450 T. C. Cantrill — Sjnrorbis-Limestones. 



at Long Kettle's "Wood, Frankley Green, consists of red maris, some 

 being 'fish-eyed', with red and pale-grey sandstones. Red marls 

 were exposed at the end of the pipe-trench 100 yards north-east of 

 Frankley Church. 



FranUey. — Here the bottom of the terminal reservoir, which lies in 

 the valley of Merritt Brook, between the church and Hogg's Farm,' 

 was being excavated to a depth of 12 feet, in red marls, with green 

 mottlings, containing beds of soft red sandstone, the bedding being 

 nearly horizontal. At the site of the filter-beds (Fig. 1, 3), which 

 are situated a short distance west of Hogg's Farm, there occurred, 

 among the marl and sandstone debris, numerous small pieces of 

 limestone which after much search yielded a single specimen of 

 Spirorhis pusiUus, together with a few Ostracods. 



As it was important to ascertain the exact source of these lime- 

 stone pieces, I communicated with Mr. Fred. W. Macaulay, the 

 engineer in charge, and from information he was good enough to 

 supply it appears that the limestone outcrop was met with at some 

 excavations for the filter-beds on the south side of Merritt Brook, at 

 about 250 yards N. 20° W. of Frankley Lodge Farm. The limestone 

 bed was found practically on the surface at the south side of the 

 excavations, but dropped below the bottom of the excavations 

 (10 feet below the surface) some 120 feet north of the outcrop. 

 Allowing for a slight fall of the surface in the direction of the brook, 

 this means that the limestone has a northerly dip of 5° or 6°. The 

 bed was found to vary in thickness from 1 foot to 1 ft. 6 in. ; the stone 

 was rather rotten and friable. Mr. Macaulay had previously noticed 

 pieces of the rock lying in an adjacent hedge, and evidently dug up 

 from the field during draining or ploughing operations. Here, then, 

 we have a third outcrop of Spirorhis-\im.e?,ione in the ' Permian ' beds. 



Now it will be observed, on an inspection of the Geological Survey 

 map (54 N'.W.) and the accompanying sketch-map (Fig. 1), that the 

 three points at which the limestones crop out lie on successively higher 

 horizons. Indeed, the Frankley Lodge outcrop, judging by the Survey 

 map, is only a few feet below the base of the trappoid breccia, i.e. only 

 a few feet below the top of the Middle subdivision (B). This, it is 

 true, assumes the breccia to be conformable to the beds below, but 

 I am not aware that any evidence to the contrary has been produced. 

 According to the Horizontal Section, sheet 50, which passes through 

 Frankley Lodge Farm, the base of the breccia is 450 feet above the 

 base of the Keele Beds. But whether the breccia is conformable or 

 not to the beds below, there seems no escape from the conclusion that 

 the Frankley Lodge outcrop is high up in the Middle subdivision (B), 

 and that the pipe-trench has proved three distinct limestone bands in 

 the local 'Permian'. Hence it follows that not only the Lower sub- 

 division (A), but the Middle subdivision (B) as well, must be 

 correlated with the Keele Beds of North Staffordshire and relegated to 

 the Coal-measures. 



The three limestones appear to lie respectively about 50, 250, and 

 450 feet up in the 'Permian'. Those proved at the Sand well and 



^ Six inch map, Worcestershire, 10 N.W. 



