into consideration that the soft sandstone of St. Helen's Junction 
 is "altogether undistinguishable " from typical Lower Mottled Sandstone, 
 and that beds of shale are not uncommon in this lower part of the Trias 
 (as at Winwick and Parkside), it cannot be affirmed with certainty, in the 
 absence of fossil evidence, that these beds should be referred to the 
 Permian rather than the Trias. 
 
 A portion of the barren strata overlying the productive Middle Coal 
 Measures was passed through in a borehole at Rough Dales, near Sutton 
 (see section). The Lyon's Delf crops to the surface about 1 mile to the west- 
 north-west of the position of the borehole, and with an average dip of 13° 
 should be met with at a depth of about 1,200 feet. A strong spring was met 
 with in this boring, the water from which flowed over at the surface. 
 
 It may be interesting to give here an abstract of the section of the Upper 
 Coal-measures of the Manchester Coal-field,* in which the Ardwick Lime- 
 stone occurs : — 
 
 The Limestone series, consisting of red and blue shales with 3 
 
 bands of limestone, a bed of ironstone, and a thin coal seam 
 Unproductive measures - 
 
 The Bradford and Clayton coal series, containing seven seams 
 Unproductive measures (Irk valley) - 
 
 Unknown strata - - - 
 
 Middle Coal-measures with workable seams 
 
 Feet. 
 
 600 
 600 
 813 
 
 1678 
 
 ? 
 
 * The details of this series are given in the Geological Survey Memoir on the 
 Country round Oldham, 1864. 
 
48 GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY AROUND PRESCOT. 
 
 The great thickness of the unproductive measures has at present defeated 
 any attempt to reach the productive Middle Coal-measures by sinking 
 through the Upper. The Bradford 4 feet Coal, however, is believed to be 
 the same as the Worsley 4 feet of Wigan, which is only about 900 feet above 
 the upper seams of the Middle Coal-measures of that neighbourhood. 
 There is therefore a great attenuation of the unproductive measures in pro- 
 ceeding from east to west. It is known that this attenuation is especially 
 rapid in a westerly or south-westerly direction between Wigan and Preseot,* 
 the whole thickness of the Middle Coal-measures at the latter place being 
 about one third less than at the former. 
 
 This attenuation moreover takes place in the unproductive measures which 
 separate the seams, without any corresponding diminution in the thickness 
 of the seams themselves. There is therefore a probability that the great 
 body of barren measures separating the Bradford and Clayton series from 
 the Middle Coal-measures near Manchester is greatly reduced in thickness 
 in the neighbourhood of "Warrington and Preseot. A thickness of 1,178 ft. 
 in the Bold Hall Colliery, 1,103 ft. in the Collins Green Colliery, and 
 835 ft. in the Roughdales Boring, have been proved to be unproductive of 
 seams of the first class. It remains to be seen whether productive equi- 
 valents of the Manchester Upper Coal-measures exist above this part of the 
 series. 
 
 The Upper Coal-measures were again met with under the New Bed Sand- 
 stone at the Whiston Pumping Station of the St. Helen's Waterworks, t 
 The well and borehole are situated at a distance of 200 yards to the east of 
 the fault, which forms the eastern boundary of the small inlier of Coal- 
 measures described on page 11. It was anticipated that a good depth of 
 the water-bearing strata of the New Bed Sandstone would exist here, but 
 they were found to be terminated at a depth of 104 ft. from the surface, 
 and to be succeeded by Coal-measures. As the red. sandstone which 
 had been traversed in the boring was believed to belong to the upper 
 division of the Bunter, it was necessarily supposed that it was thrown 
 against the Coal-measures by a fault. This fault was assumed, to be the 
 same as that which rises to the surface in the Bailway cutting 200 yards to 
 the west, and its proximity to the surface at the position of the boring was 
 attributed to an exceptionally low hade. But as the sandstone more pro- 
 bably belongs to the lower division of the Bunter, there is no necessity 
 , for supposing that it is faulted against the Coal-measures, but it may, 
 where traversed in the boring, rest in natural order of deposition upon 
 them. No, further light was thrown on the question by the sinking of 
 an auxiliary well 720 feet to the east of the first, with a borehole to a depth 
 of 465 feet from the surface. At this depth a bed of white clay was met 
 with, which it was thought undesirable to penetrate. 
 
 I am informed by Mr. G. H. Morton, F.G.S., that an unsuccessful 
 attempt was made about the year 1874 to penetrate the Trias at Netherlee 
 Bridge. A boringj was carried to a depth of 600 feet in soft red sand- 
 stone without pebbles, but occasionally containing the small rounded quartz 
 grains scattered through a compact matrix, which have been thought 
 characteristic of the Lower Mottled Sandstone. In the original survey of 
 the district it was considered that this area was occupied by, the Upper 
 Mottled Sandstone, from the fact that the Pebble Beds, both of Boby and 
 Much Woolton, dip towards it. There is not at present sufficient evidence 
 for changing this opinion. The thickness of the beds, moreover, is far 
 greater than that of the Lower Mottled Sandstone in this district. The 
 Upper Mottled Sandstone considerably exceeds this thickness, for Mr. 
 Trmmins informs me that in a well and boring at Astmoor, near Runcorn, 
 its base was not reached at a depth of 515 feet, starting at a level 150 feet 
 below that of its top, where exposed at Halton. 
 
 * See Vertical Sections, Sheet 61. 
 
 f "On a remarkable fault in the New Red Sandstone of Rainhill," by Prof. 
 Hull. Journal of the Royal Geol. Soc. of Ireland, vol. iii., p. 73 (new series), 
 1870-73. See also Stoote. Minutes of Proc. Inst. C. E., vol. 49. 
 
 J Afterwards utilised for a portion of the supply of the Widnes Waterworks. 
 
COAL-MEASURES UNDER TRIAS. 
 
 49 
 
 Bold Colliery Sections 
 given to Mr. 0. E. De Eance by Mr. Harbottle,. J.P. 
 
 Section of No. 2 Sinking 
 
 TMoss , - 
 
 lt Glacial J £ Ia y , . ■ . 
 Deposits.^ |^ leaf Marl "_ ; " 
 
 i_Strong Clay - 
 
 New Red J Red Marl and sandy Marl 
 Sandstone. 1 Red mottled Rook - 
 
 r Red Metal - 
 Permian (?) < Red and white Metal 
 L Red Sandstone - 
 
 Red Metal - 
 
 Red and white Metal 
 
 Red mottled Rock - 
 
 Red mottled hard Rook 
 
 Red Metal - 
 
 Red and grey Metal with nodules 
 
 Rock 
 
 Linstey 
 
 Red soapy Metal 
 
 Red fine Clay 
 
 Red Metal - 
 
 Warrant ... 
 
 Red Metal - - 
 
 Rock - , - 
 
 Red Metal - 
 
 Red Warrant 
 
 Red Metal - 
 
 Soft red Rock 
 
 Pit. 
 
 Yds. Ft. 
 
 In. 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 n 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 1, 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 19 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 10 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 Depth from surface 
 
 - 116 1 
 
 Bold Colliery, Section of No. 1' Pit. 
 
 Commencing below surface 
 
 Red and white Rock ... 
 
 Mottled Rock - 
 
 Red Metal, with white rock-partings - 
 
 Red Metal - 
 
 Mixed red and white Rock 
 
 Red Rock - 
 
 Flaggy Rock - 
 
 Red and white Rock, mixed 
 
 Hard mottled Rock 
 
 Red gritty Rock 
 
 Red Metal - 
 
 Red and white Metal - 
 
 Red Rock ... 
 
 Red and white Rock - 
 
 Red and white Rock (hard) 
 
 Hard mottled Rock 
 
 Red Metal .... 
 
 Red flaggy Metal 
 
 Red and white Band - - - 
 
 Carried forward 
 
 Yds. 
 
 Ft. Ins. 
 
 80 
 
 1 2J 
 
 3 
 
 2 5 
 
 1 
 
 1 1 
 
 2 
 
 2 7 
 
 
 
 2 6 
 
 2 
 
 1 10 
 
 8 
 
 1 9 
 
 1 
 
 2 2 
 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 2 2 
 
 2 
 
 1 4 
 
 4 
 
 2 9 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 12 
 
 1 2 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 161 1 3i 
 
 Q 4392. 
 
 D 
 
50 GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY AROUND PEESCOT. 
 
 Bold Colliery, Section of No. 
 
 1 Pit — ^continued. , 
 
 
 
 Yds. Ft. In. 
 
 Brought forward - - 
 
 - 
 
 161 1 34 
 
 Red and grey " loggy" (nodular) Metal 
 
 5 2 6 
 
 Hard red and white Rock 
 
 - 
 
 3 
 
 Red gritty Rock 
 
 . ■ 
 
 1 8 
 
 Hard red and white Roek-band 
 
 . 
 
 7 
 
 Red and white Linstey 
 
 - 
 
 1 ,-0 
 
 Blue Metal - 
 
 
 15 
 
 Red Metal 
 
 - 
 
 7 1 
 
 Grey and red Metal, mixed 
 
 - 
 
 3 1 
 
 Coal and Bass, mixed 
 
 -- 
 
 1 4 
 
 Warrant 
 
 - 
 
 1 2 11 \ 
 
 Rock and Warrant 
 
 . 
 
 2 1 2 
 
 Grey Metal - 
 
 - 
 
 12 5 
 
 Black Bass - - - 
 
 . 
 
 2 9 
 
 Coal (Top) 
 
 - 
 
 4 
 
 Soft Warrant - 
 
 . 
 
 1 2 
 
 Coal (Bottom) - 
 
 - 
 
 10 
 
 Warrant 
 
 . 
 
 1 1 
 
 White Rock 
 
 . 
 
 3 1 5 
 
 Blue Metal 
 
 . 
 
 1 1 8 
 
 Black Bass 
 
 - 
 
 1 1 4 
 
 Bastard Cannel 
 
 
 5 
 
 Cannel 
 
 - 
 
 7 
 
 Stone Warrant - 
 
 . 
 
