﻿

  ON 
  SOME 
  SECTIONS 
  OF 
  LINCOLNSHIRE 
  NEOCOMIAN. 
  239 
  

  

  25. 
  On 
  some 
  Sections 
  of 
  Lincolnshire 
  Neocohian. 
  By 
  H. 
  Keeping, 
  

   Esq., 
  of 
  the 
  Woodwardian 
  Museum, 
  Cambridge. 
  Communicated 
  

   by 
  W. 
  Keeping, 
  Esq., 
  M.A., 
  E.G.S. 
  (Head 
  February 
  22, 
  

   1882.) 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  excavations 
  in 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  heavy 
  cuttings 
  required 
  for 
  

   the 
  Louth 
  and 
  Lincoln 
  railway 
  I 
  had 
  the 
  good 
  fortune, 
  in 
  1872, 
  to 
  

   discover 
  a 
  rich 
  locality 
  for 
  the 
  fossils 
  of 
  the 
  Ironstone 
  of 
  this 
  

   district. 
  The 
  fossils 
  found 
  were 
  deposited 
  for 
  the 
  most 
  part 
  in 
  the 
  

   Woodwardian 
  Museum, 
  though 
  some 
  were 
  contributed 
  to 
  other 
  

   collections. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  revisited 
  the 
  locality 
  at 
  various 
  times, 
  once 
  in 
  company 
  

   with 
  my 
  son, 
  Mr. 
  W. 
  Keeping, 
  M.A., 
  now 
  of 
  York 
  Museum 
  ; 
  so 
  that 
  

   I 
  have 
  had 
  good 
  opportunities 
  for 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  fauna 
  of 
  these 
  

   beds. 
  

  

  As 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  suggested 
  to 
  me 
  that 
  the 
  cuttings 
  must 
  be 
  getting 
  

   obscure, 
  through 
  the 
  growth 
  of 
  grass 
  on 
  their 
  slopes, 
  and 
  that 
  it 
  

   would 
  be 
  desirable 
  to 
  put 
  on 
  record 
  the 
  facts 
  observed, 
  I 
  again 
  last 
  

   summer 
  visited 
  the 
  railway-cuttings 
  and 
  also 
  the 
  excavations 
  for 
  

   iron-ore 
  near 
  Claxby. 
  The 
  state 
  in 
  which 
  these 
  openings 
  now 
  are, 
  

   the 
  rapid 
  way 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  beds 
  are 
  becoming 
  hidden 
  by 
  over- 
  

   growth, 
  has 
  convinced 
  me 
  that 
  the 
  notes 
  which 
  we 
  have 
  made 
  on 
  

   the 
  exposures 
  may 
  probably 
  be 
  worth 
  preservation, 
  notwithstanding 
  

   their 
  incompleteness. 
  They 
  are 
  offered 
  therefore 
  without 
  hesitation, 
  

   but 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  with 
  a 
  full 
  sense 
  of 
  their 
  partial 
  and 
  cursory 
  

   character. 
  

  

  The 
  Neocomian 
  beds 
  of 
  the 
  district 
  have 
  been 
  well 
  described 
  by 
  

   Professor 
  Judd 
  in 
  his 
  essay 
  " 
  On 
  the 
  Strata 
  which 
  form 
  the 
  Base 
  of 
  

   the 
  Lincolnshire 
  Wolds 
  " 
  * 
  ; 
  indeed 
  to 
  this 
  important 
  work 
  we 
  owe 
  

   our 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  three 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  group, 
  the 
  fossil 
  fauna 
  

   of 
  the 
  limestone 
  or 
  middle 
  divison, 
  and 
  even 
  its 
  separation 
  . 
  from 
  

   the' 
  Jurassic 
  deposits, 
  with 
  which 
  it 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  formerly 
  

   confused. 
  There 
  is 
  the 
  less 
  need 
  therefore 
  for 
  any 
  formal 
  descrip- 
  

   tion 
  ; 
  and 
  I 
  shall 
  limit 
  myself 
  to 
  a 
  few 
  remarks 
  on 
  excavations 
  made 
  

   since 
  1867, 
  and 
  on 
  fossils 
  supplementary 
  to 
  Professor 
  Judd's 
  list. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  paper 
  referred 
  to 
  (I. 
  c. 
  p. 
  243) 
  the 
  Neocomian 
  beds 
  are 
  

   divided 
  into: 
  — 
  1. 
  Upper 
  ferruginous 
  sands; 
  2. 
  Tealby 
  series, 
  alternate 
  

   beds 
  of 
  sandy 
  clay 
  and 
  limestone 
  ; 
  3. 
  Lower 
  sand 
  and 
  sandstone. 
  

   They 
  were 
  well 
  seen 
  at 
  the 
  workings 
  for 
  iron-ore 
  near 
  Claxby. 
  

   The 
  works 
  are 
  suspended 
  at 
  present 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  the 
  iron-ore 
  is 
  

   concerned 
  ; 
  the 
  mining 
  is 
  effected 
  by 
  an 
  adit 
  driven 
  into 
  the 
  side 
  of 
  

   the 
  hill, 
  in 
  the 
  thickness 
  of 
  the 
  iron 
  deposit. 
  

  

  The 
  iron-ore 
  beds, 
  about 
  9-13 
  feet 
  thick, 
  are 
  extremely 
  rich 
  in 
  

   fossils, 
  but 
  in 
  a 
  bad 
  state 
  of 
  preservation. 
  

  

  * 
  Quart. 
  Journ. 
  Geol. 
  Soc. 
  vol. 
  xxiii. 
  pp. 
  242-257 
  (1867). 
  

  

  