150 COAL UNDER SOUTH-EASTERN ENGLAND.
basin, if any, may be out at sea. But Bradfield, about half way between Col-
chester and Harwich, is an excellent spot for testing the question whether
available Coal Measures exist near the Lower Carboniferous rocks of Harwich
In the area of earthquake damage between Colchester and Mersea Island, I
should anticipate that Palaeozoic rocks, older than either Lower Carboniferous or
Coal Measures, would probably be met with at a less depth than at Harwich or
Bradfield. But, as I have already remarked, I should not expect to find Coal
Measures specially near the surface, for Palaeozoic rocks, but quite the reverse.
" In short, in endeavouring to ascertain the whereabouts of coal-basins—if any—
in the Eastern Counties, it seems to me that we cannot have a better place for a first
boring than a spot where we are six or seven miles only from a place (Harwich) where
Lower rocks of the same series have been met with, especially as Harwich is the only
place in the Eastern Counties where they (the Lower rocks) have been found."
Addendum.—It is but right to add that the general concurrence
of opinion in favour of a site near Harwich for an experimental
boring is combatted by Mr. W. H. Dalton, F.G.S., who was the
geological adviser for the Culford boring, and whose opinion is
undoubtedly entitled to considerable weight. In a letter dated
December 12th, 1892, Mr. Dalton thus states his view of the
matter :—
" Allow me briefly to indicate the position of this most important question.
We have beneath us, at from 500 to 1,500 feet below the sea level, a region of
rocks classed as Palaeozoic, divided into Silurian slates, Devonian shales, and (let
us hope) Carboniferous Limestone and Coal Measures. These are hidden by the
Chalk and London Clay, and but few borings have penetrated to the ancient
series. In Woolwich Marshes, in London, and at Cheshunt, Devonian beds have
been found, and at Ware, Silurian. At Culford, near Bury, and at Harwich the
rock found is regarded as Carboniferous by some, as Silurian by others. I hold
the latter view, and think that but for the commercial glamour attaching to the word
Carboniferous,7 that age would not have been suggested by the samples obtained,
and which no authority of weight has decisively pronounced to be Carboniferous.
Seeking further evidence, we find that in Leicestershire and Warwickshire and
near Boulogne the tendency of these old rocks is to occur in belts or streaks of a
north-west trend, and for a dozen years past I have maintained that this trend is
continuous under Essex, in opposition to the orthodox theory of an east and west
course, which has no facts in its favour and many against it. The bearing of this
on Essex is that the possible Coal Measure area of the county lies between the
Silurian ranges of Ware and Culford-Harwich, and trial borings should be as
central as may be in the intervening space. I trust no funds are being or will be
wasted in further boring at or near Culford or Harwich. Geologists, of course,
are glad of any boring yielding interesting facts, but if the result be fuel, other
research is guaranteed, while if only useless rock be struck, investigators will be
discouraged. Therefore, the most likely point for Coal Measures, and not any
spot whose owner may be willing to permit boring, should be selected."
7 Inasmuch as a Carboniferous fossil was found in the Harwich boring, Mr. Dalton must
surely intend this remark to apply to the Culford boring only.—Ed.