THE SOUTH-EASTERN COALFIELD 383 



therefore recommend this trial to be made in the neighbour- 

 hood of Dover or the valley of the Stour, a short distance south 

 of Canterbury, where it is probable that the thickness of the 

 Chalk and Gault will not be found to exceed 700 to 1,000 ft., 

 and where the other secondary strata may be expected to be 

 comparatively thin." 



This is the first indication of the north-easterly attenuation 

 of the secondary rocks beneath the Gault, insisted upon by 

 Boyd Dawkins in his various reports to the Kent Coal Con- 

 cessions, which has been proved up to the hilt by various 

 borings at Dover, Ellinge, Ropersole, Waldershare, Fredville, 

 Goodnestone, Barfrestone, and Woodnesborough. 



III. Works 



After this failure the question again lay dormant for many 

 years. Impetus was at length given by Mr. Chamberlain's 

 veto on the Channel Tunnel Scheme. Sir Edward Watkin, 

 persuaded that the prohibition would shortly be removed, and 

 wishing to keep his staff employed, put down the famous boring 

 at Dover in 1886. This was carried on ior four years, and 

 workable seams of coal were struck in 1890. 



It is to the enterprise of Sir Edward Watkin that the credit 

 is due, and this has been lost sight of amid the wrangles of his 

 engineer and his geologist. 



The results of this famous boring are familiar ; the section 

 was briefly as follows : 



Thickness 



Grey Chalk and Chalk Marl 130 ft. 



Glauconitic Marl 8 „ 



Gault 121 „ 



Lower Greensand and Wealden 246 „ 



Oolites and Lias 608 „ 



The Coal Measures were entered at 1,113 ft- below high- 

 water mark, and penetrated to a depth of 2,200 ft., after passing- 

 through eight seams of workable thickness, varying from 

 2 to 4 ft. 



The long tale of subsequent disaster and delay is familiar 

 to everybody. It is scarcely to the credit of our commercial 

 enterprise that eighteen years have been allowed to elapse 

 since the seams were struck, and coal has not yet been raised 

 in marketable quantity. Let us compare for a minute the 

 progress made by our neighbours in the Pas-de-Calais : 



