GEOLOGICAL ADDRESS ON THE TOP OF THE 

 TITTERSTONE GLEE HILL. 



BY THE REV. J. D. LA TOUCHE. 



Ladies and Gentlemen,— If, starting from the base of the hill on \(hich 

 we stand, we were to traverse a straight line in a N.AV. direction, and, as we 

 advanced along this line, were to observe the inclination of the rocks wherever 

 exposed to view, we should find that, as a general rule, they all fall away or 

 dip to the S.E., until we arrive at the Longmynd, that dark range of hiUs 

 which nearly bounds our view from this point; but on arriving there, any 

 observant person would be much struck by the fact that the dip of the rocks 

 would be exactly reversed— that they are inclined to the N.W., and at a 

 very much higher angle than before. The conclusion to be drawn from this fact 

 is inevitable, viz., that that high ground which stretches for a distance of some 

 20 miles in a N.E. and S.W. direction is the centre of a vast upheaval of the 

 strata which had previously been deposited horizontally. 



It is evident that for the most part these rocks which are now so much 

 tossed about in so many directions and at so many angles, were once lying 

 level at the bottom of the sea, and that their present position is due to the 

 disturbing forces which have acted upon them from beneath. Here, then, before 

 us is a grand instance of this disturbing force. The Longmynds are the axis 

 of this elevation, which has thrown off on both sides the more recent rocks which 

 have been inclined at angle corresponding to the application of the force which 

 has disturbed them. Just peering over the tops of the Longmynds, and apparently 

 resting on them, we see a few projections. These projections re;»lly are part 

 of a ridge lying behind that range, and separated from it by some miles. They 

 are called the Stiperstones, and are gigantic masses of quartzose grit, which 

 stand out on the summit of the hiU, the rest of the stratum having been washed 

 away or denuded. This Stiperstone range is by Sir R. Murchison supposed to 

 be the same as the Lingula flags of Wales, but Mr. Salter tells me that the 

 evidence that it is so is slight, and that in his opinion they have more appearance 

 of belonging to the Arenig rocks of "Wales, which, as here, lie at the base of the 

 Llandeilo. This latter series occupies the fine undulating country about Shelve 

 and Comdon, and is in some parts highly fossiliferous. The thickness of these 

 several strata is veiy great. Starting from Church Stretton, where, as I have 

 said, the break occurs on this side, and travelling westward, we pass acroEB 



