498 W. C. Lucy — Drift of Charnwood Forest. 



ascended the hill by the road on the N.E. side, and, on reaching a 

 small plateau, at an elevation of 110 feet above the river Soar, my 

 attention was attracted, in a hole recently made, to some small pieces 

 of white stone, apparently resembling chalk, which, on examination, 

 I found to be chalk. This unexpected discovery induced me to notice 

 very closely the place where they came from, and I found a surface 

 soil, varying from one to two feet, in which were some New Eed 

 pebbles, and angular pieces of the Sorrel rock ; underneath was some 

 tenacious clay, like Boulder-clay, three to twelve inches in thickness, 

 and resting on New Eed Marl, with «, good deal of small chalk 

 embedded in it ; some pieces were, however, larger than a hen's egg, 

 very hard, and showing evident marks of Glacial striation ; th^re 

 were also several angular flints, one bit of Oolite, evidently derived 

 from the Coral Eag of Yorkshire, and two small Lower Lias 

 Gryphites, the Gt. incurva. 



As the Barrow beds, to which the Gryphsea belong, were in the 

 plain about a mile" to the N.E., their occurrence in such a position 

 suggested to my mind how great a change the country must have 

 undergone within comparatively recent Geological time. 



A few days afterwards, I again visited the hill, and on this oc- 

 casion was accompanied by Mr. Hamblyn. We found more chalk 

 and angular flints, and traced small pieces of the latter to the sum- 

 mit of the hill,, which is at an increased elevation of 80 feet. As the 

 Soar below is about 200 feet above the sea-level, the highest point of 

 Mount Sorrel is nearly 400 feet high. We saw also some fine 

 gravel, formed of the disintegrated rock of the hill. 



The flints I afterwards traced to the Beacon Hill, Bawdon Castle, 

 and in a field just after leaving Copt Oak, on the left hand side of 

 the new private carriage road, made by W. P. Herrick, Esq., to his 

 property at Bardon Hill, where draining had lately been done, they 

 were in abundance. Throughout the whole forest I found they were 

 rarely absent. 



The Northern Drift, called by the inhabitants " Boulders," is, 

 in. places, largely scattered over the surface of the ground. I 

 found them extending far up the N.W. side of Bardon Hill, and 

 I am disposed to think they attain rather a higher elevation than 

 the flints. 



There is a great quantity of local drift, derived from every rock 

 of which the hills are composed, and some of very large size, many 

 boulders weighing from one cwt. to at least a ton ; and near to 

 Charley T met with a large block of granite well striated. 



The great interest of the Charnwood Forest seems hitherto to 

 have been mainly confined to the age, nature, and composition of the 

 rocks ; but I venture to suggest that, to the Physical Geologist, there 

 is much to engage the attention in the evident remains of an exten- 

 sive denudation and meteoric abrasion in the numerous valleys 

 which intersect Charnwood. 



With the object of tracing the gravel into the plain, I drove from 

 Woodhouse Eaves to Leicester, and, on my way, found it, as I ex- 

 pected, on the high flat ground of Thurcaston, which extends to 



