448 MR. H. BOLTON ON A MARINE FAUNA IN THE [NOV. IQO7, 



Seam/ met with at a depth of 84 feet below the ' Red Ash ' or 

 ' Little Yein ' of Ashton Yale is the lowest workable seam in this 

 part of the coalfield, and that the belief strongly held by practical 

 miners in the district that the valuable thick coals of Easton under- 

 lie the Ashton ' Little Yein ' is incorrect. 



The considerations which led to the exploratory work are of some 

 interest, and are briefly as follows : — For many years, practical 

 miners and others held that a close relationship existed, between 

 the seams worked at the Easton and Penny well Collieries on the 

 north-west side of Bristol, and those at Ashton Yale. At the Easton 

 Pit, the following seams were met with, in descending order : — 



Thickness in feet inches, 

 Little Firey Yein. 

 Strata. 

 Great Firey Vein. 



Strata ....'. 174 



Easton Eed Ash Yein 1 4 



Strata 170 



Easton Gay's Vein 1 8 



Strata 140 



Easton and Pennywell Ten- Foot Seam 10 



Strata 80 



Easton and Pennywell Five Coals. 



Strata 150 to 200 



Kingswood New Great Mine 4 



Of these, the < Little Firey,' ' Great Firey,' and Easton ' Eed 

 Ash ' Veins were correlated with the Ashton ' Top,' ' Great/ and 

 ' Little ' Veins respectively. Had this relationship been correct, 

 it is evident that the valuable Easton and Pennywell Ten-Foot 

 seam, the ' Five ' Coals, and the Kingswood ' New Great ' Mine 

 still remained to be opened up. 



This view was put forward by Handel Cossham, in a paper read 

 before the students of the Bristol Mining School, and afterwards 

 published in Keene's ' Bath Journal 7 of October 28th, 1876. By 

 Cossham, who had a long experience and great practical know- 

 ledge of the Bristol Coalfield, the ' Great Vein ' of Bedminster and 

 that of the Ashton ' South Liberty ' pit were correlated with the 

 Kingswood ' Great Vein ' ; and he drew attention to the fact that 

 although separated by a distance of only some 2 or 3 miles, yet 

 there existed a difference of about 12 inches in thickness, the 

 ' Great Yein ' of Kingswood being 5 feet thick, and that of the 

 Bedminster and Ashton districts from 3J to 4 feet thick. The 

 correlation of the Kingswood ' Great Vein ' with that of Bedminster 

 is probably correct; but John Anstie 1 had, three years earlier, 

 separated the Bedminster ' Great Vein ' from that of Ashton, 

 placing the latter below the former. That his conclusion was 

 correct is proved by the section of Erayne's Pit, a few hundred 

 yards only from that of Ashton Vale. Here the Bedminster ' Great 

 Vein ' was proved at 105 yards from the surface, the ' Toad Vein ' 



i < 



Coalfields of Gloucestershire & Somersetshire ' 1873, p. 48 & table i. 



