[Report 1904] / Medical Officer of Health, Blackwell R.D.C.

  • Blackwell (England). Rural District Council.
Date:
1904
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1904] / Medical Officer of Health, Blackwell R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    PHYSICAL FEATCKES OF THE DISTRICT. 0 A descriptioai of aoim© of the chief physica.l features of a dis- trict must necessarily include some reference to its geologial struc- ture. Such an account may be an advantage to some, and cannot fail toi interest all the members of the Council. To the geologist and antiquarian the county of Derby abounds in many treasures, but it is not to such treasures that I now wish specially to draw your attention. The portion of the county in which you are more particularly interested is placed in the east, and forms ai part of the Pennine chain, or back-bone of England. There are no hills of any great height, but the surface presents a somewhat irregular contour, very different from that found in the north-west, where high hills, deep ravines, and extensive dales are characteristic features. This great central or Pennine anticline throws off on thei west the coal measures of Lancashire and North Staffordshire, and on the east the gi'eat coalfields of Yorkshire and Derbyshire For convenience of description the district may be divided into two pardsi, viz.: north and south. The southern part embraces the parishes of Pinxton, South Nonnanton, Blackwell, and Tibshelf, which are situated on the upper coal measures. The depth at which coial is found varies in different pails. At Blackwell it appears on the smlace, whilst in some of the adjacent parishes it is only found at considerable depths. As water-bearing strata, the upper coal measures are not' satisfactoi’y, the subsoil being too loose and shaly, and thus readily allowing of the free per- colation of water. It is found that the range of rise' and fall in seme of the superficial wells exceeds many feet. The soil is heavy and loamy, and contains a large amount of moisture.