Thomas Crump's account of mines in Chorley, c1800

A collection of manuscripts that describe the mines of Chorley and the surrounding area in the 18th and early 19th Centuries. They were written by Thomas Crump of Chorley.

Introduction

The Crump family had been living in Chorley since the 16th Century and became the largest landowners in the township. This manuscript seems to have largely written in 1799 by Thomas Crump. However, it appears he subsequently made additions to it, as it contains references to pits sunk after this date. Indeed, one plan shows a pit of 1825, the year after Thomas’s death. The original manuscript is lost, but in the late 19th Century, the geologist Daniel Jones transcribed a copy of Crump’s account into one of his notebooks; it is this that now survives. Crump drew several maps to illustrate his account. Jones’s copies lack some of the detail of Crump’s originals, but fortunately all the shafts that are mentioned are shown on these maps or can be located, at least approximately, by field work. Figure 1 above is a reconstruction of the mining landscape using a modern base map; the sketch maps below (Figures 2 and 3) are traced from Jones’s notebook.

Jones also includes notes on mining leases made in the locality and a few recollections of mining at Billingsley. The latter are interesting but need to be considered alongside the extensive documentation that survives as a result of the many legal cases that arose from the Billingsley mines. There are also plans and notes of mines sunk 1818-20 in the Ebleys in Chorley, probably by Crump.

Jones’s notebook is in the library of the British Geological Survey at Keyworth, Nottinghamshire. This page has a complete transcript. Comments in square brackets are editorial additions.

Some account of the Coalmines and Ironstone Mines at Chorley in the parish of Stottesdon and in the neighbourhood thereof. Collected from the best accounts that could be obtained and from thirty years observation by Thomas Crump of Chorley, 1799.

COPY OF AN OLD MS. IN THE POSSESSION OF THE REV. DUPRE RECTOR OF HIGHLEY
Lent me ( Daniel Jones ) by Mr.David Rose, Goldthorn Court, Wolverhampton, April 4th 1874.

I have been informed by my Grandfather Thomas Crump of Chorley who died in the year 1773 Aged 90 years that about the year 1707 he set a Lease of the Ironstone Mines in the Coppice of Common Heath for 21 years to the Proprietors of Old Willey Furnace near Broseley at £20 a year and the Ironstone mines were worked from near the lower corner of the Coppice towards the Scots Gate at the Brook, up by the side of the Scotts Coppice and the Ebleys and a considerable breadth to the northward to a place called Mins Garden in the midst of the Coppice, that the stone was good and lay true deepened but little Eastward and was of two or more veins and lay from 8 and 10 to 20 yards deep [Figure 2].

The Willey Company carried on the work for about 8 years only but paid the rent for 21 years. They carried the ore on horses to Willey Furnace. After the Willey Company left off (having discovered plenty of ore nearer their furnace) the mines were worked and the ore carried to Charlcot Furnace for 6 or 8 years and then the mining was discontinued not from the Mines being exhausted but from the Furnace being supplied from nearer mines. That they sunk thro' no coals but apprehended there were veins of Coal below the Ironstone.

There hath been in very antient times an old Furnace or Bloomery at the bottom of the Common Heath by the side of tbe Southal Bank Brook at a place called Ned's Garden where large quantities of furnace cinders or slag still remain and large quantities were carried from thence to Charlcot Furnace and iron extracted from them by stamping them and smelting over again, there are large heaps also on Southal Bank side of the Brook. Most of the old pit heads that are along the bank and side of the coppice from Ned's Garden opposite to Southal Bank are supposed to have been ironstone pits worked to supply this furnace or bloomery in Common Heath aforementioned, but this is only conjecture.

