UPPER OLD RED SANDSTONE. I45 



Beds of the age of the Upper Old Red Sandstone may also have 

 been reached in some of the deep borings in and near London. 

 (See p. 140.) 



The Upper Old Red Sandstone is used for building-purposes, and for road- 

 metal, whilst under the name of " firestone " it has been employed for making 

 hearths. ' A greyish-brown sandstone, quarried near Chepstow, was used in the 

 construction of Tintern Abbey : the stone has also been worked near Monmouth, 

 and near Crickhowel. The conglomerates have been used as cyder-millstones. 

 When disintegrated, as at Beacon Hill, on Mendip, these beds have been worked 

 for gravel. 



The outline of the country formed by the Upper Old Red Sandstone is generally 

 hilly and undulating. The soil, pale red and stony, is generally unproductive, and 

 is frequently found as moorland, wet and boggy in places. This is the case on the 

 Mendip Hills, where the sterile character is exaggerated by elevation and 

 exposure. - 



* The term Firestone is generally applied to rocks that cannot be 'burnt,' and 

 are therefore capable of withstanding great heat. 

 ^ Buckland and Conybeare, T.G. S. (2), i. 221. 



