In transcribing the following passage from Smith’s text, I have begun with the rough OCR material provided by the Internet Archive and then collated it with the Internet Archive’s page images. If you spot any errors, please notify the webmaster. — George P. Landow
The red marl, red earth, and its beds of soft red sandstone and in some places whitish blue beds of indurated clay, or stone, are first noticed on the south coast of Devon and in that county and in the vale of Taunton adjoining, form exceedingly good land, which is, thickly covered with fruit-trees. It is much interspersed between the hills in the northern parts of Somerset, and there, and in part of Gloucestershire, adjacent, frequently sunk through for coal. Its surface is narrowed over the Severn by the sudden rising of the coal-measures in the forest of Dean. It extends thence northward by the Severn to Worcester where an immense expansion of it commences, which extends northward over the greater part of four or five counties. At Nottingham another contraction is occasioned by the lias and coal-measures, and its great breadth thence northward, through the north and south clays is again contracted by the fens; and the alluvial of this low land continuing thence up the vale of York, still further reduces the breath of this remarkable stratum, which may, however, be distinctly traced to the borders of the sea in the county of Durham. A great breadth of it passes over the summit of drainage, between Staffordshire and Shropshire, and expands over part of the latter county, nearly over the whole of Cheshire and a large portion of the flat districts of Lancashire. In some parts its course it seems to contain other considerable strata of limestone. Limestone breccia, gypsum, sulphat[e] of strontian, rock-salt, and various sandstones, are found on it, From each great variety, extent, and thickness, it assumes very different appearances, and its surface is in many places much obscured by alluvial matter. [47-48]
Related material
- A County-by-County Geological Description of England’s Counties
- Smith’s Explanation of His Map of Geological Strata in England and Wales
- The History of the Idea of Geological Strata before William Smith’s Formulation and Map
Bibliography
Smith, William. A Memoir to the Map and Delineation of Strata of England and Wales. London: John Cary, 1815.
Created 11 September 2018