THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 155 



These hills, however, are mere dwarfs when compared therefrom 

 with Bredon, 979ft., at the base of the tower, by far the largest of all the 

 outliers of the Cotteswolds. This hill stretches across the valley, and 

 forms a mountain barrier between the Vales of Evesham and 

 Gloucester. It presents a bold front towards the north, with tabulated 

 bluffs of Marlstone, and an escarpment of inferior O dite, which 

 crowns the hill. On the south it is gently rounded towards the plain, 

 a form of structure due, it would appear, to a fault which traverses 

 the hill from east to west along its southern termination, producing a 

 downthrow of the Upper Lias Shale, and Inferior Oolite against the 

 Lower Lias of the plain. 



The structure of the Cotteswold Hills is extremely simple, the 

 lower portion of their western slopes consisting of Middle Lias Shales, 

 and bluffs of Marlstone, on which rest the Upper Lias Clay and 

 Ferruginous Sands, the whole being capped by Oolitic Limestone. 



Leckhampton Hill exhibits one of the most typical sections 

 in the county of the three sub-divisions of the Inferior Oolite. 

 In general terms, it may be said to consist of three ancient 

 Coral Reefs, with intermediate shelly beds of Oolitic Limestones 

 superimposed upon each other. Resting upon the Upper Lias 

 Sands we have (1st) the Pea-grit, a brown ferruginous pisolitic 

 Oolite, full of flattened concretions, like crushed peas, and abounding 

 with Echinoderms and Mollusca. Among the former are Cidaris, 

 Stomechinus, Acrosalenia, Pseudodiadma, Polycyphus, Pedina, Hemi- 

 pedina, Pygaster, Galeropygus, Stellaster, and Pentacrinus. Of the 

 latter are thirty-six species of Lamellibranchiata, twenty species of 

 Gasteropoda, four species of Cephalopoda, with many Polyzoa and 

 Annelida. Above this comes the Lower Coral Reef, well seen " in situ" 

 at Brown's Hill, near Stroud, consisting of nodular masses of 

 Coralline Limestone, embedded in a cream-coloured Mudstone, many 

 of the Corals being highly crystalline. Here I have found Latomeandra, 

 Thamnastrcea, Isastreea, Axosmilia, Thecosmilia, Montivaltia. The Coral 

 bed is overlaid by a coarse brown ferruginous Oolite, forming the 

 Lower Ragstones, and containing Terebratula simplex, and T.plicata in 

 considerable numbers. 



The Building Freestones come next. They consist of thick-bedded 

 Oolitic Limestone, very hard and light-coloured, and emit a metallic 

 ring when struck with the hammer. The fossils are nearly all frag- 

 mentary and indeterminable, and at Leckhampton they measure 

 110ft. in thickness. Superimposed upon the building beds comes the 

 second Coral Reef, forming the Oolite Marl, consisting of a cream- 

 coloured Marl, with inconstant layers of Mudstone, the upper part 

 passing into a loose friable Freestone. Here are found in great 

 numbers Terebratula fimbria and specimens of Thamnastrcea, Isastrcea, 

 Axosmilia, &c. Associated with these are shells of Nerin<eu, Natica, 

 and Chemnitzia, and masses of Coral, chiefly Thamnastrcea Mettensis. 

 This Fimbria bed is a constant member of the Inferior Oolite in the 

 Cheltenham district and in the Northern and Middle Cotteswolds, but 

 appears to be absent in the Southern part of the range. 