My Grandfather bath often told me that the side of Common Heath from Ned's Garden towards Midwinters Coppice was believed to contain ironstone and that some trial pits were sunk which confirmed that opinion. There have been some antient atone pits also adjoining to the Ebleys and to the Scots Coppice Bank. My Grandfather informed me (and the work was remembered by my Father ) that he had two pits ( No.1 & No.2 in the plan [Figure 2]) sunk near the lover corner of Common Heath towards the Scots Gate at the Brook, down to the coals (the depth not remembered ) . That the coals were sweet and very good (how many veins and how thick not remembered) and they were laid by a pump worked by a Water Wheel on the Southall Bank side of the Brook that was erected by a Company working the mines there for many years. That the pits were not worked out or exhausted but were filled with water on the before mentioned pump being stopped working. That the proprietors offered him then use of the Pumping Machine for a guinea a year at which he refused. And that Coals were sold at 4/- per stack to 4/4 per stack of 4 ft 3 in. square. It is thought that the Coal which basset or breaks out by the Brook’s side below Ned's Garden at No.3 deepened and are continued to No 1 and No 2 before mentioned.

On a high bank in the Coppice on the side next to the Ebleys and near the footway from Midwinters to the Scots are many old coalpit mounts. Two or three pits at No 4 [Figure 2] were sunk there about the year 1775. The Coals are found at the depth of about 10 or 12 yards and are free from water and are sweet. The vein or strata that appears to be coal is near 4 feet thick but there is only a strata of 12 or 14 inches thick in the middle of it that will burn, all the rest being of a soft thin slaty substance of no value. The break-out of this coal is seen in the little brook below, towards the Ebleys and seems to extend beyond the brook towards the Ebleys .

The same vein of coal is also supposed to extend to Southal Bank Brook at No 3 below Ned's Garden where it is plainly seen to break out in two different strata answering to what is called the Yard and Four feet Coals in the pits worked of late at Southal Bank, the Scots and in the Ebleys. The pits at No 4 were never sunk so low as to discover whether there was another vein of coal below the first. Coals may be got here on the East and North East side.

About the year 1778 my father set a lease of all the coal mines that could be discovered in Common Heath, The Ebleys and Malpases Close adjoining the High Green Gardens to Messrs Morris Thursfield and Lloyd of Broseley for fourteen years [Figs 1, 3]. They were to pay a Royalty to my father of one fourth part of the price that the coals were sold and lime coals, and to be at all expenses whatever in working the mine. The Coals at that time (1778 and 1779) were sold at 7/- per stack of 4 feet cube and Lime coals at 4/- per waggon load on the pit banks.

They began to sink at the top of the Ebleys adjoining to Cowslow near the gate that leads into the Scots ground at the pit marked No.1 in the annexed plan [Figs 1, 3]. They found the Coals Sweet and very good at the depth of 10 yards, they raised a considerable quantity at this pit and in the course of their working they followed the coals to the point marked A in the annexed plan [Fig 3], where the old boundary hedge that separated the Ebleys from Cowslow then stood (Cowslow was then the property of Mr. Moore of Birmingham ). Here they left off, leaving a Wall of very good coals that extended under Cowslow probably to a considerable distance and which may now be found (1799) with little trouble near the place marked A. The coals deepened nearly east or a litt1e southward of east into Cowslow and the Scots land, and broke out or bassetted next to the surface about 60 yards from the top of the Ebleys measuring straight down the ridges or butts, the breakout running parallel to the top hedge and there are the hollows to be seen a considerable length across the ridges of the Ebleys where the basset coal was got out in great quantities and sold to burn lime. The slack mounds have been since all carried off by me and the Ebleys ploughed up and the road at the top and side laid out straight and fenced on both sides, the mark of the old boundaries of the Ebleys being plain to be seen within Cowslow at A. The thickening of the coal was as follows.

First, a very thin coal called the rider from 3 to 5 inches found in all the pits of this country generally at the distance of from 22 to 24 feet above the Yard Coal; there are also generally found one or two veins of good ironstone above the yard coal bedded in blue clay of different thicknesses and the roof of the Yard Coal or the strata that lies immediately above it, if got up and properly tempered and or pored [?] to the post or ground in a mill will make a good white brick that will stand fire nearly as well as those made at Broseley.

Second, what is here called the Yard Coal is found and is generally from three feet to three feet eight inches thick.

