South-western Coal District of England. 259 



From St. George's the zone of Pennant, bounded on the west by the lower 

 coal-shale of the collieries of Bedminster, must range beneath the lias platform 

 that supports Dundry-hill ; its inner border seems to be indicated by a line of 

 coal-seams passing from Brislington* through Queen's Charlton to Burnet, 

 where the lowest seam is described as being covered by a stratum of Pennant 

 20 feet thick. A notice of these workings is preserved in a memoir by 

 Mr. Strachey, printed in the Philosophical Transactions for 1719; and from 

 the sites of the old workings mentioned in the memoir, or to be traced on the 

 spot, the drift of the seams must be from N.W. to S.E., and their dip there- 

 fore to the N.E. 



On the northern border of the central coal-tract, a little to the south of Bur- 

 net, and at Compton Dando, we find a coal-grit, of an equivocal character, 

 resembling the Pennant; which grit is seen also between Compton Dando and 

 Publow, on the lower hill beneath the escarpment of red marl and lias, and at 

 the foot of the same escarpment between Whitchurch and Pensford, on the 

 road from Bristol to Wells. Its dip at these points seems to be S.W. The 

 Pennant certainly appears dipping south about a mile to the S.W. of Stanton 

 Drew church, on the road to Stowey. To the south of this point a range of 

 lias overlies and conceals it ; but on the other side of that range it emerges in 

 Temple Cloud hill to the south of Clutton, and thence ranges eastward in a 

 line of pointed knolls to the south of Littleton. One of these knolls, called 

 Highbury-hill, is crowned with an ancient encampment ; and at its base, a 

 brook forms a picturesque cascade, falling from a height of about 30 feet. In 

 this spot we see very strikingly instanced the effect produced on the character 

 of the scenery by the nature and inclination of the strata. The lofty ranges 

 of horizontal lias bounding the valley are flat and tame ; while the lower ridge 

 of Pennant is abrupt, wild, and varied. The dip is here north-east, at an 

 angle of 30°. 



The Pennant, after being concealed to the south of Highbury-hill by the 

 overlying strata, appears in a small patch, formerly mentioned, on the ascent 

 of the hill above Chilcompton, on the road to Midsummer Norton. It is also 

 pierced in the new coal-pit between Chilcompton and Stratton ; and finally, it 

 skirts the northern outline of the southern coal-tract along Holcombe-hill, 

 dipping north at a considerable angle. From these localities it appears that 

 the course of the zone of Pennant on the west and south is very tortuous ; on 

 the east it is entirely concealed by the overlying formations, and has not yet 

 been proved in any of the collieries. 



* These are the collieries on the south and south-east of Brislington ; for those on the north 

 have a southern dip, and are out of the line of bearing towards Queen's Charlton and Burnet. 



