COAL UNDER SOUTH-EASTERN ENGLAND.
217
Cardiff, 9th November, 1895.
Dear Sir,—Since the date of my visit to the bore hole at Stutton on the
5th inst., I have read over all Mr. Whitaker's papers on the subject of boring
into and through the members of the Cretaceous formation in the South-East
of England ; I have carefully considered the appearance of the cores which were
obtained from the bottom of the Gault downwards, at Stutton ; and I have had
some of those samples of the cores which were apparently the most promising
broken up and subjected to a minute examination, to see if they contained any
fossils or traces of fossils, but without avail.
The rocks passed through consist for the most part of dense dark-
coloured clay-slate or slate-like shales, alternating here and there with thicker
or thinner bands of very hard, fine-grained, greyish-coloured sandstones, which
in some places resemble quartzite. The stratification is exceedingly obscure, and
the cleavage is indistinct. There are numerous fissures filled with thin sheets
of calcite, which appear to coincide with the planes of stratification, cleavage, or
faulting, as the case may be. These rocks have all the appearance of being of
greater geological age than the rocks of the Coal Measures. This circumstance,
considered by itself, would not be sufficient evidence that they are older, inasmuch
as rocks belonging to the Coal Measures, and even to younger formations,
are frequently found metamorphosed to such an extent as to be unrecognisable
as such. But when it is taken in conjunction with the fact that no traces of
anthracite, or coal, or plant remains, or fossils of any kind, have been met with
in boring through a thickness of over five hundred feet, I think if is quite con-
clusive.
Accordingly, I have no hesitation in recommending your Directors immediately
to discontinue boring operations at Stutton, as I am of opinion that the Palaeozoic
floor at this point consists of members of some older formation than the Coal
Measures, and possibly belonging to the Lower Silurian.
I am, dear Sir, yours faithfully,
W. Galloway.
While Professor Galloway was preparing his report, the Vivian
Boring Company, together with Mr. Graham, carried on a series of
experiments of a delicate nature in order to ascertain the "dip" of
the rock. This was done by means of specially made apparatus
constructed by Messrs. Ransomes and Rapier (Mr. R. C. Rapier
being the indefatigable Chairman of the Coal-boring Association),
and the information gained by Mr. Graham enables him to decide
that the dip is from North to South.
There being a general agreement of geological opinion that the
beds pierced by the Stutton boring are in all probability older than
Coal Measures, and Mr. Graham's observations having shown the
dip to be southerly, it became obvious that the next boring of the
series should be south, not north, of Stutton. Accordingly a site
for another boring was sought and obtained on the Essex side of
the Stour. We are informed by Mr. G. F. Mansell, the energetic
P