A HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE 



Pennine Glacier. The Pennine hills evidently nourished their 

 glaciers at the time the Welsh hills were swathed in ice. Their 

 lobes of ice descended down the main valleys the Dove and Derwent 

 carrying with them the rocks of the Derbyshire hills, and spreading 

 them out on the rising ground south of Uttoxeter, Tutbury and Derby. 



Clear as to its origin, and of comparatively recent geological date, 

 the Pleistocene period plainly shows its influence on the pre-existing 

 physiographical outlines of the county. Remove the drift deposits 

 on the north-western borders of the county, and a hollow, occasionally 

 sinking below sea-level, would extend where now there is a plain 

 from 200-300 feet above sea-level. Before the ice dropped its detritus 

 in the Trent valley, between Bucknall and Stockton Brook, it can be 

 clearly shown that the Trent flowed at the foot of the high bank of 

 Carboniferous rocks descending from Wetley Moor, and that it is 

 less in volume by that now carried ofF by the Stockton Brook, which 

 feeds the Churnet, but in pre-glacial times flowed into the Trent. It is 

 probable also that greater changes in drainage took place in the Dove 

 valley system, but this comparatively modern line of research has not 

 been worked out for this valley. 



RIVER DRIFT AND CAVE EARTH 



Between the final passing away of the ice-sheets and the earliest 

 records of the human period in Staffordshire a long time elapses, during 

 which the rivers were gradually assuming their present channels and rate of 

 flow. The history of these lesser changes of river shrinkage and alteration 

 of channel, accompanied by a slow modification of the fauna and flora, 

 has not been sufficiently studied throughout the county, and the results 

 obtained have depended largely upon chance excavations, so that our 

 knowledge is necessarily imperfect. 



The older river deposits consist of terraces of gravel, sand and loam 

 frequently met with at levels high above the present streams, though in 

 some cases glacial gravels may have been mistaken for former river 

 deposits and vice versa. 



On the west banks of the Trent, at Burton, old river gravels have 

 been met with at Stretton 100 feet above the present water-level of the 

 Trent. At a lower level, from 18 to 36 feet above the Trent, another 

 platform of gravel extends between Stretton and Horninglow. 



Further down in the valley the town of Burton is situated on an 

 old river gravel from 8 to 10 feet above the present water-level. The 

 material composing it consists of well washed sand and gravel, from 20 

 to 30 feet thick. High Street, Burton, and the older parts of the town 

 are located on this terrace, the gravels and sands of which for many years 

 alone yielded the water used in the celebrated breweries. Bones, jaws 

 and teeth of Sus scrqfa, Bos taurus var. longifrons, horse and those of the 

 dog and wolf have been obtained at times from these deposits. 



From the older river gravels of the Trent at Trentham Dr. Plot 



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