 3 
 
 Blue Metal 
 
 . 
 
 1 3 
 
 Dark Metal 
 
 . 
 
 2 2 
 
 Warrant 
 
 
 'l 7 
 
 Linstey 
 
 - 
 
 2 4 
 
 Blue Metal . 
 
 - 
 
 12 8 
 
 Black Bass - 
 
 . 
 
 2 9 
 
 Warrant 
 
 . 
 
 1 
 
 Coal - - - 
 
 
 .9 
 
 Warrant ... 
 
 . 
 
 2 9 
 
 Dark Metal 
 
 . 
 
 4 11 
 
 Black Bass 
 
 . 
 
 3 
 
 Blue Metal 
 
 _ 
 
 3 1 
 
 Warrant ... 
 
 
 2 1 
 
 Linn and Wool (dark) - 
 
 
 2 1 2 
 
 Mixed red and white Metal 
 
 
 4 
 
 Blue Metal ... 
 
 . 
 
 2 6 
 
 Dark Metal - 
 
 . 
 
 ,019 
 
 Dark Linn and Wool 
 
 _ 
 
 2 8 
 
 White Rock-band 
 
 . 
 
 1 
 
 Linn and Wool 
 
 . 
 
 1 1 2 
 
 Blue Metal 
 
 . 
 
 1 1 4 
 
 Black Bass ... 
 
 . 
 
 11 
 
 Coal - - - - 
 
 . 
 
 10 
 
 Warrant ... 
 
 
 1 1 3 
 
 Blue flaggy Metal 
 
 . 
 
 14 
 
 Dark Linn and Wool - 
 
 . 
 
 1 10 
 
 White Rock-band 
 
 . 
 
 1 10 
 
 Linn and Wool 
 
 . 
 
 2 1 
 
 Blue Metal mixed with Iron-bands 
 
 . 
 
 2 
 
 Dark Bass - 
 
 . 
 
 1 
 
 Rocky Warrant 
 
 . 
 
 2 2 6 
 
 Blue Metal 
 
 . 
 
 4 2 10 
 
 White gritty Rock 
 
 . 
 
 1 1 3 
 
 Dark Metal mixed with Iron-bands 
 
 - 
 
 2 1 11 
 
 Carried forward - - - - 251 1 9J 
 
COAL-MEASURES UNDER TRIAS. 
 
 51 
 
 Bold Colliery, Section of No. 1 Pit- 
 Brought forward ... 
 Warrant - - 
 
 Dark Metal 
 Coal - - 
 
 Warrant .... 
 
 Dark Metal - - 
 
 Linn and Wool ' 
 Dark Metal 
 
 Warrant - - 
 
 Red Rock % - 
 Linn and Wool 
 Rock - - 
 
 "Flint" 
 Rook - 
 Burr-stone 
 
 Red Metal .... 
 Dark Metal - 
 
 Coal - - - 
 
 Blue Warrant - - 
 
 Coal - - - - - 
 
 Dark Metal - 
 
 Blue Metal - - - 
 
 Black Metal .... 
 Coal - - - - 
 
 Fire-clay .... 
 
 Linstey ... 
 
 Dark Metal 
 
 Coal ... 
 Rocky Warrant 
 
 White Rock .... 
 Linstey ... 
 
 White Rock - 
 
 Linstey - - - 
 
 Coal - - - 
 
 Warrant .... 
 
 Blue Metal - *• - 
 
 Bands of Rock and Linstey 
 Linstey 
 
 Rock - - - - 
 
 Blue Metal - 
 
 Dark Metal .... 
 Coal - 
 
 Bass and Warrant - 
 Coal 
 
 Dark Warrant - - - - 
 
 White Rock 
 Linstey- - 
 White Rock 
 Linstey - - 
 
 Burr-stone - 
 Blue Metal - - 
 
 Dark Metal 
 Red and blue Metal 
 Soft Warrant - - - 
 
 Bands of Ironstone ... 
 Coal ..... 
 Blue Metal .... 
 Brown Linstey with bands of Ironstone 
 
 Carried forward ... 
 
 ■continued. 
 
 Yds. 
 
 Ft. 
 
 In. 
 
 - 251 
 
 1 
 
 9i 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 I 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 - 38 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 - 
 
 2 
 
 0* 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 - 19 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 • 405 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 
 D 
 
 2 
 
52 GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY AROUND PEESCOT. 
 
 Section of No. 1 Pit, Bold Colliery— c<mft»werf. 
 
 Brought forward - 
 Brown Rock ... 
 Brown Linstey - - - - 
 
 Brown Rock - 
 
 Flaggy Rock .... 
 Brown Rock - 
 Brown Linstey - 
 Grey Linstey - - - 
 
 Dark Metal - - - - 
 
 Red Iron-band - - - - 
 
 Bass and Coal 
 Strong blue Warrant - 
 Grey Metal .... 
 Strong grey Metal - 
 Dark Metal - 
 Coal - 
 Warrant 
 
 Grey Metal ... 
 Black Bass - - - ■ 
 
 Lyons Delf. Coal (good) - 
 Warrant ... 
 
 Blue Metal . -. ' - 
 
 Coal 
 
 Dirt 
 
 Coal .... 
 
 Dirt .... 
 Coal - - 
 
 Dirt 
 
 Coal - - - - 
 
 Dirt - - 
 
 Coal ----- 
 
 Dirt 
 
 Coal - - - - 
 
 Blue Metal with Rock-bands i - 
 
 Black Metal - - - - 
 
 Blue Metal with Rock-bands - 
 
 Dark Metal - - - - 
 
 Bass and Chitters - 
 
 Warrant - 
 
 Grey Metal - - - - 
 
 White Rock - 
 
 Linstey - - 
 
 White Rock ■ - 
 
 Flaggy Rock - 
 
 Strong Linstey 
 
 Metal - - - - - 
 
 Linstey .... 
 
 Blue Metal with bands of Ironstone - 
 
 Coal - .... 
 
 Warrant - - 
 
 Linstey - - 
 
 Metal - - - - - 
 
 Linstey .... 
 
 Rock - - - - - 
 
 Metal - - - - - 
 
 !*rc?AL .... 
 
 .g <° i Dirt - - - 
 
 fg- Q I Coal 
 
 Carried forward ... 
 
 Yds. 
 
 Ft. In. 
 
 405 
 
 8 
 
 13 
 
 2 6 
 
 4 
 
 2 6 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 6 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 6 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 6 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 6 
 
 
 
 2 6 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 0i 
 
 
 
 Oi 
 
 
 
 0£ 
 
 
 
 li 
 
 
 
 4* 
 
 
 
 3| 
 
 
 
 4i 
 
 
 
 Of 
 
 
 
 1 8f 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 2 5 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 9 
 
 4 
 
 2 6 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 2 2 
 
 2 
 
 1 10 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 1 8 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 2 5 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 1 7 
 
 2 
 
 1 1 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 1 7 
 
 1 
 
 7i 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 513 
 
 2 0£ 
 
COAL-MEASUKKS UNDER TKIAS. 
 
 53 
 
 Section of No. 1 Pit, Bold Colliery- 
 
 Brought forward - 
 
 Black Bass ... 
 
 Warrant ... 
 
 Blue Metal with bands of Ironstone 
 
 Coal - 
 
 Dirt Band ... 
 
 Coal - - 
 
 Black Bass 
 
 Rocky Warrant 
 
 Linn and Wool 
 
 Blue Metal 
 
 Rock .... 
 . Blue Metal ... 
 t3 TCoal 
 
 P Band .... 
 £< Coal .... 
 ■g Band - - - 
 
 fH LCOAL --.. 
 
 Warrant ... 
 
 Blue Metal 
 
 Rock - - - 
 
 Coal - 
 
 Warrant 
 
 Rock .... 
 
 Blue Metal ... 
 
 Metal with bands of Ironstone . 
 
 Blue Metal -• 
 
 Black Bass 
 
 Hoo'Cannel - 
 
 Coal 
 
 Warrant 
 
 Coal - - - 
 
 Dirt - 
 
 Coal - - 
 
 Warrant ... 
 
 Coal ... 
 
 Dirt - 
 
 Coal - - - - 
 
 Warrant ... 
 
 Coal . - - - 
 
 Warrant 
 
 Coal - - - 
 
 Linstey 
 
 Rock - - - - 
 
 Linstey 
 
 Coal 
 
 Warrant ... 
 
 Black Bass 
 
 Grey Metal - 
 
 Blue Metal 
 
 Coal ... 
 
 Dirt - 
 
 Coal - - 
 
 Dirt - 
 
 Coal .... 
 
 Dark Metal - 
 
 Flaggy Rock - - - 
 
 Linstey 
 
 Blue Metal 
 
 Carried forward - 
 
 4\~ 
 
 continued 
 
 
 Yds. 
 
 Ft. 
 
 In. 
 
 - 513 
 
 2 
 
 01 
 
 v 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 •t 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 -' 4 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 11 
 
 - 13 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 114 
 
 r ° 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 '- 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 58/ 
 
 1 7i 
 
54 GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY AROUND PRESCOT. 
 
 Section of No. 1 Pit, Bold Colliery — continued. 
 
 
 
 Yds. St. In. 
 
 Brought forward - 
 
 - 
 
 - 587 1 n 
 
 Coal - - - - 
 
 
 1 1 
 
 Dirt .... 
 
 ■ 
 
 o 14 
 
 Coal - - - - 
 
 - 
 
 9 
 
 Warrant 
 
 - 
 
 5 
 
 Blue Metal 
 
 
 - 1 5 
 
 Black Bass 
 
 - 
 
 6 
 
 Blue Metal 
 
 . 
 
 2 7 
 
 Black Bass ... 
 
 - 
 
 2* 
 
 Coal - - 
 
 - 
 
 2* 
 
 Linstey 
 
 
 8 18 
 
 Higher Florida Mine (P) - 
 
 - 
 
 1 10 
 
 Warrant 
 
 ■" ■-,- - 
 
 - 6 
 
 Black Bass ... 
 
