﻿1861.] 



KIRKBY PERMIAN, SOUTH YORKSHIRE. 



291 



mentioned by Prof. Sedgwick as having been noticed by him at 

 Steetly, near Mansfield, and other places*. It is a common charac- 

 teristic of it generally. In the old quarries at Warmsworth sections 

 most illustrative of this character are to be seen, one of which is 

 represented in the accompanying woodcut. 



Fig. 2. — Sketch of the False-bedding in the Small-grained Dolomite 

 at Warmsworth Quarry, near Doncaster. 



The different beds are interwoven as it were, and form about as 

 curious a piece of undisturbed stratification as it is possible to con- 

 ceive. Beds which have a maximum thickness of 2 feet actually thin 

 out in each direction within a space of 20 feet, their places in the 

 section being taken by others almost equally brief in continuance. 

 It is thus difficult to trace a line of bedding for any great extent ; and 

 within the traceable extent even of the most continuous beds the 

 line is often a curved one of great irregularity. Indeed some of the 

 sections in the "Warmsworth Quarry f, as well as in others, are neither 

 more nor less than highly illustrative instances of false-bedding — a 

 character common enough in arenaceous deposits, but very unusual 

 in limestones. 



Another peculiar feature of this limestone is the manner in which 

 its planes of stratification are pitted — almost as though worked by an 

 artist, Prof. Sedgwick likening it to " artificial rustic work J." These 

 surfaces are covered as thickly as possible with little pits or hollows, 

 that extend for -i-th or ith of an inch into the limestone, with dia- 

 meters of about the same measurements (that is, when largest), their 

 depth and width often being much less. I have little doubt myself 

 of this feature being due to some peculiar concretionary action, ana- 

 logous to that which gave the Upper Limestone of Durham its 

 remarkable structures. 



For architectural purposes the limestone of this member is perhaps 

 unequalled in England. It can be obtained in blocks of any moderate 

 size, has a texture and hardness highly suitable for delicate mason- 

 work, is of a beautiful tint, and will withstand almost any amount of 

 weathering. It is therefore scarcely to be wondered at, that many of 

 the finest edifices in England are constructed of it. Its quarries 



* Trans. Geol. Soc, 2nd ser. vol. iii. p. 84. 



T The quarry here referred to lies at the west end of the village, and just to the 

 south of the main road leading to Conisborough. 

 | Trans. Geol. Soc, 2nd. ser. vol. iii. p. 84. 



