INDUSTRIES 



event of there being no vessel in readiness in 

 the harbour, the ore was deposited in the 

 depots situated in different parts of the town. 

 Mr. Thos. Ainsworth, Messrs. Attwood & 

 Son, and Messrs. Tulk & Ley each owned 

 one of these depots. 



The following mines were at work in the 

 neighbourhood of Whitehaven in the year 

 1858, when the output of haematite was 

 331,544 tons, of which quantity the Parkside 

 mines alone raised 96,107 tons. 



individual mines, these will be afterwards 

 dealt with and classified under their respective 

 parishes. 



(2) The district around Millom, known as 

 the ' Millom district,' forming the extreme 

 south-eastern portion of Cumberland, and 

 embracing the extensive mines of Hodbarrow 

 in Millom parish, and Whicham and Silecroft 

 in the parish of Whicham. 



(3) The Eskdale valley, near Boot, in the 

 parish of St. Bees, occupying a central posi- 

 tion between the Whitehaven and Millom 

 districts. 



(4) The Alston Moor or Weardale district, 

 in the north-eastern part of the county. 



GEOLOGICAL POSITION. Districts i and 2. 

 The haematite deposits in the first two dis- 

 tricts mentioned occur principally in the 

 carboniferous or mountain limestone, which 

 rests immediately (as in the Whitehaven dis- 

 trict) on the Skiddaw slate of the lower 

 Silurian system, and in the Millom district, 

 on the Borrowdale or Coniston series of 

 rocks. The greatest aggregate thickness of 

 the beds comprising this limestone formation 

 has been found to be over 900 feet. 



The carboniferous limestone series is 

 divided into seven distinct beds, as follows : 



First, or top limestone. 



Second 



Third 



Fourth, or clints 



Fifth 



Sixth 



Seventh 



This list is taken from the Mineral Statistics 

 of Great Britain and Ireland, by Robert Hunt, 

 F.R.S., Keeper of Mining Records, but each 

 mine is here arranged under its respective 

 parish. 



Before proceeding further with the histori- 

 cal part of the subject, it is desirable that a 

 brief general outline should be given of the 

 districts, geological position, and modes of 

 occurrence of the hxmatite of Cumberland. 



DISTRICTS. (i) That known as the 

 ' Whitehaven district,' lying to the north-east 

 and south-east of Whitehaven, and extending 

 from Knockmurton in the parish of Lamplugh 

 in the north to the town of Egorment in the 

 south, covering a distance of between seven 

 and eight miles. This district has hitherto 

 been the source from which the largest portion 

 of the haematite raised in the county has 

 been obtained. The iron ore bearing area 

 embraces the parishes of Lamplugh, Salter 

 and Eskett, Arlecdon, Cleator and Egremont. 

 As it may be of advantage in localizing the 



The largest and best deposits of haematite are 

 most commonly found in the first and second 

 beds, although good payable bodies of ore 

 have been discovered and worked in the whole 

 series. A large number of ' faults ' traverse 

 the limestone, running for the most part 

 north-west and south-east, at angles varying 

 from 5 to 25 from the magnetic meridian. 

 These are termed ' north and south ' faults. 

 A smaller number of ' east and west ' faults 

 also occur, some of them of considerable im- 

 portance. It is along the line of these 

 ' faults,' or in close proximity thereto, that 

 the best deposits of haematite are found. 

 There are three forms of haematite occurrence, 

 viz. vein-like, bed-like, and irregular and 

 patchy masses, the latter locally termed ' poc- 

 kets,' ' sops ' and ' guts,' the gut-like deposits 

 continuing longitudinally for considerable dis- 

 tances and frequently running parallel to the 

 ' faults ' which are found near them. Veins 

 of haematite also occur in the Skiddaw slate at 

 Kelton Fell and Knockmurton, and, as will 



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