South Western Part of Somersetshire, 359 



feet in thickness, and dips northward about 18°, The signs of stra- 

 tification are not very distinct in the conglomerate, but the beds 

 appear to dip at the same angle and towards the same point as the 

 superficial sandstone. This conglomerate is called Popple rock 

 (Pebble ?) by the quarriers, and is worked on account of the nodules 

 of limestone, which are picked out and made into lime. 

 / § 24. Opposite Bickham farm near Timberscombe, and at the 

 foot of the hill which may be considered the eastern termination of 

 Dunkery beacon, another modification of the conglomerate occurs. 

 It is composed of large irregularly-shaped flat masses of limestone 

 imbedded in a pale green sandy clay. Between these masses there 

 is interposed a conglomerate of smaller sized fragments, very analo- 

 gous to that found at Tivington, and the whole series is covered by 

 a friable red marly sandstone. The limestone is similar to that 

 found In the conglomerate at Alcombe. The lower part of the 

 valley on the south side of Grabblst hill Is chiefly meadow land, 

 but in some places where the ground Is broken, as In the road 

 near Wotton Courtney, and In the road from Timberscombe to 

 MInehead, I observed a red marly sandstone with grey patches con- 

 taining thin strata of a small sized very compact breccia composed of 

 fragments of a white indurated clay, united by a cement of clay 

 mixed with calcareous matter, and here and there small cavities in 

 it lined with calcareous spar. This compound I did not find In any 

 other part of the district. 



§ 25. The valley which separates the Quantock hills from the 

 mountainous country to the west does not present a uniformly even 

 surface: there Is along Its whole extent a succession of low hills 

 having a longitudinal direction parallel to that of the valley. There 

 are two ranges of these hills, but the most conspicuous are on the 

 side of the Quantock hills. The whole of this valley is occupied 



