66 C. Fosa-Strangways — Geology of the 



this portion of tlie line, we have obtained a large number of sections 

 in the town of Leicester. These seem to show that the rise of the 

 ground to the soiath of Soar Lane, although based upon marl, is 

 mainly caused by the great accumulation of made ground which 

 occupies the site of the old Eoman city. This deposit is in many 

 cases fully equal to the rise of the ground ; in Bath Lane it appears 

 to sink below the level of the river, showing that the contour of 

 the ground and probably the position of the stream have altered 

 considerably since Roman times. 



After again crossing the river at West Bridge the railway 

 continues for some distance over the alluvium, which was found to 

 be of varying depth up to 20 feet at St. Augustine Street. On the 

 west side of the Bede House Meadow the foundations of the viaduct 

 showed that this alluvium rests abruptly against a steep bank of 

 Eed Marl. Entering a cutting of Eed Marl we find at its southern 

 end an equally abrupt termination, a terrace of sand and chalk 

 gravel being banked against the marl. This same gravel is seen 

 again under the Burton bi"anch of the Midland Railway, where it is 

 also banked against marls to the south; but is partially overlain by 

 dirty gravel and sand, which evidently belong to the Glacial beds. 

 The section appears to show that the drift gravel is more recent 

 than the banked terrace below, but this is probably not the case, and 

 as the gravel does not extend far it may have slipped over the edge 

 of the terrace. Further on in this cutting, just beyond St. Mary's 

 Mills, there is a thick deposit of cemented gravel, which has aroused 

 a good deal of local interest and speculation as to the source of the 

 cement, although such gravels are really not at all uncommon. 

 They are excessively hard, and have given the contractor a good 

 deal of trouble to excavate. 



The line now for the fourth time crosses the Soar valley, the 

 alluvium of which was found to be from 6 to 12 feet thick. South 

 of Aylestone there are cuttings showing from 8 to 20 feet of local 

 drift composed chiefly of Lias and Keuper fragments with pebbles 

 and a few granite boulders. This is surmounted by chalky clay in 

 the deeper cuttings, but there is evidently a good deal of the non- 

 chalky clay about here. 



In sinking for the piers of the viaduct across the valley at 

 Whetstone, there was found to be 10 feet of alluvium. Beyond this 

 the railway is carried on a lofty embankment past the villages 

 of Whetstone and Cosby, a distance of over two miles, before there 

 are sections of any note. In crossing the Midland Railway at 

 Cosby, which runs in a deepish cutting, the Boulder-clay was 

 found to extend to the base of the foundations some depth below 

 the rails, so that it is evident the drift must be of considerable 

 tliickness about here. This also is shown by the series of deep 

 cuttings that are continued for some distance to the south, and in 

 none of which the solid rock was reached. 



In the cutting under the Lutterworth Road the Boulder-clay rests 

 on sand ; which, rising to the south, forms a considerable outcrop, 

 but along the railway is soon succeeded by stiff, chalky, and local 



