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in general; the ground on the banks of the Stour is a very deep loam, forming some of the most fertile meadows in the kingdom. The rest of the Vale is generally good, consisting of a large proportion of clay. There is also loam upon limestone, rich sand, and a very hard gravel."

FOSSILS. This is another valuable section of the book under view.-P. 44. "Slaty Coal-Is found in great abundance in the hamlet of Ansty, in the parish of Hilton; it burns with a bright and lively flame, but yields, in its combustion, an exceeding disagreeable smell; so that it is not made use of for fuel. It is not unlikely, that good coal might be found beneath, as slaty coal, in some coal counties, lies over the good coal."

P.45." Petrified Fish-Shells-Are found in the parish of Hilton and its neighbourhood, imbedded in sand-stone, in immense numbers. They are both of the bivalve and univalve kinds; but you can seldom find both of the bivalve shells together. Petrified tortoises, in considerable numbers, have also been dug up in Ansty vale: it is disputed by some, whether they were ever real tortoise or not; but they are of various sizes, and very much resemble the shape of a tortoise. At Lower Melbury, near the seat of the Earl of Ilchester, the tortoise stones are so highly petrified, that they are sawn into slabs, and form beautiful chimney-pieces.'

Kimmeridge Coal.-P. 46. The most singular fossil production that is found in Dorsetshire, is Kimmeridge coal. Kimmeridge is a very small and poor village in the Isle of Purbeck, about one mile from the sea: it is situated near an abrupt termination of a ridge of hills;-these hills, for the most part, are composed of limestone, very compact and white, and, towards the base of the hills, very narrow veins of chert, or petrosilex, appear."

"The fossil called Kimmeridge coal, is found on the cliffs which border on Kimmeridge bay, about sixteen feet below the summit: it consists of an argillaceous slate, impregnated with bitumen to a great degree: the colour blackish brown. It is found in large lumps, lying in a stratum about three feet deep, but disappears at a small distance from the shore. When burning it gives out a sulphureous smell, and a strong bright light. If it is exposed to the atmosphere, it falls to pieces; but when kept under water, and before it is dry out of the cliffs, it is very hard. It is chiefly used in ovens, and by the poor people."

Portland Stone.--P. 47. The Isle, or rather the peninsula of Portland, is about four miles and a half in length, and two in breadth. It has been long famous for its free

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stone, and is indeed one continued bed of it. It is said that Portland stone was first brought into use and reputation in the time of James I. who, by the advice of his architects, employed it in the erection of the Banquetting-house at Whitehall. After the fire of London, it was much used by Sir Christopher Wren, in constructing the different public edifices."

Here, the compiler inserts two extracts of some length, from Dr. MATON'S Observations on the Western Counties; and Mr. SMEATON'S History of the Eddistone Lighthouse; concerning the "wonderful Chesil bank," and the famous quarries" of the Isle of Portland.

Purbeck Stone.-For Mr. Claridge's account of the Purbeck quarries, see p. 244, aforegoing.

Mr. Stevenson says, p. 59. Mr. Chinchen, of Swannage, estimates the exports of Purbeck stone, in the five years succeeding 1801, at 38,750 tons per annum, supposing the vessels to carry 50 tons on the average; the quantity carried inland may be about 150 tons a year.

"The sort is mostly flag stones for paving, and the greater part are sent to London."

Potter's Clay.-P. 60. "A considerable stratum of this valuable substance is found at various depths, in several parts of the sandy district, in the vicinity of Wareham,. Poole, and Corfe Castle, but the principal part of it is dug at Norden, near Corfe Castle; and by means of an ironrail-way is conveyed to Poole Harbour for exportion.”

P. 61,From 16 to 20,000 tons of potter's clay are annually exported from Purbeck, and sent to Liverpool, mostly for the supply of the potteries in Staffordshire, &c.

"About 3 or 4000 tons of an inferior kind of clay are annually exported from Pcole to London and Bristol, where it is employed in making brown stone-ware, such as pickling jars, &c. The bad clay will not burn white, and the particles of iron cause blisters."

P. 62,"This information was given by Mr. Willis of Norden, who has the management of the principal clay-pits. "There is very little potters' ware made in this county."

SUBSTRUCTURE.-P. 42. "There is a well in the Isle," (of Portland) "100 feet deep; and after passing the rubbish and the strata of freestone, the substratum was found to be a bed of flints, of the depth of 20 feet.”

GEOLOGY.-P. 39. "The heatbs near Piddletown, and six or seven miles farther to the south-east, are remarkable for the many round deep pits which they contain; they. diminish almost to a point at the bottom, and are not unlike inverted cones. There is one which appears to be 20 yards

wide, and 10 yards deep. They are said to become deeper, and an idea is entertained, that they are undermined by concealed streams of water."

For similar appearances, see the seacoast of Sussex, ensuing.

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PPROPRIATION.-P. 332. The south-east part of the county, extending from Piddletown, Bere Regis, and Wimborne Minister, to the Purbeck Hills, is a most dreary tract of heath land, and is scarcely capable of any improvement in the hands of the agriculturist."

