XIV. On the Oolitic District of Bath. 



By WILLIAM LONSDALE, Esq. F.G.S. 



(Communicated by Dr. Fitton^ P.G.S. &c. &c.) 



[Read February 6th, 1829.] 



IHE follovvin": memoir relates to the oolitic district in the neighbourhood 

 of Bath. It was prepared at the suggestion of Dr. Fitton and II. T. De la 

 Beche, Esq., from the notes which a residence near that city had enabled me 

 to make. It is necessary, before I proceed, that I should state the sources 

 from which I have derived information. The vicinity of Bath was the scene 

 of Mr. Smith's earliest investigations; and in following the footsteps of my 

 celebrated precursor, I have to acknowledge the assistance I have received 

 from his Geological Map of Wiltshire, a production which bears ample testi- 

 mony to his skill as an original and careful observer. From the Map of Messrs. 

 Conybeare and De la Beche of " The country twenty-four miles around Bath," 

 ] have also received much valuable information. I am indebted to the "Out- 

 lines" of the Rev. William Conybeare and the late Mr. Piiillips, for all ray 

 directions relative to the "external characters" of the oolitic formations: 

 and lastly, to the Rev. B. Richardson of Farleigh, a gentleman long and 

 extensively known as a diligent and successful cultivator of science, I owe 

 much important matter respecting the neighbourhood in which he resides. 



Tlie district which it is purposed to describe, is bounded on the west by 

 the lias, from Wick, near Bath, to Radstock ; on the south by the roads con- 

 necting Radstock, Frome, and Westbury ; on the south-east by the chalk 

 downs bordering Salisbury Plain, and extending from Westbury to Urch- 

 font ; on the east by a line passing from the last-mentioned village, through 

 Stert to Devizes, thence along the Wiltshire Downs to Cherhill Hill, and 

 afterwards to Hilmarten and Lynham ; and on the north by the roads uniting 

 this hamlet with Christian Malford, Kington St. Michael, Marshfield, and AVick. 



The formations included within tliis circuit are the lias, marlstone of Smith, 

 inferior oolite, fuller's earth, great oolite, Bradford clay, forest marble v/ilh 

 Stonesfield slate, cornbrash, Oxford clay, calcareous grit, coral rag, Kimmeridge 

 clay, lower greensand, gault, upper greensand, chalk marl, and lower chalk. 



The surface of the country is characterized by three ranges of hills, con- 



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