58 C. Fox- Strang ways — Geology of M., 8., ^ L. Raihcay. 



Boulder-clay, with Lias and Chalk fragments resting on sands 

 and coarse gravels, which crop out to the south, but run down 

 under the Boulder-clay towards the north. The junction between 

 the two is very irregular, the sand forming arches beneath the clay. 



After crossing the Watling Street the line enters a thick deposit 

 of chalky gravel and sand, which is partly cemented into a hard 

 conglomerate similar to that mentioned above near Aylestone. This 

 conglomerate must be fairly extensive about here, as it has been 

 met with in a series of trial borings on the other side of the valley 

 near the Watling Street. In the deeper part of the cutting near 

 Newton this gravel is overlain by about 20 feet of grey Liassio 

 Boulder-clay, which appears to turn into coarse gravel at the 

 southern end. The outcrop of the gravel is very clear about here, 

 and there is a sharp junction with an underlying Boulder-clay. In 

 the cutting due east of Newton House another large boulder has 

 been touched ; it consists of a mass of yellow Oolitic limestone 

 15 yards in length,^ The Boulder-clay also contains a curious ball 

 of sand, which is concentrically stained and looks very similar to 

 a concretion in harder rocks. Between this point and Kugby the 

 line keeps on Chalky Boulder-clay, but there are no sections of any 

 importance. 



In crossing the valley of the Avon opposite Eugby station the 

 blue Lias clay was found at a depth varying from 5 to 17 feet 

 below the surface of the alluvium, and showing thi-ee or four 

 depressions where the old streams have hollowed out channels in 

 the solid formation. The deepest part of the old valley appears 

 to correspond with the present course of the River Avon ; but there 

 is another deep channel 530 yards to the south of this, and 250 yards 

 south of the present Clifton Brook.^ The alluvium consists mainly 

 of clay and loam, except towards the southern side, where there is 

 a considerable amount of gravel, 15 feet 6 inches in one of the 

 excavations. 



On the south side of this valley the line cuts into the great 

 plateau of gravel and sand upon which Rugby stands, and 

 which has a maximum thickness of 22 feet, but in some places 

 is not more than 3 feet thick. These gravels are of a fairly uniform 

 character; they extend to the brow of the hill just beyond the 

 Dunohurch and Hilraorton Road, where they form a sharp bank 

 overlooking the Lias valley beyond. They appear to rest directly 

 on the Lias shales below throughout the greater part of the 

 cutting; but whether a Boulder-clay intervenes in some places was 

 not clear, as a great part of the ground had been sloped down. 

 From these shales the following species, which have been 

 determined by Mr. E. T. Newton, were obtained : Ammonites 

 oliHohtus, Simp , Am. bifer, Quenst., Am. trivialis, Simp., Am. 

 curvicornis ? Schlon., Belemnites hreviformis, Voltz., and Nautilus. 



1 This is only about a mile from Brownsover, where something of the same 

 character was met with by Mr. J. M. Wilson. — Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xxxi, 

 p. 355. 



^ From information supplied by Mr. A. W. H. Carson, the resident engineer. 



