A HISTORY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE 



found in the thin seams. Although worked to 

 a great extent near the outcrop the deep portion 

 of the Coleford High Delf awaits development 

 on a large scale, and for this adequate capital is 

 necessary. In this seam exists the peculiar dis- 

 turbance known locally as ' the Horse,' which is 

 not in a strict sense a geological fault, as there is 

 no dislocation of the adjoining strata. According 

 to Sir Henry De La Beche it resembles ' a chan- 

 nel cut amongst a mass of vegetable matter in a 

 soft condition. It ranges south, 31 degrees east 

 for a length of 2 miles and a breadth of from 1 70 

 to 340 yds., whilst a number of minor channels 

 communicating with the main channel are called 

 lowi. Mr. Buddie has suggested that ' the 

 Horse' represents the channel of a river which 

 formed the outlet of a lake where the vegetation 

 producing the Coleford High Delf seam of coal 

 was originally accumulated. The ' Horse ' itself 

 is formed of sandstone. About 43 yds. below 

 the Coleford High Delf, and 504 yds. below the 

 surface, lies the Upper Trenchard which has 

 been worked to a slight extent on the western side 

 and also near the southern outcrop, furnishing a 

 good gas and steam coal. Its average thickness 

 is said to be about 4 ft. The Lower Tren- 

 chard is separated from the Upper Trenchard 

 by some 22 yds. of shale and sandstone, and 

 is usually very thin. Beneath it lies a fire- 

 clay 2O ft. thick, which has been worked along 

 the western outcrop. This is the last seam of 

 coal, and is succeeded by the Millstone Grit. The 

 present resources of this coalfield are estimated in 

 round figures at 250,000,000 tons. 



Among the collieries of the Forest of Dean 

 Coalfield may be mentioned the Addishill, Bride- 

 well, Crown, Crump Meadow and Duck, Dark- 

 hill, East Slade, Forest Red Ash, Foxes Bridge, 

 Gentlemen Colliers, Hopewell, Hulks, Light- 

 moor and Speech House Main, Little Brock- 

 hollands, Lydbrook Deep Level, New Fancy 

 and Parkend Royal, New Mount Pleasant, Nor- 

 chard, Princess Royal, Trafalgar, Wallsend, and 

 Woorgreens. Of these the Lightmoor, Parkend, 

 Trafalgar, Crump Meadow, and Foxes Bridge 

 are the chief collieries now working the Middle 

 Series ' of seams at varying depths. 2 The 

 Lightmoor Colliery, which is owned by Messrs. 

 Henry Crawshay and Co. Ltd., and situate at 

 Cinderford, is by far the largest of these, having 

 an output of between 800 and 900 tons per 

 day. Its depth is 300 yds. The Parkend and 

 Fancy Collieries, owned by the Parkend Deep 

 Navigation Collieries Ltd., and situate near Park- 

 end, have an output of about 500 tons per day. 

 The Fancy Colliery is 240 yards in depth. The 

 Trafalgar Colliery, owned by the Trafalgar Col- 

 liery Co. Ltd., with a depth of 200 yds., is 



1 Or Upper if only two series are recognized. 



* The seams worked in all cases are the Church- 

 way High Delf, Rockey, Starkey, Lowrey and 

 Twenty Inch. 



situate near Drybrook, and has a daily output of 

 about 500 tons. The Crump Meadow Colliery, 

 200 yds. in depth, is owned by the Lydney and 

 Crump Meadow Colliery Co. Ltd., and is 

 situate at Cinderford. Its output with that of 

 the Duck Colliery is estimated at about 500 

 tons per day. The Foxes Bridge Colliery, 

 which is the property of the Foxes Bridge 

 Colliery Co. Ltd., is 300 ft. deep and situate at 

 Cinderford. It also has a daily output of about 

 500 tons. These collieries working the thinner 

 seams produce first-rate house coal. 



Among the principal collieries working the 

 lower series The Flour Mill Colliery near Bream, 

 and the Park Gutter near Whitecroft, both 

 owned by the Princess Royal Colliery Co. Ltd., 

 have an output of 600 tons per day. The 

 former works the Coleford High Delf Seam, 

 and the latter the Yorkley. The Flour Mill 

 Colliery is sunk to the depth of about 130 yds. 

 The Old Norchard Colliery, owned by the Park 

 Iron Ore Co , has an output of about 350 tons 

 per day, produced from the Coleford High Delf 

 Seam and the Trenchard Seam. It may be 

 noted that the coal worked by the Park Iron Ore 

 Co. Ltd. is won by means of a level driven from 

 the surface to strike the seam. Another impor- 

 tant colliery, the Lydbrook, owned by Messrs. 

 Richard Thomas and Co. Ltd., and situate at 

 Lydbrook, has an average output of about 350 

 tons per day, produced from the Coleford High 

 Delf Seam. This colliery is said to be about 

 140 yds. in depth. Though fair house coal is 

 got from the Yorkley Seam, the principal output 

 of the collieries working the lower seams is in 

 steam and gas coal. 



< Longwall ' working is adopted in the thin 

 seams, and even in certain places in the Coleford 

 High Delf, though here the ' pillar and stall ' 

 system has sometimes been preferred. Owing 

 to the thinness of the seams it is necessary to be 

 sparing in the driving of roads, and where the 

 gradients of the seams are steep, hod-roads or in 

 rare cases inclines or jinney-roads are ' driven to 

 the rise at right angles to a main road, driven 

 along the strike of the seam.' 3 The haulage 

 system is sometimes of a primitive character and 

 in the steep measures coal is brought down to the 

 loading stage in hods mounted -on two slides, a 

 form of sledge drawn by boys. 



The freedom of the pits from fire-damp, at 

 least under present conditions, and the absence 

 of faults of any great size in the formations, are 

 attractive features in the coalfield of the Forest 

 of Dean. But the varying thickness of seams, 

 and the increasing quantity of water met with, 

 present serious disadvantages. The latter cir- 

 cumstance is partly due to the fact that in the 

 past the coal has been largely worked from the 

 surface downwards along the outcrops of the 

 seams, owing to the symmetrical regularity of 



1 Joynes, op. cit. 152 etseq. 



234 



