A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



lamps was prohibited, because the Davy lamp 

 passed the flame in a current with a velocity 

 of 400 ft., the Clanny lamp at 600 ft., and 

 the Stephenson lamp at 800 ft. per minute. 



The safety lamp now usually adopted in 

 this district is of the Marsant type. It has a 

 thick glass cylinder surrounding the flame, 

 like the Clanny lamp, and above the glass 

 cylinder are two and sometimes three conical 

 gauze caps which fit close together at their 

 lower extremity on to the top of the glass, 

 and gradually diverge from each other in pro- 

 ceeding upwards. The gauze caps are pro- 

 tected by a bonnet of sheet iron screwed on 

 to a flange above the glass. The air is 

 admitted by a number of holes round the base 

 of the bonnet, and after descending on to the 

 wick, ascends and escapes through a series of 

 large holes round the top of the bonnet. 



Lamps of this description can be used with 

 safety in currents having a velocity of 3,000 

 ft. per minute. 



Dip. From Whitehaven to Maryport the 

 general dip of the Coal Measures is to the 

 west, towards the sea. Between the William 

 Pit workings of the Whitehaven Colliery and 

 Parton there is an anticlinal towards which 

 the strata rise from the Micklam fault west- 

 ward, and over which they again have the 

 normal dip to the west. The Main Band 

 outcrops at low water mark near the mouth 

 of Lowca Beck, but occurs again over the 

 summit of the anticlinal. From Maryport to 

 the eastern extremity of the coalfield the dip 

 is to the north-west. 



Faults and Nips. Numerous faults, the 

 majority of which have a north-west and 

 south-east direction, divide the coalfield into 

 narrow strips, and in some cases throw off the 

 upper measures altogether, thus bringing the 

 lower seams nearer to the surface, and more 

 easily rendering them accessible. The principal 

 faults are : 



(1) The James Pit Fault, which runs from near 

 James Pit, Whitehaven, to Bigrigg, is a downthrow 

 fault to the north-east. 



(2) The Micklam Fault, which runs from Mick- 

 lam Pit, Harrington, to near Rheda, Frizington, is 

 an upthrow fault to the north-east of about I zo 

 fathoms. 



(3) The Distington Fault, which runs from 

 near Harrington towards Distington, throws in the 

 Carboniferous Limestone, at the Barf Quarries to 

 the north-east. 



(4) The Flimby Fault, which runs from near 

 Risehow, towards Camerton Colliery, is an up- 

 throw fault to the west, throwing off the Cannel 

 and Metal Band. 



(5) The Dearham Fault, which runs from near 

 Birkby towards Dovenby, is a downthrow fault to 

 the north-east. 



(6) The fault separating the Nos. I and 2 Pits 

 from the No. 3 Pit, Brayton Domain Colliery, 

 is 90 fathoms down to the north-east. 



(7) The large downthrow fault to the north-east 

 which separates the No. 3 Pit, Brayton Domain 

 Colliery, from Allhallows Colliery. 



(8) The downthrow fault to the north-east near 

 Crummock Old Colliery, about 80 or 90 fathoms. 



(9) A large downthrow fault to the north-east, 

 between Crummock Old Colliery and Bolton 

 Colliery. 



(10) Terminal Fault, near Bolton Wood Lane, 

 which throws in the Permian sandstone. 



Other faults run north-east and south-west. 

 Of these the principal are : 



(1) The Montreal Fault, which is estimated to 

 be about 200 fathoms. 



(2) The fault, south of Crosby Colliery, which 

 is an upthrow to the south of about 1 70 fathoms. 

 It throws up the Carboniferous Limestone which 

 forms the southern boundary of the eastern divi- 

 sion of the coalfield. 



(3) The Aspatria Fault, a downthrow fault to 

 the north, which runs from Maryport vt& Aspatria 

 to near Bolton Low Houses, and was considered 

 to be the northern boundary of the coalfield. 



' Nips ' are narrow tracts resembling silted- 

 up river beds in the coal seam, where the 

 coal has been replaced by deposits of sand- 

 stone, or shale. Cumberland miners term 

 these barren tracts ' geld ' ground. ' Nips ' 

 in West Cumberland vary in width from a 

 few yards to hundreds of yards, and extend 

 sometimes considerable distances. Perhaps 

 the most notable ' nip ' in West Cumberland 

 is that on which the Isabella Pit, Workington, 

 was sunk. In 1814 that pit had been sunk 

 by Mr. John Christian Curwen to the Moor- 

 banks Seam, which was found in its normal 

 thickness at a depth of 90 fathoms from the 

 surface. Mr. Curwen then continued the pit 

 to a depth of 128 fathoms, reached in 1818, 

 where the Main Band should have been found, 

 but the seam was proved to be ' nipped ' out. 

 This was a bitter disappointment after the 

 expenditure of 50,000. The Main Band 

 was, however, ultimately proved, through the 

 ' nip,' by a drift 400 yards long. 



HISTORY 



The existence of coal in Cumberland may 

 have been known from an early period ; but 

 little of it was worked before the middle of 

 the sixteenth century. In 1560, Sir Thomas 

 Chaloner, lord of the manor of St. Bees, in grant- 

 ing certain leases of lands within that manor, 

 reserved to himself the right to dig for coals, 

 at the same time granting his lessees liberty to 

 take coals from the lord's coalpits for their 

 own use on condition that they paid therefor 



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