18 AYMESTBY DISTRICT. 



NO. 10. THE AYMESTRY DISTRICT. 

 This consists of the extreme northern angle of the county, and 

 belongs partly to the valley of the Teme, and partly to that of the 

 Lug. Its boundary may be roughly described as a line from Richard's 

 Castle, on the borders of Shropshire, on the east, to Presteign, on 

 the borders of Radnorshire, on the west. To speak more exactly, 

 ■ from Richard's Castle, three miles south of Ludlow, this line takes a 

 S.W. direction along the principal road to Mortimer's Rock, thence 

 it proceeds westward along the line of highest ground to Bj-ton Cross, 

 from which point it takes the turnpike road to Presteign. It has 

 been intended to embrace in Districts 10 and 11 the tracts occupied 

 by the SUurian rocks, so far as was consistent with the adoption of 

 boundaries which might readily be found. 



GEOLOGY. — This most interesting district requires a long 

 chapter of explanation, rather than a few brief notes. Such how- 

 ever, is beyond the scope of the present work. The Sdurian districts 

 of Ledbury, "Woolhope, May Hill, and Usk are Silurian masses up- 

 lifted through the Old Red rocks, and are surrounded, or nearly so, 

 by the deposits through which they have been faulted. At Ludlow, 

 Aymestry, and Kington, however, the Silurian strata prevail far and 

 wide towards the west, and if it were not for certain outliers of Old 

 Red sandstone near Clun, Presteign, and Radnor, we might doubt 

 whether the Old Red had been deposited above the Upper Silurians 

 of this district. However, there is no doubt upon the subject, for 

 in some instances patches of the Old Red rocks have been borne 

 up upon hUls of Silurian rocks, and preserved from denudation. 

 Indeed we may be sure that the Old Red sandstone was once con- 

 tinuous from Herefordshire to the Long Mountain, and North Wales. 



The Aymestry district takes in Ludford, though not Ludlow. 

 Too much cannot be said of the perseverance of the Ludlow Geolo- 

 gists, with Col. Colvin, Mr. Lightbody, and Mr. Salwey, as their 

 leaders, or of the admirable local museum which has sprung up 

 under their auspices. The discoveries made by these gentlemen, 

 and their coadjutors, Messrs. Marston, Pardob, and others, have 

 added great interest to the geology of Siluria and the Old Red Sand- 

 stone. The note I give for my readers respecting the Ludford and 

 Ludlow district, is " Go to the Ludlow museum, and ask for inform- 

 ation from the Ludlow naturalists." 



