Dr. PiTTON on the Strata below the Chalk. 



2H7 



This bed is 



Ft. In. 

 >3 



to 



Ft. In. 

 5 



4. " Gutters" ; concretions of stone in 4 or 5 courses, in the sand, 

 that most commonly used for sithe-stones 



5. " Burrows"; stone and sand of the same kind, but used only for building . . 2 



6. *' Bottom stone" ; a range of concretions, affording excellent sithe-stones. ... 

 [These concretions sometimes extend downwards, even to 5 feet, in the sand.] 



7. " Rock sand" ; chiefly sand, with fewer concretions ; of no use 



8. " Soft vein"; concretions which afford excellent sithe-stones 



The strata below are not known to the workmen. The total thickness, therefore, of the strata 

 which furnish the material for sithe-stones, including the rejected sand and rubbish, is from 12 

 to 18 feet ; the whole of which is removed in cutting the drifts or galleries. 



Sithe-stones. — As the manufacture of these stones occupies a great number of the inhabitants 

 of the country, and is of some commercial importance, a large proportion of the whole quan- 

 tity used in England being supplied from the Blackdown pits*, I shall here describe the method 

 of preparing them. 



The sitbe-stone men take from the owners of the soil the privilege of digging for stones, 

 leaving 40 yards on each side between the drifts (or *' pits " as they are called). There is no 

 limitation as to depth, and the drifts are commonly pushed to about SOO yards inwards, greater 

 distances not repaying the labour of bringing out the sand. When first taken out, the stone is 

 greenish and moist, and can be cut or chopped with ease. The tools employed are a sort of axe 

 or adze with a short handle (fig. 2.), called a " basing-hammer ", which is ground to a sharp 

 edge. These are made at the adjacent village of Kentisbere. 

 The other tools are " picks ", without any peculiarity of struc- 

 ture, and "hoUowing-shovels" (fig. 1.), for digging the masses 

 of stone out of the sand. 



For the purpose of cutting the stones, a vertical post of wood, 

 or "anvil", is so fixed in the ground as to stand between the 

 knees of the workman, who sits upon a sort of bench built of 

 stone, with some strong pieces of old leather attached as a de- 

 fence to his left knee. He first, with the edge of his " basing- 

 hammer ", splits from the blocks, upon his knee, long portions 

 approaching to the shape of the sithe-stones f ; and then cuts or 12 inches 



chops them down, nearly to the required size, upon the anvil and his knee, — just as a carpenter 

 cuts timber with an adze. After- being thus rudely shaped, the stones are "hewn" to the proper 

 dimensions with a larger "hammer", and then rubbed down with water by women, on a large 

 stone of the same kind ; and when dried they are fit for sale. 



The stones when finished vary from about ten to twelve inches in length ; some have the 

 shape of a portion of an almond, with the ends and sides cut square, and about 2 inches by li 

 in thickness ; others are almost cylindrical, but smaller at each end, with the sides a little 

 curved ; the diameter in the middle about 2 inches. 



I ' ■ ■ I 



* Sithe-stones are also manufactured in great numbers in Derbyshire from the sandstone of 

 the coal formation. (Farcy's Derbyshire : Svo, 1815 ; p. 437-8.) 



t The masses of stone, I believe, split best in the direction of the lines of stratification of the 

 sand. 



