190 REPORT— 1878. 



en,ters largely into the composition of the basement bed of the valley- 

 gravels at Burton-on- Trent, but in a more rounded condition. Gryphtea 

 and other Liassic shells are frequently found in the sand and gravel of 

 each deposit. 



During some drainage operations at Sinai Park, overlooking Burton- 

 on-Trent, many hundreds of tons of boulders were excavated, the weight 

 varying from a few pounds to half a ton each. I am in a position to 

 place on record one only of these boulders, which deserves a place in the 

 catalogue of Staffordshire erratic rocks. This was exhumed from near the 

 surface of some gravel workings at Postern House, three miles due west 

 from Burton-on- Trent, and where the letter P, of Postern House, in the 

 Ordnance Survey map, occurs. It lay at 180 feet above the Trent 

 Valley, and is an angular fragment of coarse Millstone grit five feet six 

 inches long by four feet six inches deep, one of its sides being planed 

 down by ice action. Another sub-angular boulder of Syenite was about 

 two years' ago obtained from the bottom of a well sunk in the valley 

 gravel at the brewery of Messrs. Truman, Hanbury, and Buxton, _at a 

 point just north of the letter B in Burton-on-Trent, between the road and 

 railway, as shown on the Ordnance map. It lay at twenty-four feet 

 from the surface, embedded in a foot or two of Boulder clay, which there 

 comes between the valley gravel and the Red marls, and which with 

 other similar evidences is conclusive proof of the excavation of the Trent 

 Valley hereabouts before the Boulder clay period. The boulder weighs 

 nearly a ton, and was removed for preservation to the residence of the 

 writer, about a mile south of Burton-on-Trent on the Lichfield road. 



Mr. James Plant continues his reports upon the Boulders in Leices- 

 tershire : — 



(1.) Isolated Boulders. 



The "great erratic" from Humberston (briefly described in a former 

 report) has been recently laid quite bare to the bottom. 



There is a great quantity of traditional material connected with it, 

 and it must have excited considerable interest in the " olden time." 

 Several distinguished antiquarians have written upon it, and described 

 these traditions. 



I believe that this block has a certain relation to the monolith " St. 

 John's Stone," exactly three miles S.W. by W. across the valley of the 

 river. Both blocks are on the rise of the land, and visible from either 

 locality if a fire was lighted on each at night. 



A festival (Romish) was formerly held near the St. John's Stone (a 

 vestige of old " fire, or sun worship ") on Midsummer Day, and this 

 Humberston block woidd be in the line of the greatest eastern stmrise. 



This boulder is situated in St. Mary's parish, on the Pochin estate, on 

 Kirby's Farm, Humberston, Leicestershire, close to the bend of the road 

 from Humberston to Thurmaston. It measures 8 feet x 7 feet x 5 feet, 

 and its weight is nearly 20 tons. It is pentagonal, edges sharp and an- 

 gular. Longest axis is N.W. by S.E. It has about six deep irregular 

 grooves two inches deep on the top, sides nearly vertical and smooth, 

 and the striations are in direction of the longer axis. It is composed of 

 the syenitic granite of Mount Sorrel, distant 5^ miles N.W. from the 

 locality. Many legends are connected with this block, and it is known 



