Of the rivers of this county, by far the largest and most important in every point of view is thc Trent, which rises near Biddulph, in the moorlands of Stafford shire; descends from the hills in a rapid current, aug mented by numerous rivulets from Cheshire and Lan cashire ; enters Nottinghamshire near Radcliffe-upon Soar ; passes thc county town ; proceeds by a slow tor tuous course through a highly cultivated country to Newark, where it suddenly takes a bend towards the north ; leaves the county at Heck Dyke; and at length falls into the Humber, after a course of nearly two hun dred miles. It loses the influence of the tide at Gains borough, about eight miles above Heck Dykc, and is no longer navigable for ships of any great burden; but ves sels of a flatter construction are constantly occupied in it as far as Burton in Derbyshire. The Trent canal, a side cut or ten miles, enables those boats to avoid the only shoals, (twenty-one in number, which occur in its course. The Soar, the Erewash, the Idle, the Lene, are branches of the Trent, but present little worthy of notice.
Nottinghamshire is distinguished for the salubrity of its climate, and especially for its dryness. The Der byshire hills serve as a rampart against the clouds pro ceeding from the west, and rapidly attract those arising from the east. At an average, little more than 20 inches of rain falls in this county during the year ; a compa rative louness of level contributcs to augment the warmth arising from this extraordinary absence of mois• ture; and it is remarked, that seed-time and harvest occur almost as early here as in the most southern dis tricts of the ktogdom.
In regard to the qualities of its soil, this county is divided into four principal districts; the district of coal and limestone; that of sand and gravel ; that of clay ; and that along the banks of the Trent. The first of these divisions forms a narrow stripe of land contiguous to the borders of Derbyshire, and extending from the latitude of Worksop to that of Nottingham, with a me dium breadth of about two miles, the broadest part be ing towards the south. It is chiefly arable, and contains several woods. The second district, that of sand and gravel, runs parallel to the former, but is much longer and broader, stretching from Nottingham by Worksop and Bawtry, quite up to the northern boundary of the county, where it occupies the whole extent of it from the Trent westward. Its length is about 34 miles by a medium breadth of seven : it includes the whole of the ancient forest of Sherwood. The third, or clay district, is again subdivided into two—the north clay, and the south clay : the former extends from Nottingham by Taxford to a little below Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, the length being about 34 miles, the average breadth about fi‘c ; it is bounded on the west by the preceding, or sand and gravel disttict, and constitutes the most fer tile portion of the county, owing in part to a considera ble intermixture of sand, which renders the mould more friable and fitted for agricultural labour than clay lands usually are. The south clay subdivision reaches from
Newark to the borders of Leicestershire, a length of 20 miles, with a mediurd breadth of five : it includes the vale of Belvoir, or Beever, and the \Voids. It is sepa rated from the north clay subdivision by the fourth prin cipal district, that of Trent-bank, which extends along both shores of the river during the whole of its course through the county, the length being SO miles, the breadth varying from one to six. It is in general a mel low vcg-ctable mould, on a bottom of sand or gravel, which sometimes shov.- themselves on the surface. South wards it terminates in a point at Sutton-upon-Trent, the two clay divisions being in this place separated only hy the liver : northward, towards the borders of Lincoln shire, it at length degenerates into a bleak barren soil, rnoory, and full of swamps.
Underneath this diversified and generally produetive soil, there occur in various places considerable beds of useful minerals. The coal-field of this county has many. characteristics common to it with the coal-fields of York shire, Northumberland, Derbyshire, and Durham. It begins at Teversall, and runs southward as far as Tro wel' and Wollaton. Between the brook Erewash and Derbyshire many pits have been sunk, the produce of which, transported by land or water carriage, is exten sively consumed in distant as well as adjoinmn. parts of the country. Eastward of this tract is found a large bed of limestone, which seems to overlap the coal, and is supposed to be a continuation of the great Durham bed, which terminates in the coast at Sunderland. It is copiously worked, both for mortar and manure. A kin dred fossil, gypsum or alabaster, is found in great abun dance. It is quarried and converted into plaster of Pa ris at Newark, Gotham, Beacon Hill, and several other places. Marl and building stone arc also generally dif fused : the latter article forms a considerable branch of trade at Alaplebeck, and also at Mansfield, where the exportation of it has, since the year 1819, been much fa cilitated by a fine rail-way connecting the town with Pinxton on the Grand Junction Canal. The Mansfield stone, a species of marble, is of a close structure, and of a white cream-colour, durable, and fitted to receive a beau tiful polish. Its hardness, however, renders the working of it so expensive, that more generally it is burnt and used as lime.