Mr. J. B. ATKINSON (H.M. Inspector of Mines, Newcastleupon-Tyne) said that the Marl-slates, which were described in -Prof. Lebour's paper as kupferschiefer, produced copper-ore. Prof. Lebour made no reference in his paper to the composition of the Marl-slate, and he (Mr. Atkinson) asked whether any appearance of copper had been observed in the county of Durham. He believed that copper-ore had been observed in the Magnesian Limestone about Gardmondsway, but he did not know whether it occurred in the Marl-slate.

Mr. DAVID BURNS said that no copper was found in Cumberland in the corresponding beds, and he thought that there was no trace of copper in the Durham district. He had spent a few weeks among the corresponding strata in the Perm district, where copper was very prevalent.

Mr. J. T. STOBBS (Stoke-upon-Trent) wrote that, as might be expected, Prof. Lebour's paper was an able summary of our present knowledge of the relation of the Permians to the Coal-measures in North-eastern England. Of the junction-beds, the Permian Yellow Sands, when present, offer peculiar difficulties in shaftsinking, and later in the extraction of the upper coal-seams, chiefly because of their natural incoherence and their waterbearing character. Hence, any contribution to the knowledge of the laws of their distribution would be most welcome to those responsible for the development of the eastern portion of the Durham coal-field. It has been ascertained that this distribution is somewhat erratic, and that the Yellow Sands fill the hollows of an old-land surface (that is the floor), which, generally speaking, slopes to the east. General knowledge, however, on this point is not enough, and detailed information respecting these indentations is the great desideratum at the present time, so that the existence or absence of these beds beneath the Magnesian Limestone may be predicted, at any given locality. He (Mr. Stobbs) could not agree with Prof. Lebour's statement that every record of a . boring through the junction between

.

the Permian rocks and the beds beneath them yields a truthful item or datum towards the construction of a contoured map of this ancient floor."* The Appendix shows no

* Trans. Inst. M.E., 1902, vol. xxiv., page 372.

VOL. XXIV.-1902-1903.

26

less than 30 borings, which report an absence of the Yellow Sands at this junction, and he (Mr. Stobbs) was of opinion that the greatest caution should be exercised in accepting negative evidence from a bore-hole in ground of this character, especially if put down by a system employing hollow rods, down which water is forced. Parallel cases might be quoted from the Ballarat district of Victoria, where shafts, sunk through basalt overlying the denuded Silurian, were completely lost by the inrush of water-bearing "drift," which was reported by bore-holes (put down within the last 25 years) as non-existent. With respect to the time-measure of the unconformity between the Permians and the Coal-measures, it might be pointed out that the "earthmovements" and "denudation" of sections (2) and (3)* were undoubtedly, to a large extent, contemporaneous. The time required for denudation of a given thickness of rocks depended very largely on their hardness, and their position at any rate, he (Mr. Stobbs) was not inclined to exaggerate the time necessary for the removal of the Upper Coal-measures in Northumberland and Durham, some patches of which were now known to exist in place in Northumberland.

of

Mr. WALCOT GIBSON (London) contrasted the difference in the character of the basal beds of the Permian in the North of England with that in Nottinghamshire on the south, where the basal Permian was a strong breccia-band of great service to the miner. The Eolian origin of the Yellow Sands would form one more link in the evidence connecting the Permian and Triassic rocks into one system. He was glad to see attention drawn to the correct age the red rocks beneath the Yellow Sands. In Nottinghamshire, the Permian rested quite discordantly on at least two horizons of red sandstone on one high up in the Coal-measure sequence, and on another much lower down. The question as to the nature of the Permo-Carboniferous boundary was one of great interest, alike to the miner as to the geologist, and had received but scanty attention of late years. Signs of a revival of interest were therefore welcome.

Prof. G. A. LEBOUR (Durham College of Science) wrote, in reply to Mr. Atkinson, that to his knowledge no copper-ore had been found in the Marl-slate of Durham or Northumberland.

* Trans. Inst. M. E., 1902, vol. xxiv., page 373.

Abroad, carbonate of copper was very common as an impregnation in that deposit-hence its name kupferschiefer. At Garmondsway, as Mr. Atkinson stated, copper-ore occurs in the Magnesian Limestone, but in distinct veins of copper-pyrites, weathered externally into green carbonate of copper, not disseminated through the stone. It is quite possible, though he (Prof. Lebour) thought that it had not yet been proved, that this vein, or other similar veins, if traced below into the Marl-slate, will there prove to be still copper-bearing, but not in the manner in which the bed is copper-bearing in the typical kupferschiefer of the Continent. The persistent association of copper with the Permian abroad is a most striking phenomenon, and one which has not yet been fully accounted for. In northernmost England, however, this association is not marked, since the infilling of a fissure-vein need not have any direct connexion with its containing walls at any given point. The subject did not, therefore, come within the scope of his paper.

