HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE. 35 



found a thin black peat-moor soil, and on the hilly parts, poor sand, 

 gravel, or rock. 



The Southern part of the county has some peculiarities, and is 

 less level than the middle. The limestone hills, and cliffs of Sedg- 

 ley and Dudley Castle, rise to two or three hundred feet above 

 the surface, and furnish an inexhaustible supply of that material ; 

 while Rowley Regis exhibits a striking singularity, being in itself 

 an insulated mountain, composed of a species of granite or prime- 

 val stone, ending in various peaks or summits, but covered with a 

 rich vegetable earth. The loftiest point, called Turner's Hill, 

 s the most elevated ground in the south of Staffordshire : the 

 other highest points of Rowley Mountain, are Oakham and Corney- 

 hills. The base of this mountain is composed of an extremely hard, 

 rusty-blue coloured substance, called Rowley rag-stone, not at all 

 gritty or calcareous : it lies in an infinite number of fragments, 

 some of them of immense size, both beneath, and upon, the sur- 

 face. Large quantities of it are carried to Birmingham, and other 

 places, for paving and repairing roads. The rock called Rowley 

 hail-stone is of great size, and similar quality. The surface-soil is 

 a good marly loam, retentive of moisture even in its elevated 

 situation, and produces a good herbage of grass. The roads in 

 this parish are rocky precipices, and most of the heavy carriage is 

 performed upon the backs of horses. 



The hills of Clent, to the south-west of Rowley, are composed 

 of stone-trash (traccia arenacea,) or innumerable small fragments 

 of broken rock-stone intermixed with a red sandy loam: the lower 

 ground partakes more of a marly or loamy quality. The stone- 

 trash apparently goes to a great depth, and by quickly imbib- 

 ing rain, renders the soil porous and liable to burn in hot 

 summers, except where the moisture is retained by the marly 

 loam abounding in the surface-soil. A considerable part of Clent 

 hills is sheep-walk, though covered generally with a fine turfed 

 herbage : these hill-summits nearly equal those of Rowley in height, 

 and seem capable of the turnip and barley culture. There is a 

 great deal of waste land in this part of the county, producing heath, 

 fern, sheep's fescue, matt grass, white galium, and sheep's sorrel. 



Kinver is on a light gravelly soil with a grit-rock bottom, of various 

 quality, more or less fertile : the precipice of Kinver-edge has al- 

 ready been noticed. Some progress towards improvement is making 

 in a considerable tract of land in this neighbourhood, inclosed some 

 years ago. West of Kinver, the soil changes into a strong clayey 