 . ■'■■ - 
 
 1 2 2 
 
 Light Metal - ' - 
 
 yt- 
 
 7 
 
 Dark Metal - - , - 
 
 . 
 
 4 
 
 BlueMetal 
 
 
 1 1 4 
 
 Lower Florida Mine (?) 
 
 
 1 1 10i 
 
 Warrant ... 
 
 - 
 
 -114 
 
 Linstey - ... 
 
 - 
 
 - 1 2 2 
 
 Total depth from surface 
 
 - 610 8| 
 
 T3 <d 
 
 Section of No. 1 Pit, Collin's Green Colliery. 
 From Mr. John Mercer. 
 
 Clay _ - 
 
 Red Sandstone - - - 
 
 Yellow Sandstone ... 
 
 Red Rock - 
 
 ■i Red Metal .... 
 
 Hard dunn Rock ... 
 
 Brown Sandstone with " Sulphur 
 Balls" - - - - 
 
 Red Metal ..... 
 Warrant - - - 
 
 Red Metal - ... 
 
 Dark Linstey - 
 
 Red Metal ..... 
 White Warrant .... 
 
 Warrant - - ' r 
 
 Red Metal ..... 
 Grey Rock - - 
 
 Red Metal ----- 
 Warrant - - . . . 
 
 Red Metal - 
 
 White Rock - - - . . 
 
 Strong red Metal and Linstey - 
 Warrant - - 
 
 Red Metal -.-... 
 Hard grey Burr-stone - < 
 Dark grey Linstey - 
 Red Metal ..... 
 Warrant ..... 
 
 Bottom of red Metal - - - 
 
 Coal »--... 
 Coal and Black Warrant - 
 
 Carried forward .... 
 
 Yds 
 
 Ft. Ins 
 
 21 
 
 7 
 
 34 
 
 2 
 
 13 
 
 2 
 
 12 
 
 1 10. 
 
 7 
 
 1 4 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 13 
 
 1 8 
 
 
 
 2 6 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 1 6 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 9 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 1 10 
 
 
 
 1 8 
 
 3 
 
 1 6 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 I 2 
 
 
 
 2 10 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 2 9 
 
 2 
 
 1 9, 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 154 
 
 1 3 
 
COAL-MEASURES UNDER TRIAS. 55 
 
 Section of the Collin's Green Colliery- 
 
 Brought forward - 
 Strong Warrant - 
 
 Strong grey Rock - 
 
 Red Metal - 
 Brown Linstey - - , . 
 
 Brown Rock .... 
 Blue Metal - 
 Coal - - - 
 
 Warrant .... 
 
 Red Metal .... 
 Brown Linstey - 
 
 Grey flaggy Rock 
 Blue Metal 
 
 White Metal - - - - 
 
 Blue Metal - - 
 
 Warrant ... 
 
 Blue Metal .... 
 White Rock .... 
 Blue Metal and Iron bands 
 Blue Metal .... 
 Linstey - 
 
 Brown Burr-stone 
 Grey Linstey and Rock 
 Brown Rock - - 
 
 White Rock with brown specks 
 Brown Rock - 
 Dunn Metal 
 Very hard brown Rock 
 Brown Metal - - , - 
 
 Warrant - 
 
 Brown Linstey - ^ 
 
 Dunn Metal ... 
 Blue Metal with hard Rockbands 
 Black Metal 
 Hard black Spar 
 Black Bass - 
 Coal - - 
 
 Dark Warrant - - - 
 
 Coal - 
 
 Dark Warrant - - - - 
 
 Coal - - - - - 
 
 Dark Warrant - - . - 
 
 Blue Metal .... 
 Warrant .... 
 
 Blue Metal - - -■ - 
 
 Black Metal .... 
 Coal varying from 4" to 9" 
 Warrant 
 Blue Metal 
 Grey Linstey - 
 Blue Metal - - 
 Coal - - - 
 
 Dark Warrant - - 
 
 Light Do. - . . 
 
 Black Metal 
 Coal and Dirt 
 
 Light Warrant - - - - 
 
 Dark Do. - 
 Blue Metal .... 
 
 Carried forward ... 
 
 ■continued. 
 
 Yds.: 
 
 Ft. 
 
 In. 
 
 154 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 2 : 
 
 10 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 ! 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 1( 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 267 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
56 
 
 GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY AROUND PRESOOT. 
 
 Section of the Collin's 
 
 Green Colliery — 
 
 continued. 
 
 Yds. Ft. In. 
 
 Brought forward - 
 
 _ , 
 
 267 1 9 
 
 Grey Linstey - 
 
 . 
 
 1 1 4 
 
 Coal (Good) - 
 
 - 
 
 1 3i 
 
 Warrant 
 
 - 
 
 1 1 3i 
 
 Linstey 
 
 . 
 
 2 3 
 
 Blue Metal 
 
 . - 
 
 2 10 
 
 Warrant 
 
 ... 
 
 1 1 
 
 Blue Metal 
 
 . 
 
 3 11 
 
 Coal - 
 
 ... 
 
 8 
 
 Dark Warrant - 
 
 - L. 
 
 2 
 
 Black Bass 
 
 - 
 
 10 
 
 Dark Warrant - 
 
 "I 
 
 1 6 
 
 Coal - - 
 
 . - - 
 
 7 
 
 Black Metal 
 
 ' 
 
 10 
 
 Blue Metal 
 
 - 
 
 2 4 
 
 Linstey- . - .', 
 
 u - 
 
 1 1 
 
 Rock - 
 
 -. 
 
 1 11 
 
 Flaggy Rock 
 
 - 
 
 115 
 
 White Rock - 
 
 . 
 
 1 2 4 
 
 Blue Metal ;. - 
 
 . 
 
 17 4 
 
 Black Metal 
 
 . 
 
 2 v 5 
 
 Warrant - - ■ 
 
 _ 
 
 3 2 1 
 
 Blue Metal 
 
 . 
 
 6 2 7 
 
 Dark Warrant - 
 
 - . - 
 
 1 5 
 
 Brown Rock 
 
 - 
 
 2 1 6 
 
 Hard brown Burr-stone 
 
 , '- . 
 
 2 2 
 
 Hard Rock 
 
 - 
 
 9 1 4 
 
 Hard brown Rock 
 
 . 
 
 4 2 9 
 
 Flaggy Rock - 
 Hard brown Rock 
 
 " 
 
 2 2 9 
 
 17 1 10 
 
 Warrant 
 
 "- 
 
 1 6 
 
 Red Metal 
 
 ,--, 
 
 3 1 2 
 
 Red Warrant-stone 
 
 , , ,- ' 
 
 10 
 
 Blue Metal - - 
 
 - , 
 
 8 2 6 
 
 Do with strong bands of Linstey 
 
 5 2 3 
 
 White Rock , - 
 
 - 
 
 2 1 6 
 
 Linstey mixed with bands of white Rock 
 Hard brown Rock with Burr-stone 
 
 3 10 
 
 2 
 
 Brown flaggy Rock 
 
 - 
 
 5. 2 6 
 
 Strong brown Rock mixed 
 
 with Burr-stone 
 
 4 1 
 
 Strong brown Rock 
 
 . 
 
 10 1 6 
 
 Brown and blue Linstey 
 
 . 
 
 3 2 
 
 Grey Linstey or Metal - 
 
 - 
 
 12 3 
 
 Strong white Rock mixed with Burr-stone 
 
 15 1 7 
 
 Grey Linstey „■- 
 
 - 
 
 4 
 
 Hard white Rock 
 
 . 
 
 2 2 5 
 
 Metals with Rock Bands 
 
 . 
 
 2 2 
 
 Flaggy Rock - 
 
 . 
 
 2 
 
 Do. mixed with CoAl 
 
 2 1 8 
 
 Dark Metal with Iron bands - 
 
 1 1 9 
 
 Coal and Bass 
 
 . 
 
 1 5 
 
 Dark Warrant - 
 
 . 
 
 0. 1 
 
 Dark Warrant with Rock-Band 
 
 3 1 8 
 
 Warrant, soft parting - 
 
 . 
 
 6 
 
 Blue Metal 
 
 . 
 
 1 
 
 Dark Metal 
 
 . 
 
 11 
 
 Coal - 
 
 - 
 
 1 2 
 
 Bass - 
 
 , - 
 
 5 
 
 Light strong Warrant 
 
 
 2 1 7 
 
 Carried forward - 
 
 458 1 7 
 
COAL-MEASURES UNDER TKIAS. 57 
 
 Section of the Collin's Green Colliery — continued. 
 
 Brought forward - 
 Linstey- .... 
 
 Warrant ' - - 
 
 Blue Metal 
 Burr-stone - 
 
 Strong blue Metal and Iron Bands 
 Black Bass - - 
 
 Blue Metal 
 
 Coal! ;* 
 
 Dirt ^ Potatoe Dexph if'- - 
 Coal J . f j% 
 
 Black Bass and Cannel 
 Dark Warrant - 
 Metal - - -., 
 
 Dark soft Metal 
 Coal - - - 
 
 Dirt 
 
 Coal - - - 
 
 Diirk soft Warrant ' - 
 
 Strong light Metal ... 
 
 CoalI 
 
 Dirt > Earthy Delph 
 
 Cqal J 
 
 Light Warrant - - - - 
 
 Strong blue Metal or Linstey - 
 
 Coal, Yard Coal 
 
 Dark soft Warrant 
 
 Dark rocky Warrant - - - 
 
 Dark flaggy Rock r 
 
 Blue Metal .... 
 
 Dark blue Metal 
 
 Strong Do. ... 
 
 Coal - 
 
 Dirt 
 
 Coal - - - - - 
 
 Dirt 
 
 Coal - 
 
 Warrant .... 
 
 Strong blue Metal ... 
 Ro;k - - 
 
 Strong blue Metal and Linstey 
 Coal - - ■ - . - 
 
 Soft Warrant - 
 Black Bass (Chitters) - 
 Strong blue Metal or Linstey - 
 Dark Warrant - - - 
 
 Coal - - 
 
 Light Warrant - - - - 
 
 "Strong blue Metal and Linstey 
 Black Parting - 
 Rock - -- - ,- 
 
 Strong blue Metal bands of Linstey - 
 Blue Metal 
 Coal ■ - -- 
 
 Dirt •- .... 
 
