STAFFORDSHIRE. 513 
is remarkable for fertility, and is covered with perpetual 
verdure, the inundations of the river adding greatly to the 
natural productiveness of the soil. Irrigation has been much 
extended, with the most beneficial effects. The water mea¬ 
dows at Trentham, belonging to Lord Stafford, and at Betteley 
belonging to Mr Toilet, are upon a great scale. Stafford¬ 
shire can scarcely be reckoned a breeding district, yet many 
gentlemen and farmers breed a considerable number of 
cattle and sheep. Calves and hogs are kept on most farms. 
More cattle and sheep are reared within the county, than 
supplies its own consumption; and great numbers are sold 
to dealers for the markets of the metropolis. The cattle of 
of this couuty are generally of the long horned breed, the 
stock of which has been gradually improving for many 
years. The sheep are of various breeds, viz., the grey faced 
without horns; the black faced horned; the white faced 
without horns, &c. The old and new Leicester are particu¬ 
larly common on the pasture grounds, on different districts. 
Notwithstanding a vast quantity of trees have been cut down 
within the last 30 or 40 years, this county is still well stocked 
with wood of every description. The estate of Lord Bagot, 
in the neighbourhood of Abbot’s Bromley, contains several 
hundred acres of the finest and richest oaks perhaps in the 
kingdom. Next to this, for the value of its woods, is the 
estate of Chillington; and a variety of other plantations of 
valuable timber are scattered throughout the county. Of 
the wastes and unimproved lands of the county, the most 
extensive is in the southern part, Cannock heath. In the 
north are Morredge, Wetley moor, Stanton moor, and Hol- 
ington heath. Needwood forest, a track of 10,000 acres 
which abounds with beautiful and romantic scenery, and 
was at no long period a complete waste, has latel y been in 
great part inclosed and cultivated. 
The strata of coal may be fairly termed inexhaustible, 
as they have been ascertained to exist over a space of 50,000 
acres in extent; and in the southern part of the county the 
seams are in many places of the extraordinary thickness of 8 
10 and even 12 yards. The quantity already consumed 
since the earliest times, does not exceed a tenth part of the 
whole. The coal is in' general of excellent quality. The 
coal district extends in the southern part of the county, from 
Cannock heath, including a part of it, to near Stourbridge 
in length, and from Wolverhampton to Walsall in breadth. 
In the north of the county, coal occurs in several detached 
places; chiefly in the neighbourhood of Newcastle and the 
potteries, and in the neighbourhood of Cheadle and Dilhorn. 
A singular species, called the peacock coal, from the pris¬ 
matic colours it exhibits, is dug up in many places. It is to 
be regretted that there exists in this county the same want of 
economy in working this most necessary mineral, as in the 
other coal districts of England. The strata of iron ore 
are also very extensive, and they usually lie under, and 
alternate with the coal. They are particularly abun¬ 
dant, and of excellent quality, in the neighbourhood 
of Wednesbury, Tipton, Bilston, and Sedgeley; also 
west from Newcastle. Besides iron, both copper and lead 
ores exist in this country. The most important copper mine 
is that of Ecton hill, near Warslow, on the estate of the 
Duke of Devonshire; another is wrought at Mixon, in the 
neighbourhood of Leek. In Ecton hill there is also a 
considerable vein of lead, and another occurs not far from 
Stanton moor. The limestone of this county occurs in very 
great abundance. The hills of Sedgeley and Dudley Castle 
on the south, afford an inexhaustible supply; it is also found 
at Rushall and Hayhead, but above all on the north-east 
Moorlands, and along the banks of the upper parts of the 
Dove, where the greatest consumption could not lessen the 
quantity in any sensible degree. The lime-works on Caldon 
Low, and in the neighbourhood of the Weaver hills, are 
particularly extensive. Several of the tunnels of the canals 
pass through the limestone hills, and here vast caverns 
have been hollowed out, without removing the surface soil. 
