QUARRY. 



coal is of the firfl cjuality, being- pure and durable in burn- 

 ing, and from its iirmnefs, largencfs, and (Irength of grain, 

 capable of being conveyed to any diftancc without injury. 

 At prefent the quantity raifed in thefe pits, is from fifteen 

 liundrcd to two thoufand tons weekly, but much greater 

 fupplies could be afforded, if they were wanted. The works 

 are twenty-fix in number, feme of which afford a good 

 profit. 



Ttie pits in the fouthern part are upon a more limited fcale 

 of work. In them the flrata of coal form an inclination of 

 the plane of from eighteen to thirty inches in the yard ; but 

 in fome it is deitroyed, and they defcend in a perpendicular 

 manner. There are, in number, twenty-five, wliich are in 

 thicknefs from fix inches to feven feet, being rarely wrought 

 under eighteen inches. The depth of working is middling, 

 but will be inereafcd. The quality of the coal not the belt, 

 but tolerably good. Tlie quantity now raifed from thefe 

 pits is from eight hundred to a thoufand tons in the week, 

 which might be eafily extended. The working profits are 

 by no means great. , There are pits in other parts, but they 

 arc not many, or much wrought. 



Againft the apprehenfion of pits of this nature being ex- 

 haufted or worn out in thefe places, it is contended that 

 more than treble the prefent quantity is capable of being 

 raifed from the works already carried on, and that this in- 

 creafed quantity might be fupplied for feveral hundred years 

 to come. 



The works and quantities of coals contained in the 

 counties of Stafford, Derby, and Nottingham, are likevvife 

 very great, and mofl:ly of good kinds ; pits of them bemg 

 carried on in many places to vafl extent. 



Chefhire, too, is a coal dillrift, in which a great v.ariety 

 of works for raifing it are eltabhihed in different parts, and 

 much of it, which is of a very good quality, gotten up. 

 The ftrata of coal here in many cafes are feveral feet in 

 thicknefs ; about Wii-rall the feam is five or fix feet thick, 

 and the works extenfive under the channel of the Dee. In 

 fome works the beds of coal lie at the depth of from fcventy 

 to one hundred yards below the furface of the ground, and 

 are of different thicknefles to ten feet or more. 



In Lancafhire, coal of good forts is moil abundant. The 

 beds of it run acrofs the county in fomewhat three different 

 parts, as towards the fouth, nearly in the middle, and on 

 the north-eaft part. Thofe in the two firfl arc of confi- 

 derable breadths and thicknelFes in different parts, but the 

 third is much lefs broad and very thin in many places. They 

 all run, in fome degree, from the north-eaft to the fouth- 

 weft, conftantly keeping fomewhat the fame direttion, 

 though occafionally branching out in a lateral manner to 

 fome extent. The works on each of thefe different lines of 

 coal ftrata, efpecially the two moll towards the fouth, are 

 very numerous, and, in different inilances, of very confi- 

 derable extent. There are fome alfo eilablifii.^d on the 

 northern Ime, but they are of a far more limited nature. 

 The layers or ftrata of the coals are of various widths, from 

 a few yards to a very great dillance, and their depths or 

 thickneffes from a few inches to fix or feven feet. They lie 

 at very different depths from the furface of the earth, ac- 

 cording to circumftances and fituation ; on the eallern fide 

 of the county they fometimes nearly appear on the top of 

 the ground, while in the middle, and towards the fouth- 

 weft, they are often a confiderable number of yards deep. 

 All about moft of the large towns in the fouthern parts of 

 the dillnft very extenfive works are ellabliflied, where im- 

 menfe quantities of coals are raifed for home ufe, as well as 

 being fent coaftways, and, in fome cafes, for exportation. 

 They are a fort of material which is of vaft importance to 



the manufafturing ftate of the county, and which contri- 

 butes greatly to its profpcrity. The quantity is fo greatj 

 when confidered as a whole, that they would feem to be al- 

 moft inexhauftible. 



The canncl coal, which is a fort that has fome refemblance 

 to fine black marble, is principally found and raifed in the 

 tradl about Haigh, near Wigan, which is not more than a 

 few miles fquare. It lies in pretty thick llrata, at the depth 

 of from five to feven or eight yards from the furface. It is 

 of a very fine, hard, inflammable quality, being got up by 

 fliarp picks, often with confiderable labour, and for which 

 there is much demand, for domeftic ufe, in the neighbour- 

 hood. 



Coals alfo abound in the neighbouring counties of Cum- 

 berland and Northumberland, bring found in many parts of 

 the eallern mountains, and, with not many exceptions, all 

 along the tracl, which extends in different degrees of 

 breadth, from Sebergham to Whitehaven, and along the 

 coalt to Maryport, forming and comprehending a diftridl of 

 about one hundred fquare miles, in the former. And they are 

 met with in great plenty throughout the greateil part of the 

 latter county, particularly in the lower diftritt, of it; being 

 of the beft quality, and the moft numerous, and thickeft 

 feams, in the fouth-eaft quarter ; whence thofe vail quanti- 

 ties are exported which fupply the great confumption of the 

 London market, as well as the coalling and foreign trade. 

 A trade which is the foundation of the commerce of the, 

 country, and the principal fource of its wealth, as well as a 

 never failing nurfery for fom.e of the beft feamen of the 

 ' Britilh navy. The former county has likewife works which 

 fupply prodigious quantities, both for home confumption 

 and the coaftways and export trade. Cannel coal is alfo 

 raifed in this diilrift in pretty large fupplies in the neigh- 

 bourhoods of Caldbeck and Bolton. 



Large portions of this article are likewife raifed from the 

 works in the county of Durham, which in fome parts are 

 carried on with much fpirit and enterprize. 



Coals are found, and raifed in full fupplies, in many- 

 places, in moft of the counties of Scotland, fo far as Perth- 

 Ihire ; but they have not been met with any farther towards 

 the north in any fufficient quantities. Where they exift, to 

 any extent, in thefe fituations, they are generally of good 

 kinds, and capable of being got up without any great dif- 

 ficulty, feldom lying at any very great depth below the 

 furface. 



It has been contended by fome, that the coals in the 

 pits and other places, in this country, are inexhauftible, 

 while others maintain the contrary to be the cafe ; as the 

 matter relates to the county of Northumberland, we have 

 the following calculations, on the authority of the writers 

 of the Agricuhural Report of that diftrift. And they 

 may perhaps equally apply to others. It is fuppofed, that 

 towards elucidating this point, it may be of fome ufe to 

 eftimate what number of acres are wrought yearly in the 

 county to fupply the neceffary confumption. In order to 

 accomplilh this objeft, the thicknefs and number of work- 

 able feams of coal muft be firft afcertained ; for which pur- 

 pofe they have been favoured with fedliona, exhibiting the 

 thicknefs and depth of the various ftrata, in fome of the 

 deepeft pits in the county, one of which has a depth of two 

 hundred and feven yards, with fixteen feams of coals ; the 

 other a depth of two hundred and forty yards, with fifteen 

 feams ; confequently, if the medium be taken betwixt the 

 two, it will be nearly fix yards thick of workable coal ; 

 from which may be formed, it is thought, a calculation of 

 the quantity of coal in an acre of ground, fuppofing the ag- 

 gregate thicknefs of the various feams amount to fix yards. 



An 