 Coal - - - 
 
 Blue Metal .... 
 Black Bass - 
 Strong blue Metal 
 
 Carried forward - 
 
 Yds. 
 
 Ft. 
 
 In. 
 
 458 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 (> 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 8, 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 11 
 
 0' 
 
 1 
 
 2i 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 13 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2' 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 7k 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 546 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
58 GEOLOGY OF THE OOUNTKY AROUND rilESCOT. 
 
 Section of Collin's Green Colliery — continued. 
 
 Brought forward - 
 Black Bass - , - 
 Blue Metal - 
 
 Black Bass .... 
 Blue Metal 
 Brown Burr-stone 
 
 Strong Linstey ... 
 
 Blue Metal - - - - 
 
 Strong Linstey with bands of brown Burr 
 Strong blue Metal 
 Coal, Higher Florida 
 Dark Warrant - - - - 
 
 Black Bass v - - 
 
 Blue Metal 
 ., Coal, Lowbr Florida 
 Warrant ... 
 
 Warrant Stone - - - 
 
 Linstey and Metal 
 
 Warrant - - 
 
 Bass . . - - - 
 
 Warrant . . - 
 
 Warrant Stone 
 „ Total depth 
 
 Lyme Pits, Haydock Colliery 
 Section of No. 3 Pit. 
 
 Sub-soil - - 
 
 Boulder Clay - - 
 
 Red Sandstone - - 
 
 " Soapstone ' or red Shale 
 Very strong brown Stone 
 'Soft crumbly Metal 
 
 Red Clay and soft Warrant 
 
 Metal with , Rock-bands 
 
 1§ 
 
 o 
 
 §< Metal with ^Kock-Danc 
 ^ I Very hard dun Rock 
 ^ [Blue Metal 
 
 
 Yds. 
 
 Ft. In. 
 
 _ 
 
 546 
 
 2 4 
 
 .. 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 2 6 
 
 . 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 . 
 
 3 
 
 1 2 
 
 . 
 
 1 
 
 2 10 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 o n 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 . 
 
 2 
 
 1 4 
 
 . 
 
 1 
 
 2 11 
 
 . 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 . 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 1 3 
 
 . 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 1 8 
 
 -■ 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 2 4 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 570 
 
 84 
 
 
 Yds. 
 
 Ft. Ins. 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 86 
 
 1 
 
 . 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 2 
 
 1 6 
 
 . 
 
 4 
 
 2 8 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 - 
 
 8 
 
 2 2 
 
 
 18 
 
 2 -3 
 
 - 
 
 137 
 
 2 3 
 
 Total depth 
 
 Section of Winwick Well and Borehole, constructed from 
 specimens in the possession of Mr. A. Timmins, C.E. Well, 
 9 feet in diameter to 127 feet 5 inches, with a Borehole of 
 14 inches diameter, to a depth of 412 feet from surface. 
 
 Fine grained Sandstone (Pebble Beds) 
 
 Compact Sandstone with larger round grains scattered 
 
 throughout, and containing a bed of shale ' - 
 Red Shale - - - 
 Fine-grained pale red Sandstone - > - 
 Fine-grained grey Sandstone - - 
 Red Shale and Sandstone (calcareous) 
 Hard fine-grained pale red Sandstone (calcareous) - 
 Shale 
 
 Carried forward .... 
 
 Ft. 
 
 [ns. 
 
 - 127 
 
 
 
 45 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 :■ 214 
 
 5 
 
COAL-MEASURES UNDER TRIAS. 59 
 
 Section of Winwick Well and Borehole — continued. 
 
 Ft. Ins. 
 
 Brought forward ----- 214 5 
 
 Red Sandstone, with small fragments of Shale, very hard 
 
 and compact towards the bottom (calcareous) - - 15 
 
 Shale - ... - - , - - 31 7 
 
 Soft Sandstone - - - - - -10 5 
 
 Fine red Sandstone ----- 60 
 
 Grey Sandstone, very soft, containing lumps of iron 
 
 pyrites ------ 21 7 
 
 Dull red very soft Sandstone, with bands of shale - 31 
 
 Red Shale - - - - 11 
 
 "Green and purple marls (calcareous) - 19 
 Dull red fine-grained micaceous Sand- 
 stone - - ' - - - 5 
 
 Coal mpasnres -^ Dark ^ reen and P ur P le shales " ' 20 ° 
 
 ' ! " -"■•" ' 3 ^ Dark red marl (calcareous) - - 11 
 
 „ shale (not calcareous) - 3 
 
 „ marl (calcareous) 9 
 
 Limestone - - - - 4 
 
 Total depth - - 412 
 
 Section of Boring in the No. 1 Well at Parkside, made for the 
 
 London & North- Western Railway Company .by Mr. E. 
 Timmins in 1879. Well, 80 feet in depth, with a boring 
 with a diameter of 14 to 10 inches, to a depth of 296 feet 
 from surface. 
 
 From specimens in the possession of Mr. A. Timmins. 
 
 Pebble Beds : Feet. 
 
 Reddish-brown and white Sandstone, with pebbles of Quartz - 110 
 
 Coarse brown Sandstone 4 
 
 Fine yellow Sandstone ------ 1 
 
 Grey Sandstone, with Pebbles ----- 4 
 
 Fine red Sandstone - - , - - - 3 
 
 Grey Rock, with large Pebbles - 3 
 
 Fine red Sandstone - - - - - 3 
 
 Very fine flaggy and micaceous yellow Sandstone - 16 
 
 Loam, with fragments of Grit - - - - 1 
 
 Reddish loamy Sandstone ----- 5 
 
 Red Marl - - - 32 
 
 Fine bright-yellow Sandstone - - - - 2 
 
 Fine red Sandstone - - 1 
 
 Fine pale red and white Sandstone - 7 
 
 Fine brown Sandstone - - - 8 
 
 Red Marl - - - - - - - 4 
 
 Soft brown Sandstone, with "millet-seed " grain - 3 
 
 Fine grey Sandstone, and Nodules of Iron Pyrites - - 13 
 
 Light red Sandstone ------ 3 
 
 Fine brown porous Sandstone, with plenty of water - 47 
 
 Coarse light-brown Sandstone, with f millet-seed " grain - 6 
 Concretions of " millet-seed " Sand, cemented by Iron Pyrites, 
 
 generally yellow or copper-coloured - - - - 2 
 
 Bright red porous Sandstone, with "millet-seed" grain - 12 
 
 Lumpy ferruginous Sandstone ----- 1 
 
 Upper Coal Measures : purple and green mottled Marls - 5 
 
 296 
 
60 . GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY AROUND PRESCOT. 
 
 Section of Well and Boring in the Widnes and St. Helens 
 Railway Cutting at Five Lane Ends, near Farnworth, by 
 Mr. E. Timmins. Well, 86 feet deep, 3 feet 4 inches in 
 diameter, with Borehole 3^ inches in diameter, to a depth of 
 170 feet from,, surface. The water stood at 83 feet from 
 surface, or about 52 feet above Ordnance Datum. 
 
 Feet. 
 Sandy soil, &c. - - - - - 33 
 
 Very fine yellow Sandstone - -7 
 
 Fine white-banded Sandstone, gritty in parts - 38 
 
 Very fine yellowish Sandetone - - 13 
 
 Fine yellow Sandstone - - - - 9 
 
 Very fine hard Sandstone ... 8 
 
 Loamy Sandstone ■■— - - 4 
 
 Very fine Sandstone - - - - -5- 
 
 Fine Sandstone, with " millet-seed " grain - - 7 
 
 Light green and blue Clay - - 2 
 
 Red Clay. 1 
 
 Bright red Sandstone - - - - - - 3 
 
 "Purple Marl - - - * - - - 1 
 
 Dark red earthy Limestone 2 
 
 Purple and mottled Marl - - 2 
 
 Calcareous Marl - - - - - 3 
 
 Marl - - - - - 3i 
 
 Green Clay ------ 3J 
 
 Red Clay ------ .4 
 
 Marl - - - - - - 3| 
 
 Grey Limestone - - - - - 1} 
 
 Argillaceous Limestone - - - 2$ 
 
 Red Marl ------ 4J 
 
 Marl - 9 
 
 I o 
 O 
 
 170 
 
 Section of Borehole at Rough Dales, near Sutton, executed by 
 the Diamond Boring Company, 1875-6. 
 
 Surface - - 
 
 Flaggy Rock - 
 
 Brick-clay - 
 
 Fire-clay - - - 
 
 Black Bass 
 
 Brick Clay - - - - - 
 
 Black bass - - - 
 
 Fire-clay - 
 
 Sandy Shale - - 
 
 Fire-clay - 
 
 Blue Shale - 
 
 Burr-Stone - - 
 
 Fire-clay. - - - - 
 
 Grey Sandstone - - - - 
 
 Fire-clay - - 
 
 Grey Sandstone ... 
 
 Sandy Shale 
 
 Grey Sandstone ... 
 
 Sandy Shale 
 
 Fire-clay - - - 
 
 Blue Metal - - 
 
 Sandy Shale -' 
 
 Carried forward ... 
 
 Ft. 
 
 In. 
 
 - 15 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 o 
 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 18 
 
 11 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 - 23 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 - 28 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 6 10 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 6 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 - 169 
 
 
 
COAL-MEASURE SECTIONS. 
 
 61 
 
 Section of Borehole at Rough Dales, near Sutton — 
 
 Brought forward ... 
 Coal Seam 
 Fire-clay - - - - 
 
 Blue Shale 
 
 Fire-clay ... 
 
 Blue Shale'- .... 
 
 Fire-clay - 
 
 Dark Shale 
 
 Coal ... 
 
 Fire-clay ... 
 
 Grey Sandstone -' 
 
 Sandy Shale - 
 
 Blue Metal 
 
 Sandy Shale .... 
 
