Upper Formations of the New Red Sandstone Si/stem. 343 



Warwick stands. On the south, however, the sandstone rises quite conform- 

 ably from beneath the red marl ; while, on the other side, the stratification, 

 as far as the irregular bedding allows it to be traced, appears, in some places, 

 to dip towards the north-west*. (See Plate XXVII., fig. 4.) 



At Leamington, the same sandstone rises very gradually from beneath the 

 red marl on the south. The uppermost beds consist of very soft sandstone 

 and white sand, with alternations of marl. The following section was lately 

 exposed in cutting a large drain on the south side of the Leam : — 



a. Gravel with flints 6 to 8 feet. 



b. Light-coloured sand with an irregularly denuded surface, containing concre- 



tionary masses of sandstone 3 to J 



c. Red marl 4 



The concretionary masses in the sand contain numerous fragments of bone, 

 in a better state of preservation than is usual in the Warwick sandstone. They 

 appear, however, to have undergone much attrition ; and it is rare to find 

 any traces of their original form. A small tooth of a fish, probably that of a 

 shark, was also found in these sandy concretions. 



Below these rubbly beds, the sandstone assumes a degree of compactness, 

 which adapts it for masonry ; and many houses in the new town of Leaming- 

 ton, are built with the stone which has been extracted from their cellars. In- 

 deed, in beauty of tint, facility of working, and durability, the light-coloured 

 sandstone of Warwickshire and Worcestershire, like that of Grinshill, near 

 Shrewsbury, with which we shall presently compare it, is probably surpassed 

 by no other rock in the British isles. 



To the north of Leamington, the same variety of the red sandstone is quar- 

 ried at Blakedon Hill, where fragments of bones have also occurred in it. At 

 the northern foot of this hill, the subjacent sandstone, of a deep red tint, 

 commences; but the junction of the two rocks is not exposed. 



The quarry, which has been most productive in the remains of Vertebrata, 



* About one mile north of Warwick, and half a mile north of the canal, is a singular knoll of 

 sandstone, partly removed by quarrying, which must be very near the line of this fault; for at the 

 canal bridge, on the south-west, a section of red marl is exposed, and no traces of the subjacent 

 sandstone are visible. This fault, as it passes Kenilworth, is much obscured by the abundance of 

 gravel ; but its presence is proved by the fact, that there is no intervention of the buflf-coloured or 

 Warwick sandstone, between the red sandstone of Kenilworth and the red marl, which appears to 

 abut against it on the west. To the south-east of Warwick, the hill of red marl called Highdown 

 Hill, with a strip of lias at its eastern base, not improbably indicates the continuation of the fault, 

 above described. 



