Aug., 1889. 
THE BATH OOLITE. 
189 
direction that the block of stone which lies between the two 
cuts is narrower by about 6in. at the back than at the front. 
It is cut into this wedge shape so as to be more readily drawn 
out at the face of the rock by means of the crane. Wedges 
are now driven into the natural parting at the bottom of this 
taper piece of stone, until the stone is burst off at the back. 
It is then, sometimes by means of crowbars, prized forward 
sufficiently to admit of a chain being passed round the wide 
end of it, or more frequently, and as was the case with the 
block quarried in our presence, a lewis is inserted in the front 
of it. In either case the chain is attached to the crane, and 
the first piece of stone is thus drawn out from its position, 
and loaded on a trolley for removal as before described, 
leaving a hole in the rock large enough for a man to get into. 
After the first block is out the work is easier. A man 
now goes to the far end of the hole, and, looking sideways, 
passes a saw into the groove, makes a vertical saw-cut down 
the back as well as down the remaining side ; thus the second 
piece of stone is detached on all sides as on the top, and 
easily drawn out from the rock. By a repetition of this pro¬ 
cess, and, of course, leaving sufficient pillars to carry the roof, 
the excavating of the upper beds is carried on to any extent. 
The lower beds are detached by sawing only, there being 
no difficulty in starting a saw-cut on any of the surfaces. 
No explosives are used, the stone being soft enough, especially 
before it is seasoned, for everything to be done with pick, 
saw, and wedge. The saws used have large teeth, and are of 
a shape specially adapted for the work they have to perform, 
and are somewhat peculiar in appearance, having a long 
strong handle set at right angles to the saw. 
The blocks of stone, as they are drawn out, are scappled 
to a proper shape, and all defective parts are removed. Each 
block is carefully inspected by at least two experienced fore¬ 
men. The absence of metallic ring on its being struck by a 
hammer indicates an internal flaw, which has to be looked to 
and got rid of by cutting a large block into a smaller or into two 
smaller ones. Finally, every block is measured, marked, and 
numbered, then drawn by horse or steam power to the quarry 
mouth, and run down the tramways to the railway station. 
To give some idea of the extent of these mines, we 
entered underground in Box Parish and emerged in Corsham 
Parish, having in the meantime traversed several miles of 
underground workings, occupying over two hours in doing so. 
Though the Oolitic rocks stretch right across England 
from Dorsetshire to Yorkshire, it must not be supposed that 
Bath freestone is to be got all through the series. Good 