Cranborne Chase.-P. 334. “This chase is a free war ren, and was a gift of the Crown to Lord Rivers, who has a right to keep deer all over it.

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"It consists principally of hazel wood, with some black thorns, and a few timber trees: the wood is cut, at 12, or 13 years' growth, and the deer are fenced out of these parts for three years, by very high strong hedges, after which time they run all over it, and it is supposed that they do some good by keeping down the blackthorns. The Chase is pernicious to the farmers in the neighbourhood, and is the occasion that few turnips are sown, as the depredations of the deer on this crop are great, and cannot be prevented."

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Halfyear Meads.-P.307." Or those in which one person has the hay, and another person claims a right to the aftershear, are to be met with at Abbotsbury, Swyre, &c.

"It is not remarkable that such customs should exist in or near open fields, where all the farmers have a right of common; but the meadows abovementioned are not near common fields, and no more than two or three persons are concerned in these mixed rights, which are apparently considerable checks to every kind of improvement.'

FUEL.-P. 438. "In the neighbourhood of Shaftsbury, and generally in the northern and north-western parts of the county, coals are brought from the Mendip pits in Somersetshire, and were sold in 1811 from 2s. to 2s. 6d. per cwt. In the south-eastern parts of the county, the vicinity of Poole enables the inhabitants to be supplied with Newcastle coals, which, in the same year, were sold at 21. 58. per chaldron.

Furze is seldom burnt for common use, being gene

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rally bought and consumed by the bakers and brickmakers."

MANUFACTURES.-Sailcloth.-P. 447. "The various branches of the hemp and flax manufactories are carried on in many parishes in the west of the county, where those plants are cultivated. At Loders, and other places, young girls are often employed in weaving of sail-cloth; and along the western coast, toward Weymouth, many of the women braid nets for the Newfoundland fishery."

Shirt Buttons.-P. 448. "The manufacture of shirtbuttons is extensively carried on at Shaftesbury, and Blandford, and the surrounding villages on all sides, to seven or eight miles distance. Many women and children are employed in this manufacture in most parts of the Vale of Blackmoor, and in several parishes in the Isle of Purbeck."

TITHES.-P. 96. "The average amount of tithes, on the arable pasture and meadow land, may be estimated at 3s. 6d. an acre; that of commons at 8d.; open downs at 4d.; and heaths at one penny per acre."

"The county of Dorset is remarkable for the great numbers of parishes in which a very low modus has been long established, in lieu of the vicarial tithes.

"The great tithes of many parishes are in lay hands, and the composition is frequently 5s. or 68. in the pound rent."

SEA EMBANKMENT.-P. 373. “There are no embank-. ments for the purpose of gaining land from the sea; neither is there any land capable of this kind of improvement."

RAILWAYS.-P. 440. “A road of this kind three miles and a half in length, was made in 1806. It extends from the pits of potters-clay at Norden, near Corfe Castle, to a place opposite Poole, where the clay is shipped for Liverpool."

"The declivity of the road is in some places four inches, and in others five inches for every 20 yards, and the expense attending this work, is stated by Mr. Willis of Nor. den, at about 2000l. a mile for new work. The clay is conveyed on small carriages with four iron wheels, carrying two tons each. Three horses draw 10 tons to the sea-side' three times a-day, at the expense of about six-pence a ton weight."

ROADS.-P. 439. "The turnpike roads in the chalky district, are repaired with flints; but limestone broken to pieces with hammers, is the principal material of which the public and private roads are composed in all the rest of the county.

"The turnpikes, and other roads on the dry soils, åp

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pear to be in a good state, and have a sufficient convexity to cast off the water, which in sudden showers runs into small shallow pools that are made by the sides of the roads to receive it, and is soon absorbed in the chalky substratum'.

The bye-roads in some parts of the Vale of Blackmoor, and the western division of the county, are miry, and scarcely passable in winter, and the large rough loose stones with which they abound, render them very unpleasant in summer."

LAND MEASURE.-P. 445. "Land is measured by the goad or lug of 15 feet and an inch. A customary acre is therefore equal to about 134 square poles, statute measure." 104 10

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ESTATES.

TENANTED ESTATES.

STATES.-P. 73. "Estates in this county are in general large, and consequently the owners are few, in comparison with those of most other counties."

TENURES.-P. 74. "The copyhold tenures in this county are now become very few, owing, it is presumed, in a great measure to the frauds practised on the respective lords of manors, by the customary tenants marrying in the last stage of decrepid old age to very young girls, by which, according to the custom of copyhold tenures in this county, the widow is entitled to her free bench on the husband's copy hold. The few copyholds now existing, consist chiefly of a mere cottage and garden, without any other lands being attached to them.

"There are other lifehold tenures of far greater extent, which are held by lease for one, two, or three lives, or for ninety-nine years; for these a suitable fine is paid by the lessee, at the time the grant is made, and a yearly rent, in general not exceeding one-twentieth part of the yearly value, as the fine is the principal consideration.-These leases contain covenants to secure the buildings from being permitted to fall into ruins, for the payment of rent,

This extraordinary tenure is now, it is probable, nearly extinct.

See my WEST of ENGLAND.

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