264 PROCEEDINGS COTTESWOLD CLUB 191 1 



by Lord Moreton, who has kindly supphed me with the parti- 

 culars. These can hardly be considered to represent the num- 

 ber existing at the time of Prof. Hull's survey. 



The transportation of these blocks has been referred to 

 the agency of ice, but this origin does not appear to have been 

 established. It is probable that if they had been transported 

 from the north or north-east, they would be associated with 

 other erratics from the same direction. Similar siliceous grits 

 are not found in situ within many miles of the Moreton Valley. 



Certain sandstones known as " grey- weathers " or " sarsen- 

 stones " are found on the Wiltshire Downs, and as far north as 

 the Oolitic plains near Swindon and beyond,' and it has been 

 stated that boulders of rock similar to the sarsens formerly 

 overspread the country nearly as far as Cirencester.^ 



Clays and Clayey Soils. — Clayey soils resulting from the 

 decomposition of argillaceous beds in situ have been erro- 

 neously described by Lucy as " boulder clays. "^ 



Clay, sometimes containing Drift pebbles, is occasionally 

 found in fissures in the rocks, as at Cirencester,' Taits Hill,^ 

 Chedworth,^ Woodchester-Park Farm,^ Tetbury** and Tangley.^ 



The pebbles and other siliceous material probably formed 

 part of a pre-Glacial Drift, remnants of which were sub- 

 sequently introduced along with clay into the fissures. 



Arenaceous Soils. — Soils, formed in the denudation of 

 arenaceous " solid " rocks, have in some cases been mistaken 

 for Glacial drift.'" Typical examples are seen on Ebrington 

 Hill and at Chapel House, near Chipping Norton. 



Gravels formed of Oolite debris. — These gravels are of 

 entirely local origin, and have been noted at all altitudes 

 between 300 and 1000 feet, and in most parts of the Cottes- 

 wolds. Some of the deposits are formed of angular debris ; 

 others of smaller and more rounded material. 



1 Prof. Hull refers to Oolitic gravels to the south of Cirencester as containing chalk-flints derived 

 from the waste of the chalk escarpments to the south and east. Quart. Journ. Geol. Sec, vol. .xi., p. 490. 

 Mem. Geol. Surv., Wilts, and Gloucestershire, 1858, pp. 42-3. 



2 Proc. Cottesw. Nat. F.C., vol. ii,, p. viii. 



3 Proc. Cottesw. Nat. F.C., vol. vii., pp. 50-51. See also vol. v., p. m; vol. vi., p. 116; 

 vol. vii., pp. 51-5 ; vol. xi., p. 12 : Dr C. Callaway, Geol. Mag. (1905), p. 217 ; Symonds, "Severn 

 Straits," p. 25. 4 Church, Proc. Cottesw. Nat. F.C, vol. v., pp. 239-40 ; vol. vi., p. 19. 



5 Smithe, ibid., vol. viii., pp. 5 and 6. 6 Lucy, Hid., vol. .\, p. 7. 



7 Ibid., vol. v., pp. 107., 109., III. 8 Playne and Lucy, ibid., vol. vii., p. 51. 



9 For some difference of opinion as to the nature and origin of this clay, the reader is referred 

 to comments by Dr C. Callaway in the Geol. Mag for 1905, pp. 216-9, and by Mr L. Richardson in 

 the Proceedings of this Club, vol. xvi., pp. 28-9. 



10 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xi., p 489 ; Proc. Cottesw. Nat. F.C. vol. v., p. 116. 



