3 



these olays all the joints and fissures of the rocks are filled with 

 water up to a certain level, varying with the quantity of rain which 

 falls at different periods of the year. 



Mr. T. C. Brown observed that in the fissure which supplied the 

 first gush of water to his well at Further Barton, there were indications 

 of a considerable current at the depth of 100 feet, afforded by the 

 sand polished surfaces of the rock. 



" But the Cotteswolds Club does not confine its wanderings to the 

 hills ; our district legitimately extends to the Severn on one side and 

 to the Chalk Downs of Wiltshire on the other. From the tower 

 of the Agricultural College we can look over a wide extent of 

 undulating country, bounded in the distance by the blue hills of 

 Wiltshire, and presenting in the middle distance a lower range 

 extending from Faringdon Clump to Deny Hill. We are on the 

 S.E. boundary of the Cotteswold Hills, and the country before us 

 exhibits a different geological and agricultural character. It is 

 watered by numerous streams, and presents an infinite variety of 

 soil and culture ; oak woods and elms succeed the interminable beech 

 woods of the hills, and pasture and water meadows are frequent." 



In order to obtain a general idea of the nature and succession of 

 the subsoils (or strata) of the whole district, we may conveniently 

 pursue the " Ermine Way," which coming from Newbury through 

 the Wanborough Downs, runs almost in one straight line to 

 Cricklade, Cirencester, Birdlip, and Gloucester, passing over in 

 succession the whole of the Oolitic strata in the following order : — 

 1. — Portland stone. 

 2. — Kimmeridge clay. 

 3. — Coral rag. 

 4. — Oxford clay. 



Kelloway rock. 

 5. — Great Oolite : subdivided into 

 Corn brash. 

 Forest marble. 

 Bradford clay. 

 Bath freestone. 

 Stonesfield slate. 

 6.— Fuller's earth. 

 7. — Inferior Oolite. 

 8. — Lias. 

 1. — The Portland Stone is seen best in the quarries near Swindon 

 Old Town : it is the only stratum in the series which appears to 

 have been partly formed on dry land, or in fresh water ; the rest are 

 entirely of marine origin. 



2. — The Kimmeridge Clay occupies the valley in which Swindon 

 station and New Town are situated. 



3. — The Coral Rag rises up from beneath the clay, and forms the 

 hills about Strattom Saint Margaret's, Pen "Hill, and Blunsdon. 



4. — The Oxford Clay occupies the whole of Braydon Forest, and 

 the wide valley around Cricklade, but is often covered by thick beds 