 Blue Shale - 
 
 Coal Seam - - 
 
 Soft Fire-clay .... 
 
 Blue Shale ... 
 
 Red Sandstone, with red clay partings 
 
 Variegated Sandstone 
 
 Blue Shale - - 
 
 Coal Seam - - - 
 
 Fire-clay - - - - - 
 
 Sandy Shale .... 
 
 Blue Shale- - 
 
 Grey Sandstone ... 
 
 Coal Parting ... 
 
 Blue Shale 
 
 Grey Sandstone - 
 Sandy Shale - 
 
 Grey Sandstone .... 
 
 Blue Shale 
 
 Fire-clay - - - - - 
 
 Blue Shale - - - - 
 
 Sandy Shale - 
 
 Grey Sandstone - - - - 
 
 Coal parting .... 
 
 Blue Shale 
 
 Fire-clay - 
 
 Blue Shale ----- 
 Coal Seam - - 
 
 Fire-clay - - - , 
 
 Blue Shale 
 
 Fire-clay - - - - - 
 
 Blue Shale - - 
 
 Coal Seam .... 
 
 Fire-clay - - - - - 
 
 Blue Shale - - - ... 
 
 Fire-clay - - - - - 
 
 Sandy Shale .... 
 
 Argillaceous Shale - - - - 
 
 Sandstone - - - - - 
 
 Argillaceous Shale - - - - 
 
 Fire-clay ----- 
 Coal Seam .... 
 
 Fire-clay ..... 
 Shales, with ironstone bands 
 Shale ..... 
 
 Fire-clay ----- 
 
 -continued. 
 
 Bt. In. 
 
 169 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 
 : 
 
 to 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 10 
 
 9 
 
 3 : 
 
 10 
 
 17 
 
 9 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 3^ 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 22 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 39 
 
 6 
 
 18 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 23 
 
 b 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 62 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 20 
 
 
 
 32 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 24 
 
 2 
 
 34 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 34 
 
 6 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 23 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 26 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 19 
 
 2 , 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 11 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 17 10 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 40 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 9 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 14 
 
 6 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 6 
 
 1 6 
 
 Carried forward 
 
 835 2 
 
62 GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY .AROUND PRESCOT. 
 
 Section of Borehole at Eough Dales, near Sutton— continued. 
 
 ■*» 
 
 Brought forward 
 Coal Seam 
 "Fire-clay - 
 Coal Seam 
 Fire-clay - 
 Ironstone nodules 
 Fire-clay - 
 Black Bass - 
 
 Total depth - 
 
 Section of No, 1 Pit, Peasley, Cross Colliery. 
 Given, to Mr. C. E. De Eance by Mr. Harbottle, J.P. 
 
 Ft. 
 
 In. 
 
 - 835 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 - 845 
 
 6 
 
 {Earth and Soil 
 Clay and Marl 
 hand and Loan: 
 Buck-leaf Marl 
 Marl 
 Metal - 
 Shaly Coal 
 Dirt - 
 Coal - 
 Warrant 
 Metal - 
 Burr-stone 
 Metal - 
 Coal - 
 "Warrant 
 Metal - - 
 
 Strong Linstey - 
 Metal - 
 Coal - 
 Dirt - 
 Shaly Coal 
 "Warrant 
 CoAL - 
 
 "Warrant 
 
 Coal - 
 
 Dog-tooth "Warrant 
 
 Linstey * 
 
 Black Bass 
 
 Bastard Cannel 
 
 Warrant 
 
 Strong Linstey - 
 
 Metal - 
 
 Bass and Chitters , 
 
 Lyon's Delp Coal 
 
 Warrant 
 
 Metal - , - 
 
 London Delf Coal - 
 
 Strong Warrant 
 
 Strong Linstey - 
 
 Bass ... 
 
 Coal - 
 
 Warrant 
 
 Carried forward 
 
 Yds. 
 
 Ft. 
 
 Ins. 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 o 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 85, 
 
 
 
 9 
 
■V 
 
 COAL-MEASTJKE SECTIONS. 63 
 
 Section of No. 1 Pit, Peasley Cross Colliery 
 
 — continued. 
 
 
 
 
 Yds. 
 
 Ft. Ins. 
 
 _ * Brought forward - 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 85 
 
 9 
 
 Linstey ... 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 2 6 
 
 Bass .... 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 Warrant ... 
 
 _ 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 Metal - 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 Linstey - 
 
 . 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 6 
 
 Fiery C6al - 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 2 2 
 
 Warrant ... 
 
 . 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 Metal .... 
 
 . 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 Strong Linstey - - - 
 
 - 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 Metal, with bands of Iron-stone 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 2 6 
 
 Bass - 
 
 . 
 
 _ 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 Metal - - - - 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 POTATOE DeLF 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 4 
 
 Coal and Dirt - 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Light Warrant - 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 Hard Stone 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Blue flaggy Metal 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 9 
 
 Burr-stone 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 1 
 
 1 1 
 
 Blue flaggy Metal 
 
 - 
 
 
 4 
 
 2 6 
 
 
 Top Coal 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Earth 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Coal 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 1 6 
 
 Earthy Delf-^ Earth 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 1 6 
 
 Coal 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 2 3 
 
 Black Earth - 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 (_C0AL 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 Light Warrant - - - 
 
 -•' 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Linstey with bands of Iron-stone 
 
 - 
 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 Yard Coal ... 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 2 10 
 
 Soft black Warrant 
 
 . 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 1' 3 
 
 Light Warrant - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 Warrant-stone - 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 2 3 
 
 Weak Linstey or Flags - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 11 
 
 1 1 
 
 *■ 
 
 "Froud Bass or Cannjel 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 White Earth - 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 1 1 
 
 
 Coal - 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 1 0* 
 
 New Mine •{ Earth - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 Coal - 
 
 . 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 1 8 
 
 
 Earth - 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 1 1 
 
 
 Chitter Coal 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 4 
 
 White Warrant 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 Linstey - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 Metal - 
 
 - 
 
 , - 
 
 1 
 
 2 8 
 
 Bass - - - 
 
 . 
 
 .- 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 Metal - - 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 1 4 
 
 Bass - - - 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 Coal - 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 Warrant ... 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 2 6 
 
 Chitter Coal - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Dirt - ... 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 Coal - - - 
 
 - 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Warrant ... 
 
 - 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 2 6 
 
 Metal - - - 
 
 - 
 
 . 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 Linstey .... 
 
 Striped Linstey - 
 
 
 . 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Rock - - - 
 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 2 5 
 
 Metal - 
 
 
 - 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 Striped Rock - 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 Carried forward - 
 
 202 
 
 2 9 
 
64 
 
 GEOLOGY OP THE COUNTRY ABOUND PRESCOT. 
 
 Section of No, 1 Pit, Peasley Cross Colliery — continued. 
 
 'Brought .forward, - - . • 
 
 White Rook with four feet of Conglomerate on 
 top of Coal - . - 
 
 fTop Coal - 
 Chitter Coal ' - 
 
 St. Helen's 
 Main Delp 
 
 Warrant 
 Bass 
 Stone - 
 
 J Dirt- 
 
 Chitter Coal 
 
 Dirt- 
 
 Faoe Coal - 
 
 Blue Metal 
 
 Cannel 
 
 Warrant 
 
 Stone - 
 
 Light Metal 
 
 Bass - 
 
 Four Feet Mine 
 
 Total depth 
 
 Yds. 
 
 Ft. 
 
 In. 
 
 202 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 ' 1 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 222 
 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 the 
 
 Section of Boring in 
 Cutting near Holt Lane Bridge 
 1880. 
 
 Prescot and St. Helens Railway ? 
 made by Mr. E. Timmins in" 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Lower Mottled Sandstone : 
 
 Deeprred Sandstone, crumbling readily, with a little 
 
 i " millet-seed " grain A - - - 54 
 
 Red Marl .... - 41 
 
 Sandstone - - - - - - 19 
 
 Red Marl - - - - - 11 
 
 Light-red Sandstone - - - - 35 
 
 Red Marl - - - - - - 2 
 
 Soft light-red Sandstone, with small "millet-seed" 
 
 grain - - - - - 33 
 
 Soft light-red fine Sandstone , - - - 40 
 
 Total depth - - - 235 
 
 Section of Boring in the west end of the Eccleston Hill Cutting 
 on the Prescot and St. Helens Railway, by Mr. E. Timmins. 
 
 i Feet. 
 
 Soil and Stones - - - 20 
 
 Red loamy Soil - - - - - 13 
 
 Pebble Beds : 
 
 Fine red pebbly Sandstone - - 10 , 
 
 Fine salmon-tinted Marl ... - 2 
 
 Sandstone ------ 4 
 
 Red Marl ' - - - - - ■ - 5 
 
 Fine Red Sandstone - - - - - 71 
 
 Red Loam - - , - - / 9| 
 
 Light-red Sandstone - ... 3 
 
 Red Marl - - - 6 
 
 Fine light-red Sandstone, coarser in parts - - 13 
 
 Red Loam - - - - - - 23 
 
 Red loamy Sand, &c. - - - - 14 
 
 Fine red loamy Sandstone - - - 40 
 
 Carried forward - 
 
 170 
 
COAL-MEASURE SECTIONS. 65 
 
 Section of Boring of the Eccleston Hill Cutting — continued. 
 
 Feet. 
 Brought forward - - 
 
 Grey Marl ... 
 Coarse greyish Sandstone, with Pebbles 
 Fine red Sandstone ... 
 Soft red and white Marl 
 Fine light red Sandstone 
 
 Total depth - 247 
 
 Explanation of local terms in the sections : — 
 Bass, black shale. 
 Buckleaf Marl, laminated clay. 
 Burr-stone, hard siliceous stone. 
 Clutters, impure shaly Coal. 
 Hoo Cannel, impure Cannel. 
 Linn and Wool, flags and shales. 
 Linstey, laminated flags. 
 Metal, shale generally. 
 Warrant, underclay of a coal-seam. 
 
