The Coal Measures of Bristol and Somerset

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Abstract
The Coal Measures of Bristol and Somerset are in some ways less completely known than those of most other English coalfields. This is partly due to the fact that the Coal Measures are to a great extent concealed under newer rocks, while the interpretation of the sequence has been made still more difficult by the complexity of the structure, especially in those areas where the lowest part of the sequence is exposed. Maps of the area on the one-inch scale were published in 1845, and some revision has been made since; an account of the sequence and structure was prepared by Prestwich in 1871, and a memoir by H. B. Woodward was published in 1876. Since that time sections of colliery shafts have been issued by the Geological Survey (sheets 11, 48-52). Other works on the area are referred to incidentally below. The general lithological sequence has been recognized for many years, but the correlation of the various parts of the coalfield has been largely a matter of speculation: there has been little palæontological evidence on which even a tentative correlation could be based. Several workers have, however, made important contributions to the palæontology of the coalfield. The rich floras of the upper part of the Coal Measures, long famous in the Radstock district, were investigated by Kidston (1887) and more recently by Dr. R. Crookall (1925, 1929). The lower part of the sequence, which is generally less fossiliferous, received less attention, and its floras are very incompletely known; from

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