390 REPORT—1885. 
by Normanton, a little beyond Wakefield ; then south by Woolley Edge, 
and passing west of Barnsley, ranging S8.H., to Hemingfield. To the 
S.W. it is coarse; at Wakefield finer. 
The ‘ Woolley Edge rock’ at Hemingfield, at Lundhill Colliery, con- 
sisted of 82 feet 6 inches of sandstone, 23 feet 5 inches of shale, and 
24 feet 4 inches of sandstone, overlying the Wathwood coal. At Wombwell 
Main it was 120 feet 2 inches, and 12 feet 5 inches of shale intervened 
between it and the Wathwood coal. North of Dillington it contains 
pebbles as large as a hazel nut. Hast of Wakefield, at Whitwell Main 
Colliery, it lies above the Wakefield coal; 38 feet of it is described as 
‘bleeding rock,’ exuding much acrid water, that blisters the hands of 
the sinkers. 
The ‘ Oaks rock ’ is so called at Barnsley ; at Trenton and the district 
S.E. of Sheffield it is called the ‘Trenton rock.’ It can be traced on its 
outcrop as far as Heath; east of Wakefield it appears to thin away 
along a line running roughly north-west and south-east through Nor- 
manton. It usually carries a large quantity of water—when it is split up 
with shales the quantity is less; it is largely quarried for building-stone 
and making grindstones, the most important quarry being near Barnsley. 
When this rock attains its full thickness it is estimated to be 100 feet, 
and its base to be 850 feet above the Barnsley coal. At Wath Main 
Colliery the total thickness of rock was 55 yards; it yielded an enormous 
quantity of water, one feeder alone yielding 3,000 gallons per minute 
after the tubing was in the shaft, but before it was fully ‘wedged’ the 
yield for months was 18,000 gallons per minute. 
The ‘ Pontefract rock’ is water-bearing. 
Drought of 1884. 
Mr. G. J. Symons, F.R.S., finding that the small rainfall of the year 
had had considerable effect upon the level of water in wells, &c., in- 
vited his staff of 2,600 unpaid observers to report any facts within their 
own knowledge bearing on this question. The following notes are the 
result of his inquiries :— 
South-Eastern Counties. 
Reigate.—Shallow wells wholly failed ; springs and watercourses had 
not begun to run at the close of the year. 
Tenterden, Summerhill.—River Rother was nearly dry; wells and 
ponds were nearly all dried up. 
Tunbridge Wells.—Springs and wells very low, many dried up. 
Maidstone, Lower Tovil.—The Loose stream dry. River Medway 
very low, and water very clear. 
Sheldwick Vicarage.—Springs very low to end of year; water in 
well 170 feet deep—4 feet below average. 
Sevenoaks.—Springs low in autumn; average flow not restored at — 
end cf the year. 
Wrotham.— Two wells in chalk, 100 feet deep, were dry in autumn, — 
and continued so at the end of the year. 
Ospringe, Lorenden.—Strong spring from chalk hills, flowing 4 inches — 
deep in a 4-feet channel, entirely stopped. 
Chichester, Westgate—Surface wells dry; deep chalk wells low. 
Midhurst. Cocking.—September to November, water lower than 