 Analyses of Sandstones from the yard of the Bridgewater 
 Foundry, Kuncorn, by Mr. J. Northing, given me by Mr. A. 
 Timmins : — 
 
 No. 1. Upper Mottled Sandstone, soft red stone, worthless for building. 
 
 No. 2. Keuper Sandstone, hard red stone, good for building. 
 
 No. 1. No. 2. 
 
 Insoluble Silica - - 9669 - - 96 -97 
 
 Soluble -.- - -50 74 
 
 Oxide of Iron and Alumina - 1"37 - - 1'77 
 
 Carbonate of Lime - - -013 - - — 
 
 98-573 99-48 
 
 Weight of cubic foot of No. 1 = 157 lbs. 
 „ „ No.2=162ilbs. 
 
 Notices of the occurrence of Salt-springs in Coal-measures : — * 
 
 Lancashire -. — Worthington. It has been stated that Salt-springs occur in the 
 Coal-measures here, but the details are not at present obtainable. 
 
 Durham : — At the Seaton Colliery brine almost as dense as sea water issues 
 from the roof of the Hutton Seam. (Daglish and Forster, Trans, of N. 
 of England Inst. Eng., vol. xiii., p. 208.) Salt springs also occur in the 
 Walker, Lambton, Sti Lawrence, Hebburn, Wallsend, and Percy Main 
 Collieries (Hutton, Trans. Newcastle Nat. Hist. Soe., vol. 1, p. 71). At 
 Birtley Colliery a spring was found in 1794, yielding 1,100 gallons per 
 hour, and more salt than the sea ; a salt spring also issues near the River 
 Wear, near Butterby (H. Todd, Phil. Trans, for 1684, p. 726). 
 
 Leicestershire : — A salt spring occurs in the Moira Main Coal in the Bath Pit, 
 and another rises to the surface north of Donnisthorpe (Manrmatt. 
 Geological Facts, see also W. Moiyneux, Report of the Brit. Assoc, for 
 1877). ■ 
 
 Cheshire : — At Dukinfield Colliery, a spring issues from a fissure, and yields 
 300 gallons in 24 hours, with 3,291 grains of Chlorides, chiefly of Sodium, 
 in 1 gallon (Charlton, Geologist, vol. iv., p. 398). 
 The Rivers Pollution Commissioners (6th Report, pp. 20, 91) state that the 
 
 water discharged from collieries is frequently highly charged with salt. 
 
 Salt water also occurs in the Coal-measures of Lille (Laloy, Geol. Record for 
 
 1874, p. 260), and of Nova Scotia (Dawson, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol i 
 29). 
 
 * ITor most of these references I am indebted to my colleague, Mr. W. Topley. 
 
 Q4292. E 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Adamson, Mr., 39. 
 Aldersey, 42. 
 Alluvium, 32. 
 Analysis of Cannel Coal, 9. 
 
 „ Iron pan, 16. 
 
 „ Sandstones, 65. 
 
 „ Well water, 40. 
 Antrim chalk, 28. 
 Appleton, 26. 
 Ardwick Limestone, 47. 
 Alley Mine, 8. 
 Ascott Bridge, 9. 
 Ashton's Green Colliery, 9, 44. 
 Astmoor Well and Borehole, 48. 
 Aston, 25. 
 
 Bartington, 25. 
 
 Bastion's Coal, 
 
 Beacon Hill, 16 
 
 Beck, Mr., 42. 
 
 Beeston, 14, 18. 
 
 Bell Fields, 15. 
 
 Belle Vale Borehole, 36. 
 
 Bewsey Valley, 32. 
 
 Binney, Mr., 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, 19. 
 
 Black, Mr., 16. 
 
 Blue Bell Inn, 4. 
 
 Bold Hall Colliery, 44. 
 
 Bold Heath, 13, 30. 
 
 Bootle, 30. 
 
 Boulders, 29. 
 
 Boulder Clay, 21-26, 33, 34, 35. 
 
 Bridgewater Co.'s Quarry, 15, 21, 26. 
 
 Brine in Bunter, 42. 
 
 Broad Oak, 9. 
 
 Bromilow's Colliery, 5, 6, 7. 
 
 Bunter, 12-14. 
 
 Burrow's Lane Colliery, 5, 7, 10. 
 
 Cannel Coal, 9. . 
 Cheirotheriumj 16, 19. 
 Cheshire Mine, 6. 
 Chester Lane, 10. 
 Cockle-shell Bed, 8. 
 Colliery House Inn, 7. 
 Collins Green Colliery, 44. 
 Cronton, 25. 
 
 „ well, 36. 
 Cropper's Hill, 8, 10. 
 Croxteth Park, 3, 12. 
 Cuerdley Cross, 22. 
 ■ Cumber Lane, 13, 
 
 Dallam Lane Ironworks, 22, 42. 
 Dallam Moss, 31. 
 Daresbury, 14, 16, 21. 
 Delamere Forest, 34. 
 
 De Ranee, Mr., 21, 29, 32, 45. 
 
 Derbyshire Hill Fault, 44. 
 
 Dunsdale Hollow, 15. 
 
 Ditton Brook, 33. 
 
 Ditton Marsh, 23, 43. 
 
 Dudlow Lane Well, 35, 36, 38. 
 
 Dungeon, 23, 27. ,,. 
 
 „ Patent Concrete Stone Work's,, 
 
 33, 35. 
 Dutton, 25, 31, 34. 
 
 Eccleston, 4, 7, 8, 12, 13. 
 Well, 36, 37.. 
 Ellesmere Port, 23. 
 Elton Head, 7. 
 
 Farnworth, 13, 25, 26, 29, 37. 
 
 „ Borehole, 46. 
 Felcroft Coal, 6. 
 Field House Fault, 9, 44. 
 Five Crosses, 15, 18, 21. 
 Five Lane Ends, 16, 18, 21. 
 Flaggy Delf Coal, 8. : 
 Frodsham, 13, 15, 22, 30^ 35. 
 
 „ Beds, 17-19. 
 
 Gannister Beds, 3-6. 
 Garstoh, 23, 25, 28, 30, 36. 
 Gillar's Green Colliery, 5, 6. 
 Glacial Striae, 26. 
 Green Gates* 9. 
 Green Lane Well, 37. 
 Grimsditch, 33. 
 Grimshaw, Mr., 46. 
 Gypsum, 20. 
 
 Hale, 12, 30. 
 Halewood Green, 87. 
 Halsnead Colliery, 6. 
 Halton, 14, 15, 20. 
 
 „ Moss, 31. ' 
 Hatton, 14, 33. 
 Haydock Collieries, 45. 
 Hazels, the, 6. 
 Helsby, 15, 17, 18, 31. 
 Hig Hey Colliery, 6. 
 Higher Walton, 20. 
 Hill Cuff, 14, 15. 
 Holliu Hedge, 19. 
 Holt Lane Borehole, 64. 
 'Hunt's Cross, 23. 
 Hurst House, 5, 6. 
 Huyton, 3-7. 
 Huyton Hey Colliery, 7. 
 
 Ince, 13, 22, 27, 31. 
 Iron pan, analysis of, 16. 
 
Kekewick Hill, 15. 
 Keuper, Base of the, IS. 
 
 „ Basement Beds, 14-19. 
 Marl, 18-21. 
 Knowsley Park, 2-6. 
 
 Limestone in Coal-measures, 3, 11, 46,47. 
 
 Little Delf Coal, 5, 8. 
 
 Little Sankey, 22. 
 
 Litton Well, 36. 
 
 Logwood Mill Lane, 6, 7. 
 
 Lower Bug Coal, 6. 
 
 Lower Coal-measures, 4. 
 
 Lower Keuper Sandstone, 14-19. 
 
 Lower Mottled Sandstone, 11, 12, 44-48. 
 
 Lymm, 1. 
 
 Lyon's Delf, 3. 
 
 Malpas, 1. 
 Manley, 15, 17. 
 Marling, 34. 
 Marsh Clay, 33, 35. 
 Marsh Gas, 33. 
 Marsh Green, 31. 
 Menai Tubular Bridge, 17. 
 Mersey R., 1, 30, 35, 41, 42, 
 Mill Lane, 13. 
 Millstone Grit, 2-4. 
 Morton, Mr., 27, 48. 
 Moore, 19. 
 
 „ Well, 42. 
 Mountain Mines, 3, 5, 6. 
 
 Netherlee, 25. 
 
 „ Borehole, 35, 36, 48. 
 Newton, 13. 
 
 „ Bank, 21. 
 
 „ by Daresbury, 15. 
 Northing, Mr., 16. 
 Norton, 14, 20. 
 
 Oak Lane Quarry, 12. 
 Old Halsnead, 4, 13. 
 Ordsall, 42. 
 
 Ormerod, Mr., 19, 21, 42. 
 Ormskirk, 30. 
 Overton, 14, 17-19, 21. 
 
 Paradise Row, 8. , 
 Parkside, 39, 46. 
 Parr, 12. 
 
 „ Moss, 31, 35. 
 
 „ Stocks Colliery, 9. 
 Peasley Cross Colliery, 9. 
 Peat, 31, 35. 
 Pebble Beds, 12, 18, 42. 
 Peckus Hill Lane, 12. 
 Pendlebury Brook, 10. 
 Permian Bocks, 7, 8, 11, 47. 
 Pex Hill, 13. 
 Pool Hall Rocks, 13, 26. 
 Potato Delf, 9. 
 Prescot, 4-6, 13. 
 Preston Brook, 20, 26, 44. 
 „ Hill, 20. 
 
 Rainford, 10. 
 Rainhill, 12, 13, 37. 
 Ravenhead Coals, 8. 
 
 „ Collieries, 9, 10. 
 Reade, Mr., 23, 27, 37. 
 Reeves, Mr., lo. 
 Red Brow, 20. 
 Red Marl, the, 19, 20. 
 Richmond Marsh, 32. 
 Ricketts, Dr., 27, 28. 
 Riding Hall, 2. 
 River Terraces, 29. 
 Roach, 15. 
 
