canch

• canche, caunch

canch (plural canches)

1. (mining, historical) An upper or lower portion of stone that is removed to form a gradient between workings.
   • 1879, William Bailes, Student's Guide to the Principles of Coal & Metal Mining, page 17:

     An upcast fault is when the seam is thrown up; to counteract this a "canch" of top stone must be taken down outbye over from the fault, and a "canch" of bottom stone taken up inbye over from the fault, then level up to the bottom of your "canch" at the foreside of the hitch outbye over until you have a regular gradient to the seam on the hitch.

   • 1926, Institution of Mining Engineers (Great Britain), The Mining Engineer, page 281:

     I would like to know, for example, the length of time taken to cut the 125 yards of face with the bar machine, the number of fillers employed on the same length of face, and what number of gatewaymen were employed to do the necessary canch work at the face.