434 WEALDEN IRON. 



In former years ironstone was worked near Peterborough in the 

 Blisworth clay. 



Iron Ore in the Coralline Oolite. At Westbury in Wiltshire an 

 oolite iron ore occurs in the Upper Calcareous grit. It is about 1 5 

 feet thick, and extends by Warminster to the north of Devizes and 

 through Steeple Ashton into Oxfordshire. The Westbury ore is known 

 locally as Thrown and green. The former yields about 42 per cent, of 

 iron, the latter 38 per cent. 



At Abbotsbury oolitic iron ore is found in the upper part of the 

 coral rag, but is not at present worked. 



Wealden Iron Ore, 



The iron ore of the Weald has played an important part in 

 English history, having been a chief source of iron from the time 

 of Henry III. down to the first quarter of this century, when the 

 works ceased to be remunerative owing to the failure of fuel. The 

 common ore is clay ironstone, which occurs in nodules and thin 

 beds towards the bottom of the Wadhurst clay. Another bed of 

 shelly calcareous ironstone, serving both for ore and flux, occurs a few 

 feet above the Ashdown sand. The ore is termed "myne." It was 

 worked as late as 1857-58 in the Ashdown Sand near Wadhurst, and 

 the ore was then sent to Staffordshire to be smelted. It usually 

 yields about 35 per cent, of iron, varying between 25 to 40 per cent. 

 The Ashburnham iron was remarkable for its toughness ; cannon 

 were cast from it ; it was forged into weapons of war and most of 

 the older ornamental ironwork of London exhibits evidence of its 

 malleable quality. Iron ore is still worked in the Lower Wealden beds 

 of the Lower Boulonnais; the ore is chiefly raised at Ferques and 

 near Boulogne ; it is there a hydrated peroxide, which yields 34 per 

 cent, of iron. 1 



Neocomian Iron Ore. A brown oolitic iron ore occurs in the 

 Middle Neocomian at Tealby near Market-Kasen. 



Occasionally ironstone has been extracted from the Upper Neo- 

 comian beds near Leighton-Buzzard in Bedfordshire, where it occurs 

 in massive brown nodules. 



At Seend in Wiltshire iron ore occurs in the Lower Greensand. 

 It is quarried in open workings, similar to those at Westbury. It 

 yields 45 per cent, of metallic iron, and is a hydrous brown oxide. 



In many localities the Neocomian sands are rich in brown iron 

 ore, but deficiency of fuel has rendered them of no commercial value. 



Tertiary Iron Ores. 



The Bagshot Sands at Hengistbury Head near Christchurch con- 

 tain several bands of nodular ironstone. The ironstone masses are 

 several feet in length, and have accumulated in great quantity on the 



1 Topley, Mem. Geol. Surv., "Geology of the Weald," 1875. 



