VOL. XVIII. (3) EXCURSION— BEVERSTON. TETBURY, &c. 209 



Fullers' Earth. — Clays with shelly layers in the upper portion ; about 



128 feet. 

 Inferior Oolite. — Ragstones and limestones, (below Kemble) iiij feet. 

 Upper Lias. — Cephalopoda-Bed (? about 6 feet), " Cotteswold Sands " 



(? about 185 feet) resting on clay (? about 15 feet) ; about 206 feet. 



The upland around and between Tetbury and Cirencester is best described 

 as in the main level but slightly inclined to the south-east and diversified 

 with many frequently " dry " valleys. In a south-easterly direction, there- 

 fore, the rocks that succeed the Forest Marble must be looked for, and such are 

 the Combrash and wide-spreading Oxford Clay. 



The country where the limestones predominate is partly downland and 

 partly under the plough. The former is divided up and the latter enclosed by 

 dry stone walls, and this country is therefore in marked contrast to the hedge- 

 enclosed pastures on the Oxford Clay. 



To the north-west headward-growing tributaries of the Severn, namely, 

 the Frome and its tributaries with their affluents, have incised the Cotteswold 

 upland and have excavated deep valleys and combs. 



In their drive from Woodchester Station to Beverston the Members 

 passed over the Upper-Lias clay and limestone, Cotteswold Sands, Inferior 

 Oolite, Fullers' Earth and Great Oolite, and arrived upon the Forest-Marble 

 beds. Several deep borings had been put down in the district, so that the 

 exact thickness of the Great Oolite and Fullers' Earth was known. This 

 information was most valuable from a water-supply standpoint. 



Mr Richardson said that the Forest-Marble beds were of particular interest 

 in this district. The}' comprised, according to their late Honorary and 

 respected Member, Mr H. B. Woodward : — 



(a) Clays with thin bands of gritty Limestone : 10 to 15 feet. 



(b) Sands and calcareous sandstone ; 5 to 10 feet. 



(c) Oolitic and sandy limestones, passing down into more shelly lime- 



stones and clays : 20 to 30 feet. 



(d) Bradford Clay : 2 to 6 feet. 



The clay-beds (a) held up the water, and most of the cottages in the 

 district obtained their water-supply from comparatively shallow wells sunk 

 in the Forest-iMarble series. He understood that the water from the Forest- 

 Marble beds was harder than that from the Great Oolite. 



The sand and calcareous sandstone are well-developed on the Weston- 

 birt Estate, where their detailed succession is : — 



(a) Clay. 



(b) Tilestone (fissile sandstone) and sand : 5 to 10 feet. 



(c) Oolite and sandy limestone. 



After some discussion on the probable origin of many of the " dry " 

 valleys of the Cotteswold — such as that in which the Members were stood — 

 and water-supply, the Members went on to Tetbury. 



" The quaint little town of Tetbury lies just within the County of 

 Gloucestershire, close to the Wiltshire border. It was probably a military 

 station of the Britons, and of the Romans. Roman coins have been found 

 here, and the remains of a Roman camp existed till the middle of the i8th 

 century, when they were removed to make room for ' improvements.' ' Tete- 

 burie, in Langestrewes Hundred,' appears in the Domesday Survey. Fighting 

 took place here in the Civil War of the 12th century, between Stephen and the 

 Earl of Gloucester in person. A monastery, of which no trace remains, existed 



I 2 



