49 
In the Whitwood division the Stanley Main is reached at 
Whitwood Collieries at 70 yards; West-Riding Collieries at 
79 yards ; Sharlston Collieries at 334 yards ; Bateson’s 
Collieries at 84 yards, while at the Castleford Bore Hole the 
same bed is reached at a depth of 96 yards. 
Similarly in the Merefield division, at Snydale, on the 
estate of Mr. Torre, at 175 yards; at Flass Hole at 127 
yards ; Victoria Colliery of Messrs. Rhodes and Dalby, at 
225 yards; at Mere Field (Glass Houghton), at 170 yards; 
and at Wheldale Colliery at 115 yards. 
And in the Pontefract division, at the colliery of Messrs. 
Shaw and Son, the Stanley Main is reached at 250 yards ; 
while Messrs. Rhodes and Dalby hope to strike this seam of 
coal at Abbot’s Close, near Pontefract Park, at 184 yards. 
It is open to discussion as to whether these Stanley Main 
beds lie very conformable in these divisions of the coal field, 
as the depth at which they are reached varies so greatly, and 
at such comparatively short distances from the different 
collieries. But the depths to the Haigh Moor and deeper 
seams of coal suggest a more uniform degree of conformity 
to perhaps within a few yards, the beds thickening and 
improving in quality towards the S.E. On the Stanley Hall 
estate, the Haigh Moor coal is reached at 287 yards below 
the surface; at the West-Riding Colliery, at 232 yards; at 
the Hew Park, Alverthorpe, at 132 yards ; at the Wheldale 
Colliery, at 285 yards ; at Mere Field Colliery, at Glass 
Houghton, at 347 yards. This magnificent bed of coal is 
here for use, and fit for any domestic purpose whatever ; the 
solid coal being four feet seven inches in thickness. This 
seam lies either level or, which is more probable, follows the 
dip of the Wheatworth bed above it, which is S.E. by S. 
The coal measures here yield fine specimens of Stigmaria 
Fucoides and Catamites. 
I think that if a line was projected from Mere Field, 
4 