Besides supplying the county, the lime is sent to various 
other places for mortar. It is also used extensively as a 
manure. In some places the limestone approaches to, and 
Vol. XXIII. No. 1587. 
passes into, marble, and in others it is chiefly composed of 
petrified marine animal remains. The marble is of various 
kinds. That species known by the name of ronce marble, 
is very abundant in Yelpersley Tor and the adjoining hills. 
It consists of a white and shining grit, streaked with red, 
and takes so good a polish, that it has frequently been used 
for chimney pieces and monuments. Grey marble is found 
in considerable plenty at Stansop and at Poke hill: not far 
from Bentley hill there is a good supply of a jet black 
colour, but so hard as not to be easily worked. When 
burnt it makes fine emery. Alabaster, which is a sulphate 
of lime, occurs in great abundance, particularly on the banks 
of the river Dove. It was formerly raised to a considerable 
extent, but at present few of the quarries are wrought. In 
some places it is so solid and compact of texture, as to be 
applied to the paving of churches, and to form tables, 
chimney-pieces, and grave stones. The coarser kind, when 
heated, becomes soft and brittle, and being pounded, forms 
a kind of stucco. Freestone of very good quality occurs 
in this county, and there are extensive quarries of it in 
different places. Bilstone affords a freestone of very fine 
grit, fit either for mouldings or building, and excellently 
adapted for grindstones of the finer sort. Gornal near 
Sedgeley has also plentiful quarries of a coarser and cheaper 
freestone, used for the same purposes as that of Bilstone. 
Tixall produces an excellent and durable building freestone, 
which is easily raised in blocks of almost any dimension ; 
and the same material is again found at Wrottesley, Brewood 
Park, Pendeford, and a great many other places. Clays of 
every description are abundant in this county, and form the 
principal material of its potteries. Potters’ clay of several 
sorts is found, particularly in the neighbourhood of New¬ 
castle, in which district the potteries are chiefly carried on. 
At Amblecot is a clay of a dark bluish colour, of which are 
made the best glass-house pots of any in England. Great 
quantities of it have been sent to different parts of the king¬ 
dom, and glass-houses have even on this account been 
erected in the neighbourhood. A blue clay at Darlaston, 
near Wednesbury, is sold to glovers to make an ash colour; 
and yellow and red ochre, for colouring and painting, are 
found here. In the beds of grey marble in Langley Close, 
a black chalk occurs,- and also a fine reddish earth under 
a rock near Himley Hall, which is little inferior to the red 
chalk of Frome. The manufactures of Staffordshire are 
various and extensive. Besides the iron foundries, blast 
furnaces, and slitting mills, and other branches of the iron 
trade, which, especially in the southern districts, employ 
great numbers of people, they consist chiefly of potters’ 
ware, glass, hardware articles, nails, toys, and japanned 
goods. The potteries of Staffordshire have acquired no 
small share of celebrity, from their vast extent, but more 
particularly from their perfection, and from the great im¬ 
provements which were introduced into the manufacture, 
by the inventive genius and indefatigable labours of Mr. 
Wedgwood. It occupies an extent of about 10 square miles, 
and contains a number of populous towns, in which the 
works are carried on, chiefly in the parishes of Burslem and 
Stoke. In this district the soil contains, in almost every 
part, a great variety of clays, covering strata of coal, rich, 
productive, and easily worked. Between them are other 
strata of clays, most of which form excellent fire bricks, 
for the construction of kilns and furnaces; and in particular 
there is a species of clay called Sagger clay, which is almost 
peculiar to this district, and is invaluable to the earthen-ware 
manufactory, as it has the property of bearing an intense 
degree of heat; and is therefore made into vessels, called 
Saggers, in which the ware is placed in the ovens, in order to 
be hardened. From these natural advantages, the pottery 
business was early begun here, and the existence of some 
kind of earthen-ware manufactory can be traced at least two 
centuries back. This was of the very coarsest kind; but 
in 1690, a material improvement was introduced by two 
ingenious foreigners of the name of Elers. This was a new 
species of glaze, formed by throwing into the kiln a quantity 
of common salt; and the inhabitants of Burslem and the 
6 P adjacent 