The PRESIDENT (Sir Lindsay Wood, Bart.) moved a hearty vote of thanks to Prof. G. A. Lebour for his interesting paper.

Mr. M. WALTON BROWN Seconded the resolution, which was cordially approved.

The Rev. W. NALL read the following paper on "The Alston Mines":

THE ALSTON MINES.

BY THE REV. W. NALL, M.A., ALNHAM VICARAGE.

History of the Mines.--The earliest fragment of authentic information concerning the Alston mines is contained in a document dated A.D. 1131. It is an account of certain moneys, which were due to the King from the burgesses of Carlisle in respect. of a certain mine, called the Carlisle silver-mine, which was held by them from the King under a lease.

Subsequent accounts enable us to identify the so-called silvermine of Carlisle with the lead-mines of Alston. Lead-ore contains silver-in various proportions-in combination with the lead; that obtained from Alston moor contains about 10 ounces of silver to the ton of lead. The Rev. John Hodgson-to whose researches we are mainly indebted for our knowledge of the early history of the Alston mines-states that the Northumberland Pipe Roll of 1226 contains a charge of £2,154 for the old rent of the mine of Carlisle, and that this charge is carried forward annually through the whole of that reign, that is to say, until 1272.* Assuming the reliability of Mr. Hodgson's information, we are safe in concluding that the Alston mines were, during that early period, very rich; for £2,154 of that age represents the large sum of £10,000 of our current coin. And yet this sum represented only the rent of the mines, and it did not include the profits realized by the lessees, nor the expenditure for labour and mining requisites.

The expression "old rent," which occurs in the Northumberland Pipe Roll, suggests the idea that the Alston mines were even at that time considered to be old. It may be inferred from the facts just adduced, and from the further fact that the church at Alston was built and the parish formed in 1154, that there was a considerable population in the district in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The rent obtained from the lessees of the mines formed a considerable proportion of the revenue of the

* History of Northumberland, 1840, vol. iii., part ii.,

page 45.

Crown, and is sufficient to account for the interest which the Kings of England took in the lead-mines and for the privileges which they granted to the miners.

Henry III., in 1234, warned his bailiffs and faithful people that he had taken under his protection and defence all his mines of Aldeneston (Alston), their men, lands, goods, rents, and all their possessions, and, therefore, commanded them to maintain, protect and defend them, neither giving them nor suffering them to receive from others, hindrances, injury, loss or trouble; and if they had suffered by forfeiture, forthwith to make them amends. In 1235, a royal mandate signified to all the miners in Cumberland that, on repairing to work at the King's mines at Aldeneston, they should not only go there safely and securely, but enjoy all the liberties and free customs, which the miners there had been accustomed to have in times past; and also directed the Sheriff of Cumberland that he should cause all the miners in his bailiwick to go and dig and mine there in his bailiwick, as they had done in times past; and also, the merchants to repair to the same mine with victuals for the miners.*

The wording of the charter suggests the inference that the King had no other mine in Cumberland than that at Alston. Together with the other liberties which the miners enjoyed, was one which gave serious trouble to the landowners and farmers; as they were allowed to cut down the trees, and use the wood in the mines. One case of dispute is cited by Mr. Hodgson as follows: "In Michaelmas term, 1290, Patric of the Gill and 26 other miners at Aldeneston were empleaded by Henry de Whitby and Joan his wife, for cutting-down their trees at Aldeneston by force and arms, and carrying them away." The defence set up by the miners was that they enjoyed the privilege, granted to them by their lord the King, of cutting down the wood, to whomsoever it might belong, which was nearest to the silver-vein, and to take as much of it as they pleased to roast and smelt the ore, to build and to hedge, to give to the agents in lieu of wages, and to the rich in order that they might distribute it to the poor. They also affirmed that the lords of the woods had no right, after that they (the miners) had begun the work of cutting down, to sell or give any of the wood, excepting for reasonable needs, and that they had enjoyed the liberty from time immemorial.†

*

History of Northumberland, 1840, vol. iii., part ii., page 46. + Ibid., pages 47 and 48.