9 
THE MODE OF DEPOSITION AND PROPERTIES OF THE CARBONIFEROUS 
STRATA OF LEEDS AND ITS IMMEDIATE SUBURBS. 
BY BEN J. HOLGATE, F.G.S. 
It is well known that Leeds stands in an enviable position as regards 
its minerals, and owes its prosperity in a great measure to them. 
It is situated on the northern edge of the Yorkshire Coalfield, 
and consequently on the Lower Coal Measures, it is rich in coarse 
and fine-grained sandstones. Some of these are of the greatest 
durability when exposed to weather and other decaying influences, 
and are used for building and monumental purposes. Others are 
suitable for grindstones, the grains of silex not being so firmly bound 
together. These various kinds of stone are obtained on the north 
and east, within the Borough, and are well known to architects, 
engineers, and builders throughout the United Kingdom. The 
coals, of which there are no less than five good workable seams 
dealt with here, besides numerous others in the overlying strata, 
embrace almost every variety, and are used for every purpose to 
which coals are put. Firebricks and pottery made from the clays 
are exported to numerous foreign ports. 
The carboniferous strata between the coarse millstone grit and 
the fine Elland flagstone, both alluded to above, have thinned out to 
the north of the town, and though the ganister measures and their 
included coals are all present, they are much thinner than in the 
districts to the south-west, in the neighbourhood of Halifax. The 
strata have an almost uniform dip towards the south-east, and 
have not been contorted notwithstanding their great age, although 
faults are numerous. Almost every cubic foot of the strata of 
the coal measures is made use of, the stones for building purposes, 
the coals for generating heat, the ironstone for making iron, the 
fireclays for making firebricks to withstand high temperatures, 
terra cotta and faience ware, the inferior fireclay for coarse pottery, 
and the remainder, consisting of black shale, blue bind, brown and 
grey binds, and soft stones, are used for making the ordinary 
common and pressed bricks, of which Leeds is principally built. 
B 