Thirdly is found what is called the Four Feet Coal at the distance of from one to two yards below the Yard Coal, where the pits are deep there is generally found a fourth coal of from one to two feet thick at a little distance (a yard or less) below the Four Feet coal and it is supposed there are veins of ironstone below all these coals, this is nearly the exact state of all the mines of coal that have been worked at Southall Bank, the Scotts, the Ebleys, Cowslow, the High Green Lays (Lady Blounts) and Harcott.

There are many faults, breaks or troubles in all of these coals which often cut them off in all directions. Sometimes by heading thro’ these faults for some yards the coals are again discovered, tho’ generally they are considerably deeper or higher than the vein that broke off. Sometimes these faults extend to a great distance. Very frequently also where the Yard Coal is found hard and good, the Four Feet coal immediately under it shall be found soft and of no value or use, also, often where the Yard Coal is found soft and useless, the Four Feet coal under it is found hard and good. These remarks apply to all the coal mines in this neighbourhood.

The Broseley Company sank several pits at the Ebleys (marked 1,2 and 3 on the plan [Figs 1, 3] besides Basset pits) and raised about 2000 tons of coal, but having begun at the upper end or basset of the work, all the water collected by their first pit’s hollows lay and was accumulated upon them, and often time was so much that they could not draw it by hand, they had no gin and finding that they could not dispose more than 600 tons in a year which at that time fully supplied the country, they therefore gave up their lease after having worked the mines four years. The ironstone is all ungot over their workings and also extends to the westwards much further than the coals reached.

In the year 1786 I sank a pit at the further end of the Ebleys adjoining to the Scots land at No 1 in the plan [Figs 1, 3] and at a depth of 10 or 11 yards found the Yard Coal which was very good and about 3’ 6” thick, sweet and dry. (It had been before got out on the Scots side of the hedge by Mr Purcell). Out of this pit, I got coals for my own use, thirty tons a year for 7 or 8 years when the wood of the shaft keeping the sides ran in and filled it up. This pit was sunk down thro’ the Four Feet coal to make a trial of them and they were found to be very good and they are now, 1799, all whole and ungot (all since got out). Also the same year (1786) I sank a pit at No 2 a little below No 1 down to the basset part of the Four Feet coal, depth 5 yards, and coal 3’9” thick being so near the surface it was only fit to burn lime with, for which purpose alone I wanted it and it answered that purpose well. I supplied myself with lime coals from this pit for 2 or 3 years after which the basset part of the Yard Coal supplied me with lime coals and no more coals were got at Pit No 2. The sinking of the ground at Pit No 2 shows plainly how far the coals have been got and a pit may be sunk to them in two days. It is expected that they extend from No 2 pit up to the upper corner of the field and as far in breadth as the Yard Coal extends. All ungot in 1799. The pit No 3 at the lower end of the Ebleys was sunk in the year 1794 when the pit No 1 was filled up. I have got my yearly supply of coals from this pit for 3 years only and the Yard coals are now 1799 whole and good on the south and east side of it to the pit bottom. The pit No 4 was sunk in 1798 to get out the basset parts of the coal which could not be reached from No 3. They have got about 60 tons besides 20 waggon loads of lime coals, the falling in of the land shows plainly the extent of the workings. All the coals in these pits have been got up and stacked upon the bank for 3/- per stack of four feet square and the lime coals at 2/6 per waggon load and I paid besides 6d per day towards a boys wages for drawing in the bottom and I found all tools, wood, etc and candles. The deeper pits No’s 1 and 3 cost 4/- a yard, this sinking and wooding and the basset No 2 and 4 cost 3/- a yard by contract. It is expected there is a fault and a dip or drop in these veins of coal before they reach the hollows under the hedge and load at the bottom of the Scots Meadow as when the Scots Company left off getting at my hedge they were at the depth of between 20 and 30 yards. The coals have been worked out on the Scots side of the hedge as far as the red line in the plan extends upon upto and from thence to about 10 yards along the top hedge.

