This model represents the side of a valley of denudation, with undisturbed horizontal beds of sedimentary rock when fully assembled. The model can also be taken apart to reveal the pattern of outcrops that would occur when faults are present. Significantly it illustrates how a single seam of coal, when subject to erosion and faulting, could outcrop in several areas and appear as multiple beds of coal. Thomas Sopwith (1803 - 1879) was an eminent geologist and civil engineer who pioneered methods of representing geological features. This set of wooden models were designed to represent geological situations with faults, folds, inclines and strata that were particularly relevant to the mining industry.