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LINCOLNSHIRE NATURALISTS AT SLEAFORD, 
Rev. E. ADRIAN WOODRUFFE-PEACOCK, 
Vicar of Cadney; General and Botanical Secretary, Lincolnshire Naturalists’ Union; 
: Curator of the Lincolnshire County Herbariunt, 
THE seventh meeting of the Lincolnshire Naturalists’ Union was 
held at Sleaford, South Lincolnshire, in the centre of Natural History 
Division 14, on Bank Holiday, August the 5th. A more unfortunate 
date could hardly have been fixed on, Many members were away 
from. home, the weather had been unsettled for three weeks before, 
and the trains from all quarters were unusually late. A fair muster 
of old workers turned up during the course of the day ; and as they 
were able to arrive three parties started from the town. The first 
and third followed the course of the Slea west through the parishes 
of New Sleaford, Holdingham, South Rauceby, and home by 
Quarrington ; the other party went east through Evedon. Everyone 
was pleased to welcome Mr. J. Larder, of Louth, again in the field 
as an active worker. 
The following is a summary of the reports of the sections that 
were represented. 
Mr. F. M. Burton, F.L.S., F.G.S., writes:—The geology round 
Sleaford is of a highly interesting and attractive character, having 
exposures of various sections of the lower, middle, and upper 
oolites, which can be easily examined on the surface. The town 
itself is built partly on cornbrash—the uppermost series of the 
lower oolite—and part (the centre) on alluvial gravels; while the 
Oxford clay of the middle oolite crops out on the east. With all 
these facilities the wonder is that the study of geology is not followed 
by many of those who live in the town and its vicinity. Leaving 
the railway station and passing the site of the old castle, the founda- 
tions of which only remain, and which stands on alluvial soil, we 
reached the River Slea, and followed its left bank westwards to 
South Rauceby. ‘Then after keeping on the gravel-beds for about 
two miles, we came to a disused stone-pit in the Lincolnshire lime- 
stone at Bullywells, or Boilingwells, a source of the Slea. The 
rocks here appeared very free from fossils, and those we saw were 
mere broken fragments. On the rocks, however, recent species of 
molluscs, such as Helix virgata and H. caperata, were plentiful. To 
the north of this pit is a narrow band of the upper estuarine clays of 
the great oolite ; and about halfa mile further to the west we reached 
Nov. 1895. wed 