The coals in the Scots Coppice and in the field adjoining to the east end of the Ebleys have been all worked out several years ago. The pit in the Scots Meadow marked No 1 in the plan [Figs 1, 3] was worked in the year 1796 and all the coals in the basset side were worked out. The pit No 3 in the Scots Meadow (see the plan [Figs 1, 3]) was sunk in the year 1796 and the three veins of coal were all very good. This pit afforded a very great quantity of coals which was worked in 2 years and carried (chiefly) to the River Severn by a railway, and over the valley between the Scots and Southal Bank by a wonderful platform wooden bridge of 130 yards in length and in the deepest part upwards of 60 feet high erected by the Billingsley and Scots Coal Company in the year 1795. There was a water course or level drove under the Scots Meadow from the Pit No 1 to the Pit No 3 to convey the water to the Pit No 1 where it was drawn up by a gin and also to convey air in the direction of the red line in the plan. All the coals to the northwards and westwards of that line being the basset or rising side are worked out and all the coals or nearly so to the south and east of that line being the deep side are ungot. The pit No 3 was nearly 60 yards deep thro’ all the coals and produced a deal of water.

The coals deepen towards that field of mine that adjoins the Scots gardens and there is great reason to believe that they reach into and extend under a very considerable part of it tho’ at a great depth and subject to a great deal of water. There is a vein of sulphur coal breaks out in Unet’s Wood at the bottom of this field under which if the sweet coals extend they may then probably reach under a part of Unet’s Wood. The Scot’s Coal Co drove out a level or head from the bottom of the pit marked No 3 on the plan of the Scots Meadow to the distance of between 30 and 40 yards to the south east or deep of this coal, at the end of which they sunk down a pit 8 or 9 yards to all the coals which were then extremely good but they could not get them for water, this place is marked No 4 on the plan [Figs 1, 3] and is within a little distance of my Scots field, there is no mark of this pit to be seen on the surface. The pit No 2 in the plan of the Scots Meadow was sunk to a depth of 36 yards to get out the coal that could not be reached from the pit No 3, the coals were all very good here and were worked out up to my Ebley’s hedge marked by the red line from C to F. There is a fault or break off of the coals runs in a straight line across the Scots meadow which cuts off all veins of coal whath been worked up to, a great length and is in the situation and direction of the red line marked ff in the plan and supposed to extend under my field (the Ebleys) and to cut off all the coals there. There hath not been any trials to discover the coals in the S western side of the fault within 100 yards distance of it.

In the field called Cowslow at the High Green now divided into two parts one of which is a coppice, some coal mines had been worked in very ancient times. From about the year 1768 to about 1778 the coal mines were worked there by John Malpass Senr on the side next to High Green. They were followed from the break-out or basset at the depth of 5 or 6 yards to the depth of 26 yards and the last pit, No 2 by the side of the lane leading to Ferney Hall was 36 yards deep and had a deal of water. They had in No 2 the Yard or Four Feet Coal, sweet coal as before described as also the rider and bottom coal, tho’ often when the Yard coal was good the Four Feet coal immediately below it was soft and of no value, tho’ of the usual thickness, also sometimes when the Yard Coal was soft and useless the Four Feet Coal was found good and oftentimes all the coals were found good. They deepen very much, firstly towards the SE or SE by E. All these coals and indeed all the coals found in this country are extensively subject to faults, breaks or troubles which sometimes cut them off in all directions; these faults may considerably lessen the quantity of coals expected from any pit and increase the expense of the workings. There are veins of good ironstone found in all the pits in Cowslow tho’ subject to faults and it is all ungot and it is expected there are veins of ironstone below the coal.

The workings of John Malpass in Cowslow are all left off at faults or water and it is very probable that these coals extend (faults excepted) on the eastern or deep side under the remaining pits of Cowslow and under the adjoining lands of Thomas Crump called the Scots land (and under the field called High Croft belonging to Mr George Childe and communicates with those got in the Scots meadow also with those got by Messrs Thursfield at the top of the Ebleys and they evidently extend into Row Leasow tho’ at a great depth and probably may extend under the Sulphur coals that are found in the Row Leasow, they also lead with little interruption from Cowslow to Lady Blounts works at Harcott Brook and from there in a line to the top of the Knowle Hill, Harcott.

