you. XvL (x)  EXCURSION—LICKEY HILLS II 
Before entering the private grounds of Barnt-Green House, Prof. 
Lapworth gave a general description of the geology of the neighbour- 
hood. The Lickey Hills comprise two ridges—the Rednal Lickey and 
the Bromsgrove Lickey. They originate at a point near Barnt-Green 
Station, but soon separate, becoming parted by a hollow that becomes 
broader and broader to the north-west. 
The Rednal Lickey is a mass of quartzite of Cambrian age, with 
rocks belonging presumably to the Uriconian at the south-eastern end. 
The Bromsgrove Lickey, on the other hand, is composed of the 
so-called Permian rocks in its northern slopes, and the pebble-beds of 
the Trias in its south-western flanks. 
Entering the grounds of Barnt-Green House, the Barnt-Green 
rocks were seen poorly-exposed along the course of a small brook. 
They are stratified deposits, and have a more or less persistent north- 
west and south-east strike (in consonance with that of the main axis 
of the Lower-Lickey ridge) although the actual angle of the dip varies. 
The rocks of most frequent occurrence are flaggy and shaly beds 
of green, grey, and purple tints, but there are also purple and 
chocolate-coloured gritty sandstones. The materials of which the 
finer grained beds are composed are greatly comminuted volcanic 
ejectamenta. All the beds appear to have been formed in water, and 
in spite of the amount of earth-crushing they have undergone have 
preserved well their original bedding. Intruded into the Barnt-Green 
deposits is a set of igneous rocks. Indications of a broad dyke of 
vesicular diorite were pointed out by Prof. Lapworth beneath a hedge- 
row in a field to the north-west. 
Dr Callaway agreed that the shaly beds lying in juxtaposition 
to the Lickey Quartzite were probably of Uriconian age. They closely 
resembled some of the volcanic rocks which—in the typical Salopian 
area—underlie a similar quartzite. Thirty-five years ago, the quartzite 
in Shropshire was supposed to be an Ordovician sandstone, altered by 
contact with the adjacent igneous masses, which were then regarded 
as intrusive and posterior. The discovery in the early seventies 
of the Upper Cambrian age of the Shineton Shales, carried with it the 
proof of the still greater antiquity of the underlying sandstone and 
quartzite. At about the same time, the igneous rocks were shown to 
consist of volcanic materials (lavas and ashes) originally ejected at 
the surface, and therefore older than the Cambrian quartzite. They 
formed the chief mass of the Wrekin chain of hills. Hence the name 
“ Uriconian.” Quartzite and other rocks of Cambrian age had since 
been identified in the Midlands at several localities, and the volcanic 
rocks subjacent to them might fairly be correlated with the Wrekin 
group. 
In the Bilberry-Hill Quarry, it was pointed out that the arenaceous 
zones were thinner-bedded than further to the north-west, and that 
there were more frequent intercalations of purple shales. In fact, 
they ‘strongly remind us, as a group, of those of the lower 
Hartshill Quartzite.” In the quarry in the Rednal Gorge the quartzites 
are destitute of shaly bands. 
