Binney— Lower New Red Sandstones. 



51 



the Pevil's Arrows, those massive monoliths of the British settle- 

 ment which preceded ancient Istirium. As we proceed to the south, 

 and reach the Leeds Coal-basin, the Permian beds lose their simili- 

 tude to Millstone-grit ; and as we pass to the north and encounter 

 the Mountain-limestone, so also the resemblance to Millstone-grit is 

 lost ; nor is it recovered in Durham and Northumberland, nor does 

 it occur in any other part of the kingdom, though quartzose pebbles 

 and coarse sand accompany it in many parts. From this we may 

 draw a confirmation of the opinion, very probable on other grounds, 

 that the Lower Permian beds were of littoral aggregation, by car- 

 rents operating on the waste of the neighbouring coasts."^ 



Now it is clear from both the above authors that the Plurapton 

 Sandstone, which Professor Sedgwick thinks to be a continuation of 

 the coarse Sandstone on Bramham Moor, as it evidently is of that of 

 Knaresborough and Stainley, is undistinguishable from Millstone- 

 grits, and quite different in character from the Durham Lower New 

 Red Sandstone in the North, and the same rock in the South York- 

 shire Coal-field. In addition to this I propose to show that the rock 

 at Knaresborough contains common Coal-plants ; it is confined to 

 the Millstone-grit district, and has been found in that district alone, 

 and lying upon the same rock ; and that it has never been met with 

 in sinking through Permian beds to profitable Coal-measures like 

 the Whitehaven, Astley, and Moira Sandstones ; and, although 

 doubtless, like those rocks in its characters, it ought not to be con- 

 founded with them without further evidence. 



Tlie Bramham Moor Section. 



The Sandstone in this district consists of a coarse-grained grit, 

 false-bedded, composed of white quartz, mixed with large rounded 

 pebbles of the same mineral, and an abundance of decomposed fel- 

 spar. In some of the quarries the stone is so soft as to be easily 

 crumbled to pieces between the fingers ; and in others it has been 

 wrought for a building-stone, Bramham Hall having been built, as I 

 was informed, with stone furnished by one of the quarries. 



In the quarry at the edge of the Park, the Gritstone, there 

 moderately firm, dips to the S.S.W., at an angle of 10°, and is 

 covered by a bed of brown shale, thinning out, and succeeded by a 

 bed of yellow Magnesian Limestone full of Permian fossil shells. 

 The following is a section of the beds : 



Fig. 1. — Bramham Mooe, Section. 



1. Yellow Magnesian Limestone, 3 feet. 2. Brown Shale, 3 feet. 



3. Coarse Gritstone, exposed, 5 feet. 



^ Professor Phillips, I belieye, is inclined to class the Bramham Moor and Foun- 

 tains Abbey Gritstones as Millstones. This appears in his Geological Map of 

 Yorkshire. 