There is a large pit mount in the middle of the coppice, part of Cowslow, which was begun by Jno Malpass about 1778 but was never completed on account of the great quantity of water and it is unknown whether there are coals in that part or not. There are also two old pit mounts at the bottom of Cowslow marked BC which were worked in very ancient times and by the quantity of slack in the mounts appear to have afforded a great quantity of coals and are supposed to have been discontinued on account of the water. The coals are worked in the bottom of High Green Leys (now belonging to Lady Blount) by Mr Thomas Childe about the year 1768 or 1766 afterwards all up the field to the top by a Mr William Vernon until 1780, they were left off on the eastern side at faults or water and probably deepen into the Row Leasow. Lady Blount began work at Harcott brook about 1790 and continued it 2 or 3 years, all the coals were very good and thick and in plenty (subject to faults) and the pits were 60 yards deep. She left off on account of the great quantity of water which could scarcely be kept under by a gin going night and day and there was a probability of more water coming into the work when it should be more extended. There was no engine of any kind erected to draw the water but a weir was built across the brook considerably higher up the stream and a trench cut from it to convey water to near the pit heads where there was a fall for the water of about 16 or 18 or 20 ft and it was intended to erect a lever engine to be worked by the water to pump the water out of the pits, but the engine was never erected and the works were discontinued. There were veins of exceeding good ironstone found above the coals. In former times the basset breakout or shallowest part of the coals had been worked and followed from Harcott brook with few few intermissions almost to the top of the Knowle Hill. About 1780 to 1790 a sough or level was begun at Harcott Brook and was carried on and coals got all up Harcott Coppice and thro’ several fields beyond the coppice, but not being sufficiently deep it laid dry but a very narrow ridge of coal from the old hollows or workings and having many large faults to head thro’ and as they carried up the bank the level pits becoming more and more deep it was given up, the proprietors Messrs Humphreys and Fennel having sustained very severe loss. About 1776 on Craddock sank two pits in the southernmost field but one at the Knowle Hill. The coals were found very good and a great quantity were raised and the coals were left whole and good the whole length of the workings on the deep side where they were limited by the water.

Memorandum. It is found by experience that one cubic yard of hard, solid coal in the mine when completely got out and weighed shall produce 18 cwts of coal and in some mines, one ton.

In the field called Cowslow at the High Green the pits No 4 and 3 in the plan were about 20 yards deep. The Yard coal was very good but the 4 ft coal was soft and good for nothing. The pit No 1 by the road side was something more than 20 yards deep and the coals good. These three pits were worked on the eastern side to a fault that cut off all the coals and which lay in the direction of the red line marked A to B on the plan. The pit marked No 2 on the plan [Figs 1, 3] was sunk to the depth of near 40 yds before the coal was found so that the coals had deepened or dropped near 18 yards at the fault between the red lines in the plan and the coals in No 2 did not extend on the side next pit No 1 more than 2 yards from the pit bottom, so that the horzontal breadth at that place of the fault or break was about 4 or 6 yds from the outer or eastern edge of the coals in No 1 to the western edge of the coals in No 2 and about 18 yards deep. The coals in No 2 were very good being so cut out on the basset side of the fault and having a deal of water they could not get any great quantity as they could not work far out on the deep side for water, the coal in this deep pit lay more level than in the shallow pits and seemed to lead and deepen into the Row Leasow where it is expected to extend under the Sulphur coals that are found to break out all across that field. The sweet coals at Southal Bank are found generally at the depth of about 48 yards below the Sulphur Coals which may probably be the case here. It is probable that the coals in the deep pit No 2 may extend under the High Croft (Mr Childe’s field) and even to the Scots House under the high part of Cowslow all the length of the coppice and under Mr Crumps and the Scots land to the workings in the Scots meadow and may extend far on the deep side towards that land.

