A HISTORY OF NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 



separable or not. It would thus appear that in the type of Bunter which 

 prevails to the west the beds of pebbles are not entirely confined to the 

 centre. 



It has been suggested that certain sandstones discovered at the top of 

 the Pebble Beds in the east of Nottingham represent those at the Hemlock 

 Stone called ' Keuper Basement Beds,' but much confusion has arisen as 

 to the relative position of these and the Keuper Conglomerate (see post), 

 and the exposures referred to being now covered it is impossible to clear 

 the matter up. 



The thickness of the whole Bunter series cannot easily be deter- 

 mined in the west, and can only be estimated where the beds outcrop, 

 but in the east where covered by Keuper Beds we find the whole thick- 

 ness at Ruddington to be 218 feet, at Owthorpe 428 feet, at Gedling 

 366 feet, at Thurgarton 343 feet, and in parts where the Upper Red 

 Sandstones are left, as at East Retford, 616 feet, at South Scarle 542 feet 

 and at Southcar 434 feet. These figures however depend too much on 

 the interpretation of cores to be thoroughly reliable. 



THE KEUPER SERIES. The Keuper Beds throughout are sharply 

 contrasted with the Bunter. Instead of the coarse torrential deposits 

 with pebbles and falsebedding we find thin hard beds of constant thick- 

 ness and very fine grain separated by beds of clay of various shades of red. 

 The proportion of the hard beds to the clay varies. Towards the base 

 the hard beds abound, towards the top the clay ; and though there 

 is no sharp line of junction between them the former are called Keuper 

 Sandstones or Waterstones, and the latter Keuper Marls. 



The Keuper Sandstones or Waterstones. This last name appears to 

 have been given in the Midlands from their water-bearing property when 

 pierced through the overlying marls ' (though there is another account 

 of its origin), 2 and it is somewhat justified by the fountain of water 

 obtained from them in the South Scarle boring. Yet it appears a strange 

 title when used in the neighbourhood of the far superior Bunter Beds. 

 The base in many places consists of a hard calcareous conglomerate, with 

 sub-angular pebbles usually in greater variety than in the adjacent Pebble 

 Beds. The existence of this conglomerate in relation to the Keuper 

 Sandstones was first pointed out by Dr. Irving 3 in Red Lane and on the 

 hillside east of Sneinton as well as in the excavations for various 

 culverts in the east of Nottingham. It has also been traced (by Messrs. 

 Wilson and Shipman) at Red Hill three miles north of the city, at 

 Highfield House near the lake, at the south-west corner of Wollaton 

 Park and on the top of the hill at Bramcote village. It was formerly 

 easy to see it, whilst houses were being built over the line of junction in 

 the east of the city. Further north and east in the county it has not 

 been seen, possibly from want of suitable sections, except at Retford 

 where nine inches of it are recorded by Mr. Metcalfe in a well-boring. 



1 Hull, Triassic and Permian Rocks. 



2 See Woodward, Geology of England and Wales. 



3 Geol. Mag. 1874, 'The Geology of the Nottingham District.' 



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