Northumberland and Durham. G7 



ironstone is found in the shale, forming either thin subordinate 

 strata, or nodules ; at Aldstone and in Teesdale it occurs forming 

 septaria with internal divisions, such as are represented in St. Fond's 

 travels ; and at the latter place it forms the cetite or eaglestone of 

 the old mineralogists. It is more abundant in the shales of this 

 formation than in those of the Coalfield, but the only iron work 

 now existing within the limits of my map is that of the Tyne 

 company at Lemmington in the northern part of the district. The 

 Carron company formerly collected on Holy Island a part of the 

 ore smelted at their furnaces, but they have long since relinquished 

 this undertaking. 



About the beginning of the last century, according to Wallis, an 

 iron manufactory was established at Lee Hall, in the vale of North 

 Tyne near to Bellingham. The director of it was a Mr. Wood, 

 son of the Irish projector of that name. The ore was plentiful in 

 the strata of a romantic precipice on the east side of the river, and 

 a good deal of bar iron was made from it ; but it seems that char- 

 coal becoming scarce the work was relinquished. Large quantities 

 of slag are still found scattered over the surface, or forming con- 

 siderable mounds, wherever the Romans carried their roads or 

 fixed their stations. 



The variety of carbonate of lime called satin spar, forms a 

 thin stratum in a bed of black slate-clay, which crops out at 

 Aldstone close to the brewery. The specimens are generally inter- 

 sected by veins of iron pyrites and slate-clay. Some buildings 

 stand upon the bank out of which this mineral was quarried, and 

 the proprietor to save them from being undermined has built a wall 

 close to the face of the rock ; so that satin-spar is no longer to be 

 procured, and is become a scarce mineral. 



There are few parts of the Lead-mine district in which coal is 



i2 



