QUARRY. 



the quarries into the more level parts ef the ground, though 

 this mjthod is foiiiL-timcs praftifcd. The mutters are com- 

 monly raifed iiniply by digging and fpades ; and thrown 

 into the carts, in many cafes, from the quarries and pits 

 themfelves. Numerous quarries and pits of this nature 

 exill and are wrought to a very grreat extent in the neigh- 

 bourhoods of the metropohs, and moil other large towns, 

 all over the kingdom, for the purpofe of falc for various 

 domeftic ufcs. 



In the gravelly kinds, thofe quarries which abound with 

 the fliarp, coarfe, flinty, and pebbly forts, are the moll 

 proper and beneficial for the making and repairing of all 

 forts of roads and carriage-ways. They are occafionally 

 formed by working into banks and ileep places, but more 

 frequently by openings in the plain furtacc. Their depth 

 is fometimes coniiderable, the materials being raifed after 

 being fcreened, the work, of courfe, very laborious and 

 troublefome. In other cafes, the carts are filled from the 

 quarries or pits without much difficulty or trouble. 



Quarries of clay-llone, llone-tiles, Icythe-llones, and fome 

 other forts, are found of good qualities in ditltrcnt dillrifts. 

 In Gloucellerlhire they have quarries of blue clay-ftone at 

 different depths, lying in beds of the fame coloured clay, 

 difpofed in layers of from four to ten inches in thicknefs. 

 The ilone in new quarries is eilimated by the effeAs which 

 the atmofphere has upon it from fome expofure. The 

 beft fort is a very ufeful material for feveral purpofes. 

 Quarries onione-tiles principally exill, and thofe articles are 

 raifed from them, in different part of the Cotfwolds. The 

 bell are prepared about Miferdine, Beverllone, Charlton, and 

 Hampton-field, the colour of which are yellow or grey ; 

 but another fort, which is red grit, is dug up about Iron 

 Afton, and fome other places, but which is Icfs valuable. 



There are quarries of fcythe-ilones in many parts ot Lan- 

 cafhire, but the bell are obtained from thofe about Rain- 

 ford, where they are well wrought and prepared for ule. 

 In feveral other diftriiils, quarries of diflerenl kinds of 

 whetting-llones likewife exill, and are wrought to ad- 

 vantage. 



Ochres of different kinds are met with in difF>.rent places 

 in quarries formed for the purpole of raifing them. In 

 the county of Devon, formerly large quantities of various 

 fhades between red and yellow, were railed and manufac- 

 tured in thofe about Eall-down. Umber, in the parilh of 

 Combemartin, exifls in a pretty large body. The work- 

 ing and preparing of thefe are, liowever, now much leis at- 

 tended to than heretofore. 



In SufTex there are quarries of red ochre about Graff- 

 ham, and in various places contiguous to the fea, as near 

 Chidham, Sec, v\'here much is railed, prepared, and fent to 

 London. Ochre quarries alfo exill in many counties 

 more to the middle and north of the kingdom, from 

 which great quantities of this fubftance are procured and 

 prepared for ufe in different forts of arts and manufadlures. 



Quarries of plumbago, or black lead, are likewife occa- 

 fionally found and wrought, in different fit nations, in dif- 

 ferent diHritls of the country. This fubilance has been 

 met with and raifed near the borders of the Bovey river, 

 in Devonlhire, in fome quantity, and prepared to be fent to 

 Exeter for fale. Quarries of black lead are alfo found and 

 wrought in Borrowdale, in Cumberland, near to the town 

 of Kefwick, to fome advantage. And they exill in lome 

 of the middle trafts of the ifland, affording great benefit 

 to the proprietors of them. In the county of Invernefs, 

 there are fome appearances of black or pencil lead about 

 Glengary, but they have not yet been turned to any ufeful 

 account. 



In fome dillricln, in the middle parts of the country, 

 quarries of calamine, or lapis calaiii'tii'iris, are met wltli, and 

 much of this fubilance raifed from them to great profit. 

 It abounds in the Mendip-hilh;, in Somerf-tlh''e, about 

 Rovvbarrow, Shiph.-.ni, Wnifcomb, and on Broadlii Id- 

 down, &e. It is fometimes found within a yard of the 

 furface, and feldom wrought deep"r than thirty fathoms. 

 In iomc places its quality is excellent. It ig prefent in 

 other neighbouring mountainous trails, and raifed with equal 

 advantage. 



Quarries of gypfum prefent themfelves in many different 

 ])arts, and are wrought in fome with coiifiderable benefit . 

 Ill the county of Devon, it lies between flrata of red Ilone, 

 marie, and chalk rubble, about Salcombe, Branfcombe, and 

 Beer, being ufeful for various purpofes. Glouccllerlhire 

 and Derbylhire have quarries of this nature, where there 

 are fine beds of it. Tliofe of Aull Cliff in the former, 

 have it not fo good, however, as that which is met with 

 in the latter county. In Nottinghamfhire it is of an ex- 

 cellent quality, efpecially that got near Newark and at Red- 

 hill. Cheihire has lome, but not turned to much account. 

 Weftmoreland and Cumberland have good quarries of it, 

 in fome places, where a great deal is gotten up, and made 

 ufe of. And it abounds in different parts of the county ot 

 York, where it is raifed to advantage. 



Marie is an article that is met with in pits and quarries in 

 a variety of different fituations, and of feveral different 

 kinds and qualities. It is found and dug up for ufe in many 

 places in Suifex, and the counties more to the centre of 

 the country ; but it prevails in the greatell plenty in the 

 county of L,ancaller and fome others, in which it is raifed 

 or worked out from large openings on the fides of hills, 

 high banks, or in the plain furface, and fet thickly upon 

 the land. The getting or digging of the material out of 

 fueh places, is ufually performed by means ot llrong iron 

 mattocks, crows, fpades, and wooden fpiles ; large pieces 

 being in iome cafes forced dovi n, not without danger to 

 tlie workmen, by driving in the fpiles or piles from above. 

 This method is called ya///«^. The work is extremely fe- 

 vere, and commonly done by the rod. The large clods thus 

 forced down, break into fmall pieces, and are then filled into 

 carts for the purpofe. 



Shell-marle, though it is not much attended to in any part 

 of England, is frequently met with and dug up from va- 

 rious parts of Scotland, and employed on the land in great 

 quantities, with much fuccefs. The pits and quarries of this 

 fort are commonly wrought with much more facility than 

 thofe of the others. 



Pipe, and other kinds of fine clays, are dug and raifed 

 from a fort of pits or quarries, in large quantities, in many 

 different counties. Near Wear Giffard, in Devonfhire, much 

 of the firll (brt is dug and fent coaftways, though not in 

 fueh quantities as formerly. Brown potter's-clay is alfo 

 raifed and fent away in great abundance from the neigh- 

 bouihood of Fremington. Thefe forts of clays are like- 

 wife found in much abundance in Berkfhire, and Hill more 

 fully in fome of the midland dillritls, where the pits of them 

 are wrought to a vail extent. They are articles of great 

 importance and utility in feveral forts of manufaftures, and 

 for which there is great demand in many inftances. 



Alum earth is a kind of llratificd matter, which is met 

 with and raifed from pits and quarries in a number of differ- 

 ent fituations, and various parts of the kingdom. In fome 

 thev are wrought to very confiderable extents and advan- 

 tages, but in others iu far lefs degrees, and with much lefs 

 fuccefs. 



The ftrata oi this earth are dug and got up in different 



manners 



