167 
S H R O P 
ing in the parishes of Barrow and Much Wenlock, on the 
west of the Severn, the boundary runs through those of 
Broseiey, Madeley, Little Wenlock, Wellington, Dawley, 
Shi final, and Lilleshall. In every part of this track coal is 
found at various depths, and of excellent quality, and the 
coal strata are found alternating with ironstone, sandstone, 
and various other matters. In Madeley parish, the strata dip 
towards the east, and near Wellington and Lilleshall to the 
north and north-east. On the east the coal district is bounded 
by a long broad range of sandstone, beginning north of 
Shiffnal, and accompanying the course of the Severn till it 
quits the county; and on the south and west it is bounded by 
limestone, and the basalt of the hill of Wrekin. The lime¬ 
stone on the south forms the northern extremity of a long 
range which passes Wenlock in a south-west direction to 
Hope Bowdlerhill, near Church Stretton, and from thence 
southwards to the neighbourhood of Ludlow. In this district, 
as in other coal fields, the continuity of the strata is often 
broken by fissures or dikes, on the one side of which the strata 
have been either raised greatly above, or sunk greatly below 
those on the other, with which they have been at one time in 
contact. The principal of these disruptions run nearly north¬ 
east and south-west. Two of them have thrown the strata 
on the east and west sides from 100 to 200 yards lower than 
they are in the middle; and it is in this middle district, which 
the convulsion has of course brought nearer to the surface, 
that by far the greatest part of the coal and ironstone have 
been found. The ironstone is not rich; but the abundance 
of coal and of limestone with which it is accompanied, 
renders the working of it, notwithstanding, an object of 
profit; and it is this conjunction with the ore of both the 
fuel and the flux, to extract the purer metal, that has rendered 
Colebrook Dale and the adjoining country the seat of the 
most extensive iron works in the kingdom, and which have 
proved the source of vast wealth to individuals, as well 
as the permanent support of a numerous population. In 
this coal field is a remarkable spring of petroleum or mineral 
tar, which has yielded a vast quantity of that substance 
but is now much diminished. The petroleum also ex¬ 
udes from the freestone rock at Pitchford, seven miles south- 
south-east of Shrewsbury, where the stone approaches the 
surface in many places. From this rock is extracted an oil, 
known by the name of Betton’s British oil. In this district 
is also a brine spring. Another bed of coal occurs near the 
north-west boundary of the county, extending parallel with 
the Welsh border, from the Dee southwards to the Severn. 
The coal in many parts of this track is wrought to a consi¬ 
derable extent, and besides its domestic use, is largely em¬ 
ployed in the limeworks of Chirk and Llanymynech. On 
the west this coal field is bounded, and rests on an irregular 
band of limestone, which in some places rises at least 500 
feet above the plain, and in others scarcely appears above the 
surface of the soil. In many parts, especially near Oswestry, 
it is in the state of perfect marble; and small quantities both 
of lead and copper have been found in it throughout. On 
the east the coal field is bounded by a ridge of freestone or 
sandstone, running from Ellesmere along the Perry, crossing 
the Severn, and terminating in the high grounds at Bicton 
and Onslow. To the east of this line, and the north of 
Shrewsbury and Newport, the whole county rests on an 
almost entire mass of red sandstone or freestone, which joins 
the sandstone on the east of the district of Colebrook Dale. 
A third considerable coal district is situated in the southern 
part of the county. The coal here, however, is not con¬ 
tained in one great field, but is disposed into various little 
beds or hollows, in each of which the strata dip, from the 
circumference downwards towards the centre, spreading out 
along the bottom and sides of the hollow or basin. These 
are mostly situated on the Brown Clee hill and the Titterston 
dee hill, which are the highest hills in Shropshire, and, par¬ 
ticularly the latter, have proved treasures to this part of the 
county. In the Brown Clee hill the coal lies in thin strata, 
and is only wrought by poor colliers on a small scale. On 
Titterston, the principal stratum is six feet thick; and here 
SHIRE. 
