CHAPTER XXXV. 



ON THE DUDLEY OR SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE AND WORCESTER- 

 SHIRE COAL-FIELD. 



Introduction. — General arrangement of the Coal-field. — Account of the Formations 

 in descending order. — Lower New Red Sandstone. — Volcanic Grit or Tufa- 

 ceous Conglomerate. — Coal Measures, including the Upper and 10 yard Coal, 

 and the Lower or Ironstone Measures. — Shaft Sections. (VI. 37. figs. 1 to 5.) 



ALTHOUGH replete with scientific interest from the variety of its rocks and the dislo- 

 cations of the strata, this highly productive coal-field has received little attention from 

 geologists; a circumstance the more remarkable, when we consider that it supplies Bir- 

 mingham, one of the greatest seats of manufacturing industry in Great Britain, with coal 

 and iron. The apparent neglect may, however, he partly explained, by the most valuable 

 portion of the tract having been so well described by Mr. Keir 1 , that, notwithstanding 

 the long period since its publication 2 , his sketch is still, in many respects, considered a 

 good general view of the coal-bearing strata. The notices concerning the tract which 

 have since appeared are, indeed, little beyond slight additions to the memoir of Mr. Keir, 

 for none of them have attempted to offer more extended views, by explaining the 

 relations of the rocks associated with the coal. In short, no endeavour has been made 

 to point out the position and age of the red sandstone which surrounds the coal-field, 

 nor to indicate the succession of the older strata beneath it. 



The following sketch, I trust, will show the true nature of these formations, though 

 it is far from being a complete history of the coal-field. On the contrary, I venture to 

 propose it as a foundation only, on which, if it be sound, future geologists may build, 



1 See Shaw's History of Staffordshire, General History, p. 116. 



2 We must exempt from this observation " A sketch of the country round Birmingham," by Dr. Thomson, 

 (Annals of Philosophy, vol. viii. p. 164.) in which the author makes some good original observations, and draws 

 accurate lithological distinctions, though he does not enter into the question concerning the older rocks, and, 

 in our opinion, misconceives the relations of the red sandstone to the coal-field. This sketch of Dr. Thomson 

 is quoted in the Outlines of the Geology of England and Wales, p. 411. Several interesting points are also 

 touched upon by the Rev. J. Yates in a memoir in the Transactions of the Geological Society. These will 

 be alluded to in the sequel. 



3 m 2 