In the brook at the bottom of the field called Row or Rough Leasow (belonging to Thomas Crump beyond the High Green) and a few yards up it from the spring that rises there, the Sulphur coal breaks out, it hath been got in the brook and bank so that there is little to be seen of it now. The break-out or basset of it is confined to the foot of a ridge of high ground (marked by the red line R in the plan) all the way up Row Leasow to the lane at the top of it where it may be seen in the wheel ruts about 40 yards beyond the Row Leasow gate where it hopes the lane. About the year 1778, Jno Malpas drove up and laid with stone or wood a sough or level from the brook near the spring above mentioned under the Rough woody bank (and which now discharges a deal of water) and up the field as far as the pit heads marked 1, 2 and 3 in the plan [Figs 1, 3], there are two of the level pit heads plain to be seen in the Rough bank. At the second pit he came into the coal and got out a considerable quantity. It is a sulphur coal 28 to 30 inches thick, tolearably hard and burns well. He carried on the getting of the coal and the level up the bank and at the distance of about 54 yards from the pit No 2 he sank the pit No 3 which was about 20 or 22 yards deep and he got out the coals up the field in a straight line (with his level on the eastern or deep side) to about 16 or 20 yards from the pit No 3 which he left off. He then sunk the basset pits No 4 and 5 on the plan [Figs 1, 3] and got out all the basset coals that are opposite his pits No 2 and 3 so that the space workee out may be understood as being bounded by the red lines in the plan. The coals were left whole and good on the deep side of his work all the way up and also a considerable breadth of work before him from the basset to deep or from A to B on the plan, where they may be found by boring or sinking on the basset side without much trouble and may be worked to advantage where they are wanted. There is a great reason to expect that they extend up the Row Leasow to the lane at the top and from thence with perhaps some large interuptions from faults to the Scots where they have been untried, it is also probable that they extend to a considerable breadth or distance on the deep side in the Row Leasow. The pits in the Row Leasow were sunk in a soft whiteish faulty [?] rock almost down to the coal. All the pit mouths above the Rough Bank have been wheeled off and the field hath been in tillage these ten years. The pit heads and mouths on the bank will very much help to discover the course of the level and the old workings- the pit mounds that were wheeled off were laid at the top of the Rough Bank.

In the year 1802 a number of holes were bored (along the red line in the plan) all up the Row Leasow and the break-out of the Sulphur coal was found all up the lane to the top. At the same time a trial pit was sunk in the place marked with a red R and D in the plan and at 7 yards deep the sulphur coals are found about 30 inches thick, rather soft from being so near the bassett and deepening eastward. The remains of coal seen on the surface will mark out the remains of this pit, no coals were intended to be got there. At the same time, 1802, some holes were bored at the place marked o Unetts Wood in the plan annexed [Figs 1, 3], to the eastwards of some old pit mounts and a vein of Sulphur coal was found 28 inches thick. Some holes were also bored in the Unetts land near the Fiddle brook side and a Sulphur coal was found of about 8 or 9 inches thick which extends across the brook into the Fiddle land and there is a thick vein or rock of limestone breaks out by the Fiddle brookside close to the water at the place where Unett’s land adjoins to the Hole land which extends under Unets land and might be valuable if coals should be got at Unets or the Hole or if a furnace should be worked in the neighbourhood.

[Notes on the Billingsley Company and leases]

Ironstone when raised is usually set up in stacks of a cubic yard each and is called a Bloom and weighs from 35 cwt to 38 cwt per stack or bloom of 120 lbs to the cwt and 21 cwt to the ton and is said to be worth from 12s to 18s per ton when brought to the furnace. The price of getting up the ironstone when the pit is prepared for working varies from 6/8 to 10/6 the Bloom or stack of one cubic yard.

