Dr Plot gives the earliest account of the clays of the area starting with the brick clays between Newcastle and Keele ‘which when burnt became all over blue...

’ the famous Staffordshire Blue Brick. 'As for tobacco pipe clays they are found all over the county.....  And Charles Riggs of Newcastle makes very good pipes of three forts of Clay, a white and a blew, which He has from between Shelton and Hanley green, whereof the blew clay burns the whitest, but not fo full as the White ie it fhrinks more; but the beft fort He has from Grubbers Afh, being whitifh mixt with yellow, it is a fhort britle fort of Clay, but burnes full and white, yet He fometimes mixes it with the blew beforementioned. But the greatest Pottery they have in this County is carryed on at Burflem near Newcastle under Lyme, where for making their feverall forts of Pots, they have as many different forts of Clay, which they dig round about the Towne, all within half a miles diftance, the beft being found neareft the coale, and are diftinguifh’t by their colours and ufes as followeth. 

1 Bottle clay, of a bright whitifh ftreaked yellow colour. 
2 Hard-fire clay of a duller whitifh colour , and fuller interfperft with a dark yellow, which they ufe for their blackwares, being mixt with the 
3 Red blending clay, which is of a dirty red colour.
4 White-clay, so called it feems though of a blewifh colour and ufed for making yellow-colour’d ware, becaufe yellow is the lighteft colour they make any Ware of all of which they call throwing clays, becaufe they are of a clofer texture, & will work on the wheel;'

In Cobridge, between Burslem and Hanley, yellow clay two feet thick lay only seven feet below the surface with six feet of red marl immediately below that. (This in the vertical shaft of a coal mine). Stoneware clays and fireclays were also found within easy reach. The geological strata of North Staffordshire are unusual and, with vertical faulting and extensive outcropping, a very great variety of clays and coals were available on the surface to anyone who dug a little deeper than usual. Red marls were the basic clays used for most early pottery. They were glazed with lead, applied to the dry clay ware as powdered galena (lead sulphide) or ‘Smithum’. Lead provided the gloss, and iron or manganese provided the colour. The ‘pipe-clays’, or white burning clays, were not so abundant and were used more sparingly either to coat the face of an article before decoration - as in slip-trailed ware - or in small amounts as the decoration itself. Later, mugs and jugs had a thin coating of white slip over the dark clay to render them more attractive. 

Clay was dug out of the ground until pits were formed which for red clays became known as ‘marl holes’ . In the seventeenth century, potters dug clay out of the roads ( so as not to lose any land area from cultivation): eventually the roads were so dangerous that the offenders were forbidden by law to continue the practice. This was probably the origin of the term ‘pot holes’. 

Coal: 

Coal and ironstone were being dug in the area as early as 1282, and by 1467 the Great Row coal seam was being mined and used for firing pottery. The actual area within which the coal is exposed at the surface is 70 square miles, which is small compared to other coalfields, but along the central part of this the thickness of the seams is much greater than that of any other English coalfield except Lancashire. The coal is of the Black Band Group of the Middle Coal Measures. Although there is a wide variety of coal types, there are two of the greatest importance: these are ‘long flame coals’ - essential for firing pottery ovens.

Some of the famous seams carry names like - Great Row, Hard Mine, Bowling Alley, Cox’s Head, Peacock, Bassey Mine, Holly Lane and Mossfield. Because the coal seam emerged (appeared) at the surface it was dug out until the seam was followed underground in sloping tunnels called ‘footrails’ or ‘adits’. Some coal was mined in ‘Bell Pits’, where a shaft was dug to a seam, and the seam excavated until the danger of collapse made it unsafe, and the seam was followed by digging another shaft nearby. In the late eighteenth century, pottery manufacturers joined together to form companies to mine coal for their mutual benefit. One at Fenton Park Colliery was typical, in which the principal partners included Josiah Spode II, Thomas Wolfe and Thomas Minton.

"1600 meters of measures containing more than 30 seams over 2m thick" - one of the thickest sequences of coal-bearing strata in Britain, and producing 6-7 million tons p.a. by late C19

Iron Ore: 

Worked from medieval times; production increased in mid-C19 and often found overlying coal measures - mining ceased about 1940.

Other Metals: 

Lead, zinc and copper found around Mixon, Ecton and Weaver Hills. Ecton produced over 50% of the UK copper output in 1820, but all workings had ceased by 1890. Ores were smelted in Cheadle area... Thomas Boulton still manufactures copper products there.

Salt: 

For glazing, two main materials were used: - Lead, in the form of Lead Sulphide, Galena, was found in Derbyshire and may have been brought from Cumberland and North Wales as well, but Derbyshire was the main source. Salt, from Cheshire, where at Marbury, near Northwich, salt in the form of brine was mined. Salt glazing was practised for about 100 years in Staffordshire, so this close source of supply was an important factor. 

Cheshire and Stafford areas (Salt, Shirleywich) probably from Roman times. The salt was used for salt glaze pottery. on Salt glaze.

Limestone: 

Especially near Cauldon. Used for agriculture and iron industry.

Sand, gravel and sandstone : 

Sand: for glass making come from Moneystone near Cheadle;
Sandstone for building from Hollington before 1900
Sand and gravel from south of Newcastle (Acton, Willoughbridge) and Croxden near Cheadle

Unused Resources: 

A. Hot water: deeply buried below Crewe and Nantwich and unused as yet. 
B. Oil and gas: found in traces in 10 wells, but not on commercial scale.

– but a small gasfield deep below Lask Edge might have potential if prices rise:

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questions / comments / contributions? email: Steve Birks