are six coal fields, of which the most extensive and valuable 
is the Cornbrook, extending a mile long, and half a mile 
broad; and next to this are the Newbury and Hillwork 
coal fields. In the other parts of the county, intermediate 
between the coal fields, the rocky masses that occur are 
chiefly sandstone, limestone, trap-roGks, and schistus; and 
the principal minerals which they contain are lead and cala¬ 
mine. From the Wrekin proceeds southwards across the Se¬ 
vern a range of trap mountains, consisting, besides the 
Wrekin, of the hills of Acton Bumel, Frodesley, the Lawley, 
Caer Caradoc, and Hope Bowdler hills. The vale in which 
Church Stretton is situated separates these mountains from a 
very singular mass of hills called the Longmyud, which ap¬ 
pear to be a kind of schistus. Between the road from 
Shrewsbury to Bishop’s Castle and the vale of Montgomery, 
rises a high rocky track, the most elevated peak of which is 
called the Stiperstones; and it is here that the lead mines of 
the county are situated. This metal is procured in consider¬ 
able quantity from various parts of the Stiperstones, but 
chiefly from the Hope and Snailbeach mines. The matrix of 
the ore is crystallised quartz, sulphate and carbonate of ba¬ 
rytes, and carbonate of lime. The ore is sulphuret of lead, 
carbonate of lead, red lead ore, and blende, which yields 
also calamine or zinc. The lead ore is reduced at Minsterley 
and other places near the mines. It is then sent by land 
carriage to Shrewsbury, and there shipped, together with the 
raw calamine, in the Severn barges, and sent down to 
Bristol. The sandstone, which occurs so extensively in this 
county, affords an excellent building stone: it is chiefly of 
the red kind, but occurs also in some places white, especially 
at Grinshill, where it has been quarried in great quantities for 
the bridges, churches, and other public buildings in Shrews¬ 
bury. In the lordship of Cardington is found a quartz and 
clay, the former of which is said to be superior tc that im¬ 
ported from Caermarthenshire for the Staffordshire potteries. 
Of the manufactures of Shropshire, the most extensive are 
the iron-works, which are carried on in different parts of the 
great coal and iron district east of Shrewsbury, chiefly at 
Ketley, Oaken-gates, and in Colebrook Dale, a romantic 
glen winding between two immense wooded hills. A cast 
iron-bridge thrown over the Severn here, and the first of 
the kind erected in the kingdom, forms, by its elegant ap¬ 
pearance a great ornament to this part of the county. In 
the Dale a work is carried on for obtaining coal-tar from the 
condensed smoke of the coal; and considerable potteries 
have also been established in this district. At Broseiey, 
garden pots and other vessels of a coarse fabric are made; 
and this place is also noted for the manufacture of excellent 
tobacco pipes. At Chaughley is a china manufacture of 
great excellence. At Coalport coloured china of all sorts is 
made, and also Queen’s or Wedgewood’s ware. Shropshire 
also contains several mills for dyeing woollen cloths, and 
some cotton and linen manufactories. The great commercial 
importance of Shrewsbury, at an earlier period of history, 
arose from its trade in Welsh cloth, which was brought 
hither by the manufacturers, and hence dispersed over the 
kingdom, and to many parts of the continent. But the 
Shrewsbury monopoly of this important article has ceased for 
more than 30 years. Other dealers found their way into the 
country where these goods are made; the Shrewsbury dra¬ 
pers were obliged to do the same; and there is no market for 
the commodity now held in the town; but it still retains a 
share in the business. The trade, manufactures, and even 
the agriculture of Shropshire, have been greatly advanced 
by its canals, which, though of late introduction, owing 
perhaps to the natural advantages which it enjoyed by means 
of the navigation of the Severn, have been carried here to a 
great extent. The Shropshire canal begins at Donnington 
Wood, and terminates at Coalport on the Severn, running 
through an extensive assemblage of coal and iron works. 
The Ketley canal, from the Oaken-gates to the iron-works at 
Ketley, joins the Shropshire canal. These two canals are 
distinguished by a peculiar feature, that of inclined planes, 
which were first introduced here on the Ketley canal, as a 
substitute 
