GEOLOGY 



As a whole it covers a tract ot country thirty-two miles long from east to west, and averaging 

 six miles in breadth.' To the north it runs out upon the Lower Coal Measures, to the south it dips 

 under a narrow band of Permian sandstones and marls, the whole being faulted down beneath the 

 Trias of the Cheshire plain, which extends into the margin of the coalfield in a few broad 

 triangular tongues. To the east, as to the north, the measures run out upon the Lower Series, 

 whilst to the west they are faulted down to a great depth under the Trias, which here forms a low, 

 flat maritime plain. 



Although it would thus appear that the coalfield is compact, yet faulting and denudation 

 have been so extensive that no complete correlation of the coal seams has yet been established. 



Whilst also some of the seams are fairly persistent, others thin or swell out, whilst hundreds of 

 feet of shale in one place are represented by a few feet of sandstone in another. 



It is possible that some of the thicker and more valuable coals are persistent over a great part of 

 the coalfield, being known under different names in different districts, and altering somewhat in their 

 character. The extreme east of the coalfield we may define as the 



(A) OLDHAM AND DUKINFIELD AREA 

 The best general section is that given by Professor Hull ^ and reproduced here. 



Coal Series of Oldham and Middleton 

 Bardsley Colliery 



Ft. In. 



Ft. 

 45 



I 



' Bardsley Rock ' Sandstone . . 



Shale 



Stubb's Mine (Coal) .... 



Metal (Shale) 25 



Fairbottom Mine 2 



Shale, with three thin seams of coal 76 

 Park Mine (coal, with parting of clay) 3 



Shale29ft.,Foxhole'srock79ft.8in. 108 



Foxhole's Mine 2 



Soft Metal 32 



Cannel i 



Strata, principally shales, with a 



coal seam 16 inches . . . 187 



Hathershaw Mine 2 



Shale, with two seams of coal . . 51 

 Rock and rock bands, with water 



(Chamber rock) 88 



Shale and sandstone 38 



Nield or Upper Chamber Mine 



(sometimes absent) . 

 Shale and Sandstone .... 

 Lower Chamber Mine : 



Coal, I ft. 5 in 



Dirt, o ft. 4 in 



Coal, I ft. 2 in 



Dirt, o ft. 8 in 



Coal, o ft. 8 in 



2 

 54 



Ins. 

 6 



7 

 5 

 6 

 o 

 6 

 6 

 8 



4 

 6 

 6 



2 

 o 



6 

 3 



o 

 6 



76 



33 

 2 



66 



Blenfire Coal : 



Coal and cannel, i ft. 11 in. . 



Dirt, o ft, 6 in. (very variable) 



Coal, o ft. 1 1 in. . . 



Dirt, o ft. II in. . . 



Coal, o ft. 9 in. . . 

 Sandy Shale and shale 

 Great Mine : 



Top coal, I ft. 1 1 in. . 



Clay, o ft. 5 in. . . . 



Coal, 3 ft. 6 in. . . . 



Clay, o ft. I J in. . . 



Bottom coal, 4 ft. o in. 

 Sandstone with shale, with shells . 



Little Coal 



Sandstone and shale with fish remains 

 Black Mine (the best seam in the 



district) 4 



Shales, sometimes strong with two 



coal seams 117 



Stone Mine ; 



Top coal, o ft. II in. . . . | 



Stone, I ft. 2 in. (roof dark stone ') ) 3 



Bottom coal, i ft. 3 in. . . ) 

 Soapstone (sandy shale), with a band 



of white rock 



Upper Bent Mine 



Hard Soapstone, with ferns . . . 



Lower Bent Mine 



Strata 



HoUingworth Coal 



Strata 234 



Neddy Mine 2 



Strata, with several thin coals, about 441 

 Roy ley Mine (with a parting of shale) 4 



21 

 2 



29 

 2 



37 

 I 



IDs 



4 

 2 

 8 

 8 

 6 

 6 

 o 

 6 

 o 

 o 



Glodwkk Colliery 



Shale and bands of sandstone . . 66 c 

 Red sandstone, with plants (Blenfire 



Rock) 146 9 



The two sections are practically continuous, the interval between the base of the Bardsley 

 Colliery section and the Blenfire rock of Glodwick being occupiedby a series of shales and sandstones. 



1 Hull's Coalfields of Great Britain, ed. 4 (1881), p. 197. 



2 'Geology of the Country around Oldham,' Mem. Geol. Survey, p. 24, 1864. 



15 



