U, Silurian and Old Red in 8. Staffordshire. 439 



Halesowen, 4 miles south-east of Saltwells, the Ledbury Passage or 

 Temeside Beds were pierced, containing Lingula cornea and 

 Cephalaspis Murchisoni, etc' Mr. Jukes ^ had, however, already 

 recorded red beds at the Level Colliery ^ and at the Leys Colliery, 

 Brierley Hill, at 290 and 120 feet below the Thick Coal, and Salt 

 Water at Corbyns Hall, and Shut End, Kingswinford, at 172 and 

 111 feet below the Thick Coal. He pointed out the possibility of 

 Old Red Sandstone forming the floor of the coal-field at the Level 

 and Leys Collieries. Kingswinford is 2-5 miles to north-west, and 

 the Leys Pits 2 miles west, and the Level Pit only a quarter of 

 a mile west of Saltwells. These localities are shown on Map, Fig. 1. 

 In 1878 Mr. Greorge Jones contented himself with the record that 

 ' Silurian Beds ' were exposed at Netherton.* 



The uppermost Silurian and Lower Old Bed Sandstones of Saltwells 

 are exposed in the northern part of the Netherton Anticline in an 

 area, 400 yards or less in width from east to west, and 1 mile long 

 from north to south, commencing close to Brewins Tunnel and ending 

 at a point near to Saltwells Inn. Two miles south of Saltwells Inn 

 the Silurian again emerges at the Hayes, near the Lye, within an 

 area 100 yards from east to west and 300 yards from north to south. 

 The strike of the rocks is in both areas partly S.S.W. to IS'.IS'.E. and 

 partly S.S.E. to N.I^.W. W.S.W. to E.N.E. faults cross the anti- 

 cline both at Saltwells and the Hayes. The Aymestry and Upper 

 Ludlow Groups also occur at Sedgley, 4 miles to jST.N.W. of, and at 

 Turner's Hill, 3 miles to north-west of Saltwells. The four areas 

 are shown on the Map, Fig. 1. 



We have endeavoured to arrange the uppermost Silurian of South 

 Staffoi'dshire in the same way as that at Ludlow, so carefully 

 classified by Miss Elles and Miss Slater.* In South Staffordshire we 

 cannot identify some of their zones, and certain, fossils reach higher 

 horizons than at Ludlow. 



Their main divisions were as follows : — 



m ■■< { F. Temeside shales with Bone-beds F'' and F'' and grits. 



rrouTi I ■^' Do'^^ton Castle Sandstones with the Platyschisma 



^' [ bed (E*"). 



Upper r j)_ Chonetes flags with Ludlow Bone-bed (D'=). 



Ludlow < (. BMjjichonella AsLgs. 



Aymestry f B. Dayia Shales. ' 

 Group ( A. Conchidmm limestone. 



Description of the Beds. 

 1. The Aymestry and Upper Ludloio Groups. — These, in their 

 entirety, are exposed at the Hayes, dipping 40° east where the main 

 road from Stourbridge to Halesowen passes in a cutting across the 

 Netherton Anticline. 



^ Proc. Birmingham Phil. Soc, vol. v, p. 138. The specimens are at the 

 University Museum, Birmingham. 



- South Staffs. Coal-field, 2nd ed., pp. 81, 82. 

 ^ Cf. Silurian System, 1839, p. 478. 

 * Proc. Dudley Geol. Soc, vol. iv, p. 17, 1878. 

 " Q.J.G.S., vol. Isii, p. 195, 1906. 



