370 PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [JunC 4, 



appear under the deep beds of gypsiferous clays and marls of the 

 Spinney and Knighton Hills. 



The sandstone agrees very closely with the same formation in 

 Gloucestershire and Warwickshire, as described by Murchison and 

 Strickland in their memoir*, — even to the "pink tinge and small 

 fragments of decomposed felspar," as mentioned at pages 334, 335 

 of that memoir. The Keuper sandstone is described by them as 

 consisting, in detail, of the following members : — 



a. Finely laminated, flag-like, marly sandstone, of delicate 

 greenish and light-drab colours, alternating with marls, 

 20 to 30 feet. 



h. Thick-bedded, finely laminated, soft, siliceous sandstone, of 

 various colours, the prevailing one being a white or pinkish- 

 white, with occasional tints of green, purple, &c., 15 to 

 30 feet. . 



c. Finely laminated, flag-like sandstone, similar to a. 



At the boring in the vicinity of the Old Roman Wall these flag- 

 like marly sandstones were penetrated, and it was difficult to decide 

 whether it was the upper or lower member, until during the progress 

 of the boring the Red Clay was reached, which at once decided it to 

 belong to the latter ; the boring was carefully measured and gave 

 the following results : — 



Feet. 



Drift and gravels 40 



Thin, flag-like, marly sandstone 35 



Total depth 75 



These marly sandstones rarely exceed 4 inches in thickness, vary- 

 ing from that to half an inch ; generally they are 1 inch laminations, 

 and are separated by way-boards of green marl of unequal thickness 

 (in this respect resembling the same beds at Inkberrow, Shrewley 

 Common, and other localities in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire). 

 Their surfaces are so entirely covered with impressions and markings 

 as to be quite irregular and rough. The commonest markings are 

 broad unequal ripple-marks, — and small nodules and granular casts in 

 relief, which usually are considered as rain-markings ; together with 

 most abundant remains of Annelid-markings ; there also occurred a 

 single well-formed footstep, 4 inches in diameter, in form similar to 

 the well-known Labyrinthodont footmarks of Storeton in Cheshire. 

 The surfaces of these shales are crossed in all directions by cracks, 

 which had subsequently been filled in with a fine white sand. 



At the railway-cutting (at a distance of about two miles in a straight 

 line from the well), in excavating for ballast, for which the thick 

 beds (the middle member) are admirably suited, they have recently 

 penetrated these thin flag-like sandstones to a depth of about 2 feet ; 

 the following section (fig. 1) will illustrate this : — 



* Transact. Geol. Soc. 2nd series, vol. v. p.,331. 