The furnace at Billingsley and the coal and ironstone mines were stopped working in 1812, the holders having become bankrupt, they were carried on about 17 or 18 years by four different successive companies and £50,000 was lost by these works. First company (from Newcastle Cumberland (Query[?]) Northumberland) Johnson, Jackson, MacNab and Gregson, second company Morris, Leeke and Rigby (Salop), fourth Stokes and Read from near Stourbridge.

When Sir William Pulteney set a lease of his mines at Billingsley about the year 1794 he reserved an annual rent of £200 a year to be paid to him during the time of the lease and if the royalty at the rate they agreed upon amounted to more than £200 year the company were to pay him the full amount of which the £200 was to make a part and if the royalty amounted to less than £200 a year, even if the works were not carried on or given up they were to continue the payment of £200 a year during the time of the lease.

1796 William Childe esq. of Kinlet also let a lease of his coalmines at the Birch, Yearnwood, to the Billingsley Coal Company and reserved to £200 a year certain as above described.
1801 Mr Thomas Hazelwood, Attorney of Bridgnorth, set a lease of his coalmines at Stanley, Higley parish to a company and reserved £200 a year certain to be paid to him and if the royalty at the rate agreed exceeded £200 to be paid the surplus also.

In general, if there is a reserved rent certain (as the £200 above mentioned) the royalty ought to be paid lower than if there was no reserved certain rent because the work may be discontinued and yet the rent be paid. For coals from ¼ to 1/6th of the price they are sold for on the pit bank should be paid per ton for royalty according to the depth, quantity of water and hazard. The ironstone nearly the same or something less.

In the year 1818 the furnaces and all the buildings belonging to them at Billingsley were sold by auction and were taken down and the materials carried away as were also all the steam engines and machinery. And also all the houses that were built (for the workmen employed) about 50 in number were taken down and all the materials sold and carried off.

[Trials in 1813]

In the year 1813 some trials were made by boring to find coals in the Ebleys near the place where I have gotten coals for several years. The first hole bored was 44 yards from the upper corner marked A in the above plan and 35 yards from the top hedge measuring down the ridge. At seven yards deep found the bottom coal 3ft 6 in deep but very soft. The second hole to be bored was 48 yards from the corner and 20 yards from the top hedge at 8 yards deep found the bottom coal soft, this seemingly gettable. The third hole was 72 yards from the upper corner and 21 yards from the top hedge at 7 ½ yards found the coal rather soft and 2 ½ feet thick. The fourth hole was bored at 103 yards from the corner and 27 yards from the top hedge a black substance 6 ½ feet thick was found at 10 ½ yards deep. Should coals become scarce it may be worth while to sink a trial pit slightly wooded at one or two of these places bored down to as before and by driving out on the deep side probably useful coals might be found. Also in 1813 a hole was bored in Cowslow Coppice on a charcoal hearth a few yards above the footway leading from the Scots to the High Green at the distance of 56 yards along the footway from the Scots stile and 21 yards upwards from the Ebleys Lane above the old brick kiln pool, at the depth of 19 yards found the coal about 40 inches wide but so soft as supposed not to be gettable.

Workings in the Ebleys

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No 1, a pit upon the edge of a fault in the yard coal which extends to No 2 and then turns north west. The yard coal all worked out to this fault. No 2 no yard coal; this pit may be cleaned and deepened to get out the four feet coal, depth 12 to 13 yards. No 3, a pit at which the 4 feet coal was got out along the water level line 13 yards towards No 4. All got out in 1819 and 20, the wood is all left in to the top. No 4, a pit at which the yard coals were got. No 2 may be cleaned to get the 4 feet coal as also No 1. In pit No 1 the wood is left 6 feet up from the bottom, it provided a great deal of water, depth 13 yards and can only be worked for in the summer. In the trial pit at the top marked No 5 at the depth of 8 yards found the yard coal about 3ft 6 “ thick rather soft but getable, a fault cuts it all out on the south side of the pit. At 2 feet below came to the 4 feet coal, soft but supposed to be gettable for 3 feet it thickens, total depth 11 yds. A good deal of of water came in. Bored down 4 feet more to a hard white rock.

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