460 



garden in front, framing a lovely view across the Valley, has 

 been considered to be the earliest domestic screen in existence. 

 Eeturning to the break the members were too earnestly bent on 

 the lunch awaiting them at Portbury to give much attention 

 to the interesting geology around them. About the distance 

 of a bow shot to the E. of the Church was the shaft sunk, 

 not so long ago, for coal, the section passed through being : — 



Soil and N. Eed Sandstone... ... ... ... 10 ft. 



Dolomitic Conglomerate ... ... ... ... 11 ft. 



Pennant Sandstone and Marls, with lOin. vein of coal ... 489 ft. 

 The geological question being, whether if the boring had been 

 continued it would have passed through the Pennant Sandstone 

 to the true loAver Coal Measures beneath or whether these beds 

 were absent altogether 1 The remarkable nature of the geology 

 here being the fact that the higher ground is Carboniferous 

 Limestone, lower down on the slope the Pennant Sandstone 

 comes in, as proved by the boring, whilst still lower down to 

 the N. is a section of Carboniferous Limestone again. A 

 complicated series of faults must be called in to account for this 

 abnormal state of things. However, lunch at the Priory Hotel, 

 Portbury, drove all other thoughts away. Due justice having 

 been done to it, some of the more earnest minded antiquaries 

 resumed their researches afterwards. The Church was visited 

 under the guidance of the Rev. G. 0. Tyler, who lovingly 

 pointed out all its peculiarities. The contrast between the 

 restorations here and at the last Church visited was most 

 marked — nave, aisles, chancel and western tower have all been 

 reverently dealt with. The plainness of the piers and arches, 

 1 3th century work, was very noticeable, also the great width of 

 the Church. A stone bench runs round the north, south, and 

 west walls of the building. The " .squint " is one of the largest 

 in existence. The three Early English sedilia on the south 

 chancel wall are very elegant. Three other sedilia also exist, 

 somewhat plainer, on the south side of the south aisle. X. 



