106 PROCEEDINGS COTTESWOLD CLUB 1908 
25 degrees to the N.E., E. and S.E., ‘‘ and were affected by numerous 
faults, the largest of which occasioned a throw of 25 yards.”* The 
beds proved were :— 
Thickness in feet inches 
IS eOpenAWaterstOnesimy Ee eee pee eens aan 2I 0 
Clay inhitish soil Ofer ies a eens see eae 
Sandstone, hard, whitish, with plant-remains 
Reddish-brown clunch 
Shale*Gcorme tee a Ghee Pr ore eee 
Soa Rete td OLE hc yi belly Die saa 7 a 
Shales, with three other seams of coal, viz., 2 feet, 
1 foot 6 ins., 1 foot 2 ins,; the lowest being 
sulphurous 16 0 
Coat-MEasuRES \ 100 0 (about) 
**In this sinking,” Murchison adds, ‘ the overlying Red Sandstone is 
said to have partaken of all the flexures of the underlying Coal- 
Measures.” This remark is very interesting from a geological 
standpoint, as enhancing the possibility that these Coal-Measures 
belong to the upper division ; and important from a commercial point 
of view. ‘‘ At Hill House Colliery, a little to the north of Lower 
House, and nearer to the outline of the Old Red Sandstone, the coal 
strata were found to be so highly inclined, that the works were soon 
abandoned.””? This is Murchison’s version, but is not the one that is 
given locally at the present day: the difficulty of coping with the 
great volume of water is the reason now brought forward. 
** At Bowlsdon,? six shafts were opened about thirty years ago 
[from 1839, and therefore about 1809] by a joint stock company. 
Here, as at Lower House, there were four seams of coal lying nearly 
all together, the first being one foot six inches, the second ten inches, 
the third ten inches, and the lowermost two feet six inches in thick- 
ness. The shafts were from 63 to 80 yards deep; the faults were 
very numerous, and the enterprise was abandoned owing to the great 
influx of water. The strata [are] inclined slightly to the south [? east 
north-east], or from the flank of May Hill.”* Here the influx of water 
is given as the reason for abandoning the workings. 
Murchison was of opinion that ‘‘ if coal workings are ever to be 
resumed near Newent, with any prospect of success, the trials should 
be made to the east of the town,” and makes the highly feasible 
remark that ‘‘ the measures may be found to have expanded, when 
followed upon their dip.” He continues: ‘‘ Whether this prove 
to be the case or not, there can be little doubt that these Carboni- 
ferous strata, in some form or other, are prolonged beneath the New 
Red Sandstone to the east of Newent, as indicated by a highly 
sulphurous medicinal spring, which there rises to the surface ; whilst 
there is every probability that the strata, being further removed from 
their junction with the Old Red Sandstone, may run in more con- 
tinuous and unbroken masses, than in those spots along the line 
of outcrop, to which all previous undertakings have been confined.” 5 
1 “Silurian System” (1839), p. 153. 2 /bid., p.154. 3 Now spelt with a “u,” 
instead of aw.” 4 “Silurian System,” p. 154. 5 J/ézd., pp. 154-155- 