 Roberts, Mr., 37, 40, 41. 
 Roby, 12. 
 Rock Salt, 21, 33. 
 Rock Savage, 19, 20, 25. 
 Roger Coal, 8. 
 Roscoe, Mr., 7. 
 Rough Dales Borehole, 60. 
 Rough Rock, 2. 
 Royal Colliery, 8. 
 Royal Oak, 11. 
 Runcorn, 15, 18, 19, 21, 30, 48. 
 
 „ Gap, 13, 26. 
 
 „ Waterworks, 16, 36. 
 Rushey Park Mine, 6-8. 
 
 St. Helens, 5, 7, 30. 
 
 „ Junction, 8, 11, 12. 
 
 „ Main Delf, 7-9. 
 
 „ Waterworks, 13. 
 
 Salt Works, Old, 21, 23. 
 Salt Houses, 42. 
 Salt Springs, 42. 
 Sand and Gravel, 22, 34. 
 Sankey, 28, 30. 
 
 ■ Well 43. 
 Shirdley Hill Sand, 20, 32, 33, 35,. 
 Singleton's Hill, 5. 
 Sir John Coal, 8. 
 Smith Field Colliery, 9. 
 Southfield Colliery, 10. 
 Stand House, 12. 
 Stand Quarry, 2. 
 Stank Colliery, 4. 
 Stanlow, 22. 
 Stenhills, 15, 19, 21. 
 Stock's Well, 25. 
 Storeton, 16, 34. 
 Stria?, 26. 
 
 Submerged Forests, 31. 
 Sutton, 8, 10, 11,13,44. 
 „ Leech, 10. 
 
 Tan Yard Well, 20, 26. 
 Tarbock, 7, 12, 37. 
 Tarbock Tile Wooks, 4, 7. 
 Thatto Heath, 8, 9, 27. 
 Timmins, Mr., 16, 20, 36, 40, 45,48. 
 Top Row, 7. 
 Trap Wood, 5. 
 Twist's Quarry, 13. 
 
 Up-Holland Flags, 3. 
 Upper Mottled Sandstone, 13,16, 18, 35 9 
 42, 48. 
 
68 
 
 Warrington, 22, 26, 29-32, 3S. 
 Water level, 37. 
 Waterstones, 17-20, 34. 
 Water supply, 30-43. 
 Wavertree, 12, 27, 37. 
 Weaver, K., 20, 25, 30, 35. 
 
 „ Bridge, 19. 
 Webbe, Mr., 42. 
 Wells, list of, 36. 
 West Derby, 4, 12. 
 Weston Point, 14-16, 35. 
 Whiston, 3 5, 0, 11, 12. 
 
 Whiston Well, 36, 37, 39. 
 Whitefield Lane End, 7. 
 Whitley, 21. 
 Widnes, 23-25. 
 
 ., Wells, 36, 39. 
 Williams, Mr.,.23, 36. 
 Williamson, Prof., 16. 
 Winwiek, 13. 
 
 „ Well, 36, 39, 45. 
 Woolden, 42. 
 Woolstone, 42. 
 Woolton, 37. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed by Gboege E. Eyee and William Spottiswoode, 
 
 Printers to the Queen's most Excellent Majesty. 
 
 For Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 
 
 [15729.— 375.-1/82.] 
 
Plate 1 
 
 Index Map (80N.W.) and Sections 
 
 SliemiuftheJtelaticn.oft/ie Water level to 1Ji£ Surface of the* GroimJL 
 
 by A Stralmtb 
 
 Geological Survey of England ami Wales 
 
 4 miles 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 '.. 
 
 
 
 v ■"'- ' 
 
 
 Area, occupied, by water-bearing beds 
 
 " » " n ,, in, which, -the water level, is at or aiove ihjp sitr/ajx 
 
 n a a impervious strata, f jyriJl not inchidedj 
 
 ~o Lines of Section, and position of wells or quarries. 
 
 n 
 Green, Hone 
 
 JJizdlow Lane 
 
 LINE OF SECTION E TO P 
 
 U 
 Grange Lane 
 
 Cronlon, 
 
 Faircfulds Whi/tturi MarlcJ^oase Ovists 
 Finn, Hifffur 
 
 Sides 
 
 Fcaestan, Mill 
 
 VTfooltOTk Quarry 
 
 LINE OF SECTION C TO 
 
 e 
 (toss Ifilfocks 
 
 Upton, Hock Rtrmvorih Marsh, Hall 
 "Bridge 
 
 10 
 
 Bold 
 MTtuutoU 
 
 n 
 BoUTarl 
 
 Ordnance Datum. 
 
 K. Mersey 
 
 LINE OF SECTION A TO B 
 
 Dallam Lane 
 . Ferae 
 
 Quarry 
 
 Winwick Wooih Head, 
 
 Weil JTeU 
 
 (Juarry 
 
 Ordnance Dalian, 
 
 _L 
 
 _L 
 
 Scale for the, Horizontal Sections one mje to one inch,. 
 
 ice too sao «w £«f 
 
 TlicTrrtictil Sc-ah; sixImieslJiehei'Bpnltd. 
 
 4-mUas 
 
 D»NGERFItU> LlTH 22 BEDFOHD S' CovENT CaROCK 
 
 736 
 
Plate 11. 
 
 Section/ of Jforekele/ at 
 
 DALLAM LANE FORCE 
 
 WARRINGTON. 
 
 CorurtrujctetL by A. Strakan/. 
 
 Scale ZCG fab-1-aidu. 
 
 Grains per Gallon, 
 precipitated/ by 
 Sdrer nitrate 
 chiefly Sodium, OHm-ide 
 
 Soft; red Rock- Sana 1 , 
 
 fed, Snale. Z'.O' 
 JRecL and/ -pale jyeRavf Sand 
 Flaggy mucaceovLS Sand 
 Pale, -red- and yellow Sand 
 y9eak real Shale 
 
 Hard grey Sands 
 
 Red, Shale T.O " 
 
 v 
 
 '■'-/■ //-' Jmcaaeeu* Flags 
 Loose JcouL 
 
 Sandstone with, peibles 
 Red and. Hoc Shale 1.6 " 
 Sandstone with, pebbles 
 
 Soft red and white Sock 
 
 Shale lif 
 
 ■0 
 m 
 
 O 
 PI 
 
 o 
 
 DANCEBFIFLD.Lth.22 BCliFOHD ST COVENT CaR3EN 
 
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 The GEOLOGY of EAST LOTHIAN, &c. (Maps 30, 34, 41, Scot.) By H. H. Howell, F.G.S, A. Geikie, F.R.S, and 
 
 J. Young. M.D. With an Appendix on the Fossils by J. W. Salter, A.L.S. 
 The GEOLOGY of part of the YORKSHIRE COAL-FIELD (88 SE.) By A. H. Geeen, M.A, J. R. Dakyns, M.A, and 
 
 J.C.Waed.P.G.S. Oct. 1869. Is. 
 She GEOLOGY of the COUNTRY between LIVERPOOL and SOUTHPORT (90 SE.) By C. E. De Rance, F.G.S. 
 
 The CTOLOGY of the COUNTRY around SOUTHPORT, LYTHAM, and SOUTH SHORE. By C. E. De Rance, F.G.S. 
 
 ThoriJOTOrY of the CARBONIFEROUS ROCKS NORTH and EAST of LEEDS, and the PERMIAN and TRIASSIC 
 
 ROCKS about TADC IASTER. By W. T. Aveline, F.G.S, A. H. Geeen, M.A, J. R. Dakyns, M.A, J. C. Ward, F.G.S, 
 
 Th B T}EOLOGY E o'f 1 the'NEIGHBOURHOOD of KIRKBY LONSDALE and KENDAL. By W. T. Aveline, F.G.S, 
 
 T Mo K Hughes, M.A, F.S.A, and R. H. Tiddeman, B.A. Price 2s. 
 The GEOLOGY of the NEIGHBOURHOOD of KENDAL, WINDERMERE, SEDBERGH, and TEBAY. By W. T. 
 
 Aveline FGS and TMcK Hughes, M.A, F.S.A. Price Is. 6d. 
 Ie GEOLOGY of'the NEIGHBOURHOOD of LONDON. By W. Whitakee, B.A. Price Is. 
 
 Ae GEOLOGY of the EASTERN END of ESSEX (WALTON NAZE and HARWICH). By W. Whitakee. 
 SB A, F.G.S. Price 9d. 
 
 the GEOLOGY of the EAST SOMERSET and BRISTOL COALFIELDS. By H. B.Woodwaed, F.G.S. Price 18s. 
 1 he GEOLOGY of the NORTHERN PART of the ENGLISH LAKE DISTRICT (101 SE.) By J. C. Wabd, F.G.S. 
 'he SUPERFICIAL DEPOSITS of SOUTH-WEST LANCASHIRE. By C. E. De Rance, F.G.S. Pnce 17* 
 
THE COAL riELDS OF THE UNITED KINCDOM ARE ILLUSTRATED BY THE 
 FOLLOWINC PUBLISHED MAPS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 
 
 COAL-FIELDS OF UNITED KINGDOM. 
 
 (Illustrated by the following Maps.) 
 
 Auglsiey, 78 (S\V). 
 
 Bristol and Somerset, 19, 33. 
 
 Coalbrcok Dale, 6] (NE & SE). 
 
 Clce Hill, 53 (NE, NW). 
 
 Denbighshire, 74 (NE 4 SE1, 79 (SB). 
 
 Derby and Yorkshire, 71 (NW, NE, & SE), 82 (NW &SW), 
 81 (NE), 87 (NE, SE), 88 (SE). 
 
 Durham, 105. 
 
 Flintshire, 79 (Nil & SE). 
 
 Forest' of Dean, 43 (SE & SW). 
 
 Forest of Wyre, 61 (SE), 55 (NE). 
 'Lancashire, 80 (NW),81 (NW), 89 (SE.NE, NW, & SW), 88 
 (SW). (For corresponding six-inch Maps.see detailedlist.) 
 •Leicestershire, 71 (SW), 63 (NW). 
 
