THE GEOLOGIST 
JUNE, 1858. 
THE IRONSTONE FORMATION OF THE FOREST OF DEAN; 
WITH A SKETCH OF THE GENERAL GEOLOGY AND 
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY OF THE DISTRICT. 
By Dr. J. W. Watson, F.G.S. 
It is an old remark, that much of the prosperity attending the manu- 
facture of iron in Great Britain has resulted from the circumstance that 
the ore, the fuel, and the flux are mostly associated minerals in the 
same locality ; and, although this is typically true as regards the 
mineral basin which forms the subject of the present article, it is some- 
what curious that, in all probability, the discovery of the fuel in this 
instance dates much posteriorly to the employment of the ore, so that 
iron-making had become an active branch of industry in this district 
long prior to any of the numerous scams of coal being worked ; and, 
what is equally likely, before even their existence was known. If we 
Idok into any of the early histories of Gloucestershire, we find that, 
while abundant mention is made of the iron-mines and the smelting 
furnaces, no notice whatever is afforded of the coal, fully warranting 
the supposition that the discovery of the deposits had not then been 
made. It will, perhaps, form an interesting preface to this paper, if, 
in connection with this latter circumstance, before entering upon the 
geological and lithological features of the ironstone formations, which 
are special and of the greatest interest, I give a sketch of the commer- 
cial history of the locality, past and present. 
In tracing the progress made in the metallurgy of iron in this coun- 
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