24 



above the sea. At Euscombe, a mile and three quarters off, 

 this spring level is at 411 feet; at Farmhill a more siidden fall 

 brings it to 300 feet ; and near Brimscombe it occurs at 240 

 feet, thus showing a fall of 260 feet in six miles, or at an angle 

 of 2^ degrees in the S.S.E. direction. 



My second section is at right angles to the first. It cuts the 

 line of the first section about a mile below Brimscombe, and 

 extends from above Kynley Bottom, in the Shortwood Valley, 

 to near Bisley. From this section it is seen that the strata dip 

 from the south and from the north, and must form, underneath 

 Minchinhampton Common, a synclinal axis. At Kynley Bottom 

 the junction of the Lias and Sands occurs at an elevation of 

 300 feet above the sea. In the Nailsworth Valley this horizon 

 is at 250 feet on the S.W. side of the vaUey, and at only 230 

 feet on the N.E. side, showing that some amount of disturbance 

 has occurred in the line of this valley. Where the section 

 crosses the Brimscombe Valley this horizon stands at 230 feet. 

 In the Toadsmore Valley the actual junction is not to be met 

 with, but the upper bed of the Sands stands at an elevation 

 which indicates that the strata rise towards the N.E. ; and on 

 extending the Hne of this section to Miserden Park the Upper 

 Lias is found at an elevation of 478 feet above the sea-level. 



From these sections it aj)pears that a depressed central area 

 exists in this district, bounded on the N., W., and S. by the 

 inclined beds just mentioned, only in the direction of the general 

 dip of the Cotteswold Hills, namely, to the S.S.E,, do the beds 

 slope from this central area. The deep-seated forces which 

 elevated the Cotteswold range acted generally so as to produce 

 this dip of the strata to the S.S.E. ; and in looking for the 

 cause of nonconformity in this instance, whereby the strata of 

 the hills lying immediately to the S. of the Eiver Frome have a 

 slight inclination to the N. E., it has occurred to me that this 

 has probably been brought about by that elevating force which 

 has produced in the Severn-side cliffs, near Gatcombe, an 

 anticlinal arrangement of the strata, and which has brought 

 Silurian strata to the existing surface near Berkeley. This 

 upthrust appears to have extended underneath the Cotteswolds, 



