A. R. Horwood — Upper Trias of Leicestershire. 115 



bands of Red and Yellow Marl lie directly upon the older rocks. 

 The lighter sands are quite yellow, others distinctly ferruginous 

 and sandy. Some dark-red bands are full of local fragments of rock, 

 often coated with lighter marl and manganese. In the cutting from 

 the south the Keuper dips away to the south-west. A fault traverses 

 the north side west and east. In the fifth or old top quarry in the 

 centre of the east face there are cracks running vertically down 

 through the old rocks filled with Red Marl at 880 feet. Horizontal 

 beds of Red and Yellow Marl recently exposed to the north rise from 

 the floor of the quarry. All the joints of the rocks right up to 

 the top are stained with Red Marl. The beds in situ resemble those 

 at a lower level and contain much local rock, and are much browner 

 in tint than further off. W. Keay and M. Gimson have remarked 

 upon the extraordinary height to which these beds rise above the 

 surrounding country, the highest Trias in Britain, and add that it 

 must have been deposited from a much higher altitude than 880 feet, 

 and this would mean the total submergence of Eardon Hill. The 

 beds dip l°-3° to the south-east, and taking into consideration 

 their distance from the Rhgetics at Leicester there must have been 

 a thickness of 200 feet of Red Marl above the present level. In the 

 new quarry on the north side the newly-exposed surface of the rocks 

 here is untouched by wind action and presents a well-preserved 

 surface. Messrs. Keay and Gimson were unable to find any such 

 traces where, as one would expect, the old shore-line here once was. 



Along the road from Copt Oak to Charley Lodge there were formerly 

 pits in the Red Marl with red clay above of glacial origin (700 feet). 

 In a field 400-500 yards on the north-east the Red Marl contained 

 regular white soft sandstone horizontallj^ bedded. The valley 

 between Copt Oak and Charley is filled with Red Marl in which 

 a similar sandstone occurs, the same as the skerry at Bardon. 



To the east a boring at Newtown Unthank (280 O.D.) showed 

 drift 8 ft. 6 in.. Red Marl 211ft. 10 in.. Lower Keuper Sandstone 

 155 ft. 3 in., and 242 ft. 2 in. Coal-measures. At Botcheston in an old 

 pit a skerry crops out in the brickyard, which is probably on the 

 same horizon as the Orton-on-the-Hill Sandstone. 



At Kirby Muxloe, Barron Park, a boring showed soil and drift 

 36 ft. 11 in., Red Marl 80 ft. 5 in., and igneous rock (augite syenite) 

 1 ft. 2 in. The Red Marl is bleached with organic matter and 

 contains grey markings traversing the rock in vertical and diagonal 

 lines, due to acids in solution which have deoxidized the marl. 



The Red Marl is exposed near the Holy Well at Ratby not far 

 from the Roman Camp, and here presents a sandy character as at 

 Thurmaston. In the brick-pit at Glenfield Drift overlies Red and 

 Green Marls, used for brick- and tile-making, similar to the beds seen 

 at Groby. 



A conglomerate lies near the base of the Keuper in the Groby 

 quarries. There is also much scree. At the Dowery Quarry 

 variegated bands dip away from the syenite, and in the Large Sheet 

 Hedges Quarry horizontal bands lie over the syenite at various points 

 with a scree at the base. These beds are also extremely sandy, 

 less marly than in the surrounding district. It is certain that to 



