rRECARBONIEEROUS ROCKS 0¥ CHARNWOOD FOREST. 757 



rather picturesque ridge, is a bed, about three yards thick, of coarse 

 ashy grit, composed of quartz and felspar grains, with here and 

 there small fragments of slate. Below it banded slates again occur, 

 which are also shown in various exposures to the south at Blackbird's 

 Nest and Beacon Cottage. No rocks are visible in the direct line of 

 the section for about three quarters of a mile, till on the crest of 

 Whittle Hills we find an exposure of dark-green coarse slate (dip 

 not shown), agreeing with a similar exposure at the top of Nan- 

 panton. Two or three hundred yards beyond is the little quarry 

 whence the Whittle Hill derives its name, where the banded slates 

 are so compact in texture and indurated as to produce whetstones of 

 the very best quality. Some of these show curious distortions of 

 their stripe, due to the pressure which has produced their cleavage. 

 At some distance above this is a bed of coarse whitish ashy grit ; and 

 a whitish slaty schistose-looking rock is exposed to a small extent in 

 a field on the opposite side of the lane. Beyond this runs the anti- 

 clinal line. 



3. The district next to be described, that of the Hanging Bocks 

 and Beacon Hill, is one of the highest interest and variety, and gave 

 the first clue to the structure of this side of the country. It is also 

 extremely beautiful in its scenery, and is open to all visitors by the 

 liberality of the owner, Mrs. Herri ck. The Hanging Bocks (Hang- 

 ing Stones of the Ordnance map) is the name given to a series of 

 wild crags, three quarters of a mile long by a quarter broad, in a 

 grassy park, a demesne of Beaumanoir House. Outside this, at the 

 farmhouse by Pocket Gate, is a knoll of ashy slate, in which is a 

 quarry. The rock is much slickensided and crushed ; and though 

 the map assigns it a dip, we could not satisfy ourselves as to its 

 true inclination. But within the park, at the north extremity, 

 is a quarry showing banded slates magnificently, here extremely 

 hard, with conchoidal fracture, the finer beds, some of which are 

 rather thick, almost a hornstone. They dip at angles of from 40° 

 to 50° in a direction E. 10° N. On one of the great bedding faces 

 are seen two of those curious arrangements of concentric rings which 

 have been supposed to be organisms. The resemblance to any known 

 organism is of the most superficial character; and one objection 

 seems fatal. They lie in the plane of bedding, which makes a high 

 angle with that of cleavage. Though the latter is well marked, the 

 rings suffer no distortion. The larger, which is about seven inches 

 in diameter, consists of about three rather rippled concentric flat 

 rings ; the smaller is only about two inches in diameter. We regard 

 them as an accidental structure, due to some local peculiarity, but 

 have a decided opinion only on one point, viz. that they are in- 

 organic. 



Above this quarry are banded slates, with some coarser beds. The 

 lowest exposure, perhaps 100 yards further, is a massive gritty green- 

 ish rock, not itself showing bedding, containing many small frag- 

 ments of slate, with some pebbles and larger pieces, which sometimes 

 attain a length of several inches. At the south end there is another 

 slate- quarry. As is usually the case where the cleavage is good, 



Q. J. G. S. No. 132. 3 d 



