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CHAPTER XI. 
GREAT OOLITE SERIES. 
GREAT OOLITE AND STONESFIELD SLATE 
(LocAL DETAILS continued). 
STONESFIELD SLATE. 
No place is richer in geological associations than Stonesfield. 
Its very name savours of the earth's crust, and indeed the ground 
has yielded, since the Roman occupation at any rate, the shelly 
and oolitic tilestones known as Stonesfield Slates, while the fossils 
have attracted attention for 200 years or more. Plot speaks of 
the " Flat-stone " of Stunsfleld, and the beds have been worked 
along the sides of the valleys to the south, south-west, and west 
of the village (south of Hillburn Farm). The open works, with 
levels driven into the hill-sides, having for the most part exhausted 
the accessible material, shafts have been sunk in and about the 
village to various depths, ranging from 20 to nearly 70 feet, 
according to the thickness of the overlying strata. The village 
itself, and the lands to the south and west, are therefore riddled 
with shafts and levels, and great heaps of waste material remain 
to attest the work that has been done. 
The " slates " are of three kinds ; brown calcareous sandstone, 
grey and slightly oolitic calcareous sandstone, and blue and grey 
oolitic limestone. The strata yielding these materials are of 
variable nature, usually from 2 to 3 feet in thickness, and not 
exceeding 6 feet; and from one to three layers, in different 
places, yield suitable stone, 
The only partially open working that I have seen, was situated 
at Red Hill, on the eastern side of the valley between Fawler 
and Hillburn Farm. Here the " slate" was exposed, although 
worked underground in the hill-side. The following section was 
shown :--- 
FT. IN. 
Alternations of oolitic limestone and marl - 3 
Marl with thin films of sandy limestone : Pecten vagans 
and RhyncJionella concinna - -60 
Roof Bed : grey oolitic and sandy limestone (that does 
not split, and is of no use) - - - - 2 
"i b ( Shaly bed - 6 
Stonesfield I Stone worked for " slate " grey sandy 
Beds. I and oolitic limestone - - 1 
I Shaly bed. 
The slate-mine (belonging to Mr. Barrett) on the eastern side 
of the village of Stonesfield is one of the deeper pits. The shaft is 
sunk 66 feet, and blocks of stone are raised with the aid of a wind- 
lass and of a stout rope, to which a plain wooden stage is affixed 
