54 



BENTHALL HALL, IN SHROPSHIEE. 

 The programme, drawn up by Mr. Maw, comprised visits to 

 Wenlock, Buildwas, and Hauglimond Abbeys ; to tlie Wrekin, 

 and the buried city of Uriconium; to the Ehynchosaurus 

 Quarries, at Grinshill ; to the Breidden Hills, and Shrewsbury — 

 a splendid programme, Trhieh, favoured with fine weather and 

 Mr. Maw's admirable organisation, was carried out "■ an pied 

 de la lettre," to the singular delight and enjoyment of all 

 concerned. 



On Monday, 27th June — The party, twenty-five in number, 

 arrived at the Ironbridge Station, on the Severn Valley line, 

 where they Avere met by Mr. Maw, and conveyed to his hospi- 

 table residence, at Benthall Hall ; where Mrs. Maw had made 

 every preparation for the comfort and accomodation of so large 

 a party. 



On Tuesday, 8ih — After an early breakfast and a stroll 

 through the gardens at Benthall, (where Mr. Maw has under 

 cultivation a most interesting collection of European and North 

 African plants, a great proportion of which are the result of 

 his own travels, for the express purpose of procui-ing them) the 

 party proceeded to Benthall Edge, an elevated ridge of Wen- 

 lock Limestone and Shale ; where, at a height of GOO feet 

 above the sea — 500 above the Severn Valley — a magnificent 

 panorama is displayed ; bounded in front by the giant mass of 

 the Wrekin, while in other directions the eye ranges over a 

 wide expanse, in which the Longmynd, the Lawley, Caer Cara- 

 doc, and the Clee Hills form conspicuous features. Descending 

 the escarpment by the Vineyard and Wyke, the party made 

 their Avay to Tickwood, the residence of the Eev. W. H. Wayne, 

 junr. ; to whom they were afterwards indebted for two very 

 interesting papers on the Abbeys of Wenlock and Buildwas. 

 From Tickwood, a sylvan walk, of singular beauty, led them by 

 Farley Dingle to Bradley Quarry, remarkable for the presence 

 there exhibited of Bitumen in large quantities in the upper 

 beds of the Wenlock Limestone. Mr. Maw, with great show 

 of probability, attributes the presence of this mineral to 