 Northumberland and Durham (N. part), 105 (NE & SE). 
 •North Staffordshire, 72 (NW), 72 (SW), 73 (NE), 80 (SE), 
 
 81 (SW). 
 •South Staffordshire. 54 (NW). 62 (SW). 
 
 Shrewsbury, 00 (NE), 61 (NW & SW). 
 
 South Wales, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42 (SE, SW). 
 •Warwickshire, 62 (NE & SE),63 (NW & SW), 54 (NE),53 
 
 (NW). 
 Yorkshire, 88, 87 (SW), 93 (SW), &c. 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 •Edinburgh, 32, 33. * Haddington, 32, 33. 
 
 Fife and Kinross, 40, 41., &c. fa. 
 
 IRELAND. 
 
 •Kanturk, 174, 175. *Castlecomer, 128, 137. 
 
 •Killenaule (Tipperary), 146. 
 (For Sections illustrating these Maps, see detailed list.) 
 • With descriptive Memoir. 
 
 GEOLOGICAL MAPS. 
 
 Scale, six inches to a mile. 
 The Coalfields of Lancashire, Northumberland, Cumberland, 
 Westmorland, Durham, Yorkshire, Edinburghshire, Had- 
 dington, Fifeshire, Renfrewshire, Dumbartonshire, Dum- 
 friesshire, Lanarkshire, Stirlingshire, and Ayrshire are 
 •urveyed on a scale of six inches to a mile, 
 
 Lancashire. 
 
 47. Clitheroe. 
 
 48. Colne, Twiston Moor. 
 
 49. Laneshaw Bridge. 
 S5. Whalley. 
 
 66. Haggate. lis. 
 
 67. Winewall. 
 
 61. Preston. 
 
 62. Balderstone, &c. 
 
 63. Accrington. 
 
 64. Burnley. 
 
 65. Stiperden Moor. 4s. 
 69. Layland. 
 TO. Blackburn, fa. 
 
 71. Haslingden. 
 
 72. Cliviger, Bacup, fa. 
 
 73. Todmorden. 4s. 
 
 77. Chorley. 
 
 78. Bolton-le-Mcors. 
 
 79. Entwistle. 
 
 80. Tottington. 
 
 81. Wardle. 6s. 
 
 84. Ormskirk, St. Johns, &c 
 
 85. Standish, fa. 
 
 86. Adlington, Horwick, &o, 
 
 87. Bolton-le-Moors. 
 
 88. Bury Heywood. 
 
 Durham 
 
 89. Rochdale, fa. 
 
 92. Bickerstaffe, Skelmers- 
 dale. 
 
 93. Wigan, Up Holland, fa. 
 
 94. West Houghton, Hind- 
 • ley, Atherton 
 
 95. Radcliffe, Peel Swinton 
 fa. 
 
 96. Middleton, Prestwich, 
 &c. 
 
 97. Oldham, fa. 
 
 100. Knowsley, Rainford, &c. 
 
 101. Billinge, Ashton, fa. 
 1U2. Leigh, Lowton. 
 193. Ashley, Eccles. 
 
 104. Manchester, Salford, fa. 
 
 105. Ashton-under-Lyne. 
 
 106. Liverpool, &c. 
 
 107. Prescott, Huyton, fa. 
 
 108. St. Helen's, Burton 
 Wood. 
 
 109. Winwick, fa. 6s. 
 
 111. Cheedale, part of Stock- 
 port, fa. 
 
 112. Stockport, 4c. 4s. 
 
 113. Part of Liverpool, fa. 4s. 
 
 Sheet. 
 1. Ryton. 4s. 
 t. Gateshead. 4s 
 I. Jarrow. 4s. 
 4. S. Shields. 4s. 
 6. Greenside. 4s. 
 
 6. Winlaton. 
 
 7. Washington. 
 
 Scale, six inches to a mile 
 Shed. 
 8. Sunderland. 
 
 4s. 
 in. Edmond Byers. • 
 
 11. Ebchester. 
 
 12. Lantoydy. 
 
 IS. Chester-le-Street. 
 14. Chester-le-Street. 
 
 6s. 
 
 Durham — coot. 
 
 Sheet. 
 
 16. Hunstanworth. 
 
 17. Waskerley. 
 
 18. Muggleswick. 
 
 19. Lanchester. 6s. 
 
 Section, 39. 
 
 20. Hetton-le-Hole. 
 24. Stanhope. . 
 
 Sheet. 
 
 25. Wolsingham. 
 
 26. Brancopeth. 
 32. White Kirkley. 
 
 Vertical 33. Hamsterley. 
 34. Whitworth. 
 
 41. Cockfield. 
 
 42. Bishop Auckland, 
 
 47. Coquet Island. _. 
 56. Druridge Bay, fa. 
 63. Netherwitton. 
 65. Newbiggin. 4s. 
 
 68. Belingliam. 
 
 69. Redesdale. 
 
 72. Bedlington. 
 
 73. Blyth. 4s. 
 
 77. Swinburn. 
 
 78. Ingoe. 6s. 
 
 80. Cramlington. 
 
 81. Earsdon. 
 
 84. Newborough. 
 
 85. Chollerton. 
 
 86. JIatfen. 
 
 87. Heddon-on-the-Wall. 
 
 Northumberland. 
 
 Scale, six inches to a mile. 
 
 88. Long Benton. 
 
 89. Tynemouth. 
 92. Haltwhistle. 
 
 95. Corbridge. 
 
 96. Horsley. 4s. 
 
 97. Newcastle-on-Tyne. 
 
 98. Walker. 4s. 
 101. 
 
 102. Allendale Town. 
 105. Newlands. 
 
 107. Allendale. 
 
 108. Blanchland. 
 
 109. Shofievfield. 
 
 110. Wellhope. 
 
 111. Allenheads. 
 
 100. Limlev. 
 184. Kelbrbok. 
 201. Bingley. 
 204. Aberford. 
 
 216. Bradford. 
 
 217. Calverley. 
 
 218. Leeds. 
 
 219. Kippax. 
 
 231. Halifax. 
 
 232. Birstal. 
 
 233. East Ardsley. 
 231. Castleford. 
 246. Huddersiield. 
 260. Honlev. 
 
 272. Holmfirth. 
 
 273. Penistone. 
 
 Yorkshire. 
 
 274. Bamsley. 
 
 275. Darfield. 
 
 276. Brodsworth. 
 
 281. Langsell. 
 
 282. Wortley. 
 
 283. Wath upon Dearne. 
 
 284. Conisboro'igh. 
 
 287. Low Bradlord. 
 
 288. EcclesBeld. 
 
 289. Rotherham. 
 
 290. Braithwell. 
 293. HaUam Moors, is. 
 
 295. Handsworth. 
 
 296. Laughton-en-le-Morthe! 
 
 299. . 
 
 300. Harthill. 
 
 2. Edinburgh, fa. 
 
 3. Portobello, Mussel- 
 
 burgh, fa. 
 
 6. Gilmerton, Burdie 
 
 House , fa. 
 
 7. Dalkeith, fa. 
 
 8. Preston Hall. 4s. 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 Scale, six inches to a mile. 
 
 Edinburghshire. 
 
 12. Penicnick, Coalfield 
 Lasswade, fa. 
 
 13. Temple, fa. 
 
 14. Fathead. 4s. 
 
 17. Brunslon Colliery, , 
 
 18. Howgate. i 
 
 Haddingtonshire, 
 
 Six inches to a mile. 
 
 8. Prestonpans, fa. Price 4s. 
 
 9. Trenent, Gladsmuir, Ac. Price lis. 
 IS. Elphinstone, fa. Price 4s. 
 
 14. Ormiston, East Salton, fa. 
 
 Fifeshire. 
 
 Six inches to a mile 
 
 24. Markinch, fa. 33. Buckhsven. 
 
 25. Scoonie, fa. 35. Dunfermline. 
 30. Beath, fa. ", 36. Kinghorn. 
 81. Auchterderran. 4s. 87. Kinghorn 
 32. Dysart, fa. 
 
 Ayrshire. 
 Six inches to one mile. 
 
 36. Grieve Hill, 
 
 4s. 
 
 19. Newmilns. 
 
 26. Glenbuck. 4s 
 
 27. Monkton, Ac. 
 
 28. Tarbolton, fa. 
 
 30. Aird's Moss. 
 
 31. Muirkirk. is. 
 
 33. Ayr, fa. 
 
 34. Coylton. 
 
 40. Chiltres. 
 
 41. Dalleagler. 
 
 42. New Cumnock. 
 
 46. Dalmellmgton. 
 
 47. Benbeock. 
 50. Daily. 
 
 52. Glenmoat. 
 
 MINERAL STATISTICS 
 
 u„i,,.rfn» tlm Tirndnre of Tin Copper, Lend, Silver, Zinc, Iron, Coals, and other Mineral 
 Embracing the. TJ^uce of lin, ^ ^ ^ j nclu « ve U. J* each. 
 
 Keeper of Milling 
 
 I860, 3s. 6d.,1861, 2s. ; and Appendix, Is. 
 
 lS02,2s.6d. 1863,2s. (d. 1804, 2s. 
 
 By Robert Hunt V _ 
 1858, Pari! I.. Is. 6d. ; Part II„ 5s 18OT 1«*3 
 15, 2s. 6d. 1866 to 1876, 2s. each. 
 
 THE IRON ORES OF GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 rni,„ T-nnivr rVRER of the North and North Midland Counties of England (Out of print) Vnrt tt m. n 
 8,F?of ffi Staffordshire Price Is. Part III. The IRON ORES of South Wales. Price Is. 8* "L^S- 11 
 Syn ORES of the Shropshire Coal-field and of 2. orth Staffordshire. Is. Sd. M ' Fsxi ™- 
 
 Part I, 
 ORE. . 
 IRON ORES of the Shropshire 
 
vwyv 
 
 MMM 
 
 M? 
 
 )m^mM 
 
 Wm¥SS^mm 
 
 mm 
 
 F'i^J: