1^59.] LANCASTER AND WRIGHT SHIREOAK COLLIERY. 141 



The first seam of coal was cut November 1855, at a depth of 

 S8 yards ; this is 2 feet thick, and of inferior quality. 



Four yards below this we met with a compact sandstone or grit, 

 which proved to be 66 yards thick, and of a very hard and open 

 character. On the rise towards the west a great portion of it is 

 covered by the Magnesian Limestone; but it crops out at Harthill, 

 four miles west of Shireoak, and is there extensively worked for 

 scythe-stones, &c. 



We were one year and eight months in sinking through this rock, 

 and the total quantity of water made in each pit was 500 gallons a 

 minute : this was, however, stopped in detail by cast-iron tubing, 

 which was carried down to a depth of 170 yards from the surface. 

 "When it was first put in, we experienced some difficulty from the 

 gas given off at the bottom of the thick rock, which, when pent up, 

 injured some of the tubing. Pipes were, however, put in to carry 

 the water to the surface ; since then the pressure, as proved by a 

 gauge, has been more regular. It has been as high as 210 lbs. per 

 square-inch; but is now about 196 lbs. per square-inch. 



Below this point no difficulties were encountered, the strata con- 

 sisting principally of shales which were free of water. 



Several coals and bands of ironstone were met with in the next 

 170 yards ; but they were all thin or of inferior quality. 



At 346 yards we cut the first thick coal, and found it to be 4 ft . 

 6 in. thick and of good quality. Practical geologists and engineers 

 in the neighbourhood considered this to be the " Wathwood coal" 

 of the Derbyshire and South Yorkshire district, where it averages 

 about 4 feet thick ; and we found it to be at nearly the same distance 

 from the "Hard Coal" that it has been proved in those fields. 



The principal coals between the " Wathwood" and the " Top 

 Hard Coal" were found of very much the same quality, and with 

 tlii' same thickness of intervening strata, as known elsewhere. 



On February 1, 1859, the "Top Hard Coal" was cut at a depth 

 of 510 yards, and found to be 3 feet 10 inches thick. It gave the 

 accompanying section in our pits, from which it will be seen that 

 the " Bright" portion, which is of considerable thickness elsewhere, 

 is nearly absenl here. 



K> inches. 



lo inches. 



Soft. 

 Hard 



:: inches. 



12 inches. Bpiry, ox mixed bard and tofl 



1 1 inches. Soft. 



The nearest workings to ours in this coal are at the Comberwood 

 Collier] near Killamarsh : and. though these are 51 miles from Shin- 



