﻿10 
  

  

  3IE. 
  H. 
  T. 
  BEOWX 
  OX 
  THE 
  PEE1IIAX 
  

  

  Before 
  describing 
  more 
  minutely 
  the 
  lithological 
  characters 
  of 
  the 
  

   beds 
  occurring 
  in 
  the 
  three 
  sections 
  just 
  referred 
  to, 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  necessary 
  

   briefly 
  to 
  call 
  attention 
  to 
  the 
  other 
  localities 
  within 
  the 
  area 
  of 
  the 
  

   Coal-field 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  Permian 
  beds 
  either 
  crop 
  out 
  at 
  the 
  surface, 
  

   or 
  have 
  been 
  penetrated 
  in 
  colliery-sinkings. 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  Boothorpe 
  Clay 
  Works 
  the 
  Permian 
  rocks, 
  with 
  the 
  over- 
  

   lying 
  Bunter 
  Conglomerate, 
  have 
  been 
  thrown 
  out 
  by 
  the 
  Boothorpe 
  

   Fault, 
  on 
  the 
  east 
  side 
  of 
  which 
  we 
  find 
  Coal-measures 
  again 
  

   brought 
  to 
  the 
  surface 
  for 
  a 
  distance 
  of 
  about 
  half 
  a 
  mile. 
  At 
  

   the 
  Blackfordby 
  Mine 
  we 
  are 
  on 
  the 
  western 
  edge 
  of 
  a 
  large 
  

   outlier 
  of 
  Xew 
  Red 
  Sandstone, 
  which 
  occupies 
  the 
  centre 
  of 
  the 
  

   coal-field 
  ; 
  and 
  we 
  find, 
  exposed 
  in 
  the 
  shaft 
  of 
  the 
  mine, 
  a 
  few 
  feet 
  

   of 
  Permian 
  breccias 
  and 
  marls 
  similar 
  in 
  character 
  to 
  those 
  occur- 
  

   ring 
  at 
  the 
  Boothorpe 
  Clay 
  Works 
  ; 
  whilst 
  in 
  the 
  Waterworks 
  well, 
  

   about 
  | 
  mile 
  N.N.W., 
  thin 
  representatives 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  beds 
  have 
  

   been 
  found 
  *. 
  At 
  this 
  point 
  the 
  Bunter 
  Conglomerate, 
  which 
  thins 
  

   out 
  rapidly 
  eastward, 
  is 
  only 
  a 
  few 
  feet 
  thick, 
  and 
  a 
  little 
  further 
  to 
  the 
  

   south-east, 
  at 
  the 
  village 
  of 
  Blackfordby, 
  it 
  has 
  completely 
  died 
  out, 
  

   and 
  we 
  find 
  the 
  Lower 
  Keuper 
  resting 
  directly 
  on 
  the 
  Coal-measures. 
  

  

  On 
  tracing 
  the 
  margin 
  of 
  the 
  central 
  outlier 
  of 
  Xew 
  Bed 
  Sand- 
  

   stone 
  from 
  this 
  point 
  nearly 
  to 
  Ashby, 
  making 
  frequent 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  

   boring-rod, 
  I 
  have 
  failed 
  to 
  discover 
  any 
  traces 
  of 
  the 
  Permian 
  beds 
  

   beneath 
  the 
  Lower 
  Keuper. 
  

  

  Ashby. 
  — 
  At 
  p. 
  60 
  of 
  the 
  Survey 
  llemoir 
  reference 
  is 
  made 
  to 
  a 
  

   small 
  exposure 
  of 
  sandstone 
  and 
  marls 
  in 
  the 
  railway-cutting 
  on 
  the 
  

   west 
  side 
  of 
  Ashby 
  Station. 
  Although 
  mapped 
  as 
  Trias, 
  the 
  age 
  of 
  

   these 
  beds 
  was 
  considered 
  doubtful 
  by 
  the 
  geologists 
  of 
  the 
  Survey. 
  

   The 
  slopes 
  of 
  the 
  cutting 
  are 
  now 
  much 
  obscured 
  by 
  vegetation 
  ; 
  but 
  

   by 
  repeated 
  trial-borings 
  in 
  the 
  banks 
  the 
  beds 
  in 
  question 
  were 
  at 
  

   last 
  discovered, 
  330 
  yds. 
  west 
  of 
  the 
  railway 
  goods-shed. 
  They 
  consist 
  

   of 
  2 
  or 
  3 
  feet 
  of 
  sandstone, 
  resting 
  on 
  purple 
  marls, 
  which 
  in 
  turn 
  

   are 
  succeeded 
  downwards 
  by 
  Coal-measure 
  clays. 
  The 
  sandstone 
  is 
  

   of 
  a 
  distinctly 
  Lower 
  Keuper 
  type, 
  and 
  does 
  not 
  resemble 
  in 
  any 
  of 
  

   its 
  characteristics 
  the 
  true 
  Permian 
  sandstones 
  of 
  the 
  district. 
  The 
  

   underlying 
  marls, 
  which 
  are 
  of 
  a 
  bright 
  purple 
  colour, 
  are 
  only 
  

   about 
  18 
  inches 
  thick. 
  That 
  they 
  belong 
  to 
  the 
  Permian 
  series 
  is 
  

   rendered 
  probable 
  both 
  by 
  their 
  colour 
  and 
  by 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  haematite 
  

   nodules 
  have 
  been 
  observed 
  in 
  them. 
  Such 
  fragments 
  of 
  haematite 
  

   are 
  of 
  frequent 
  occurrence 
  in 
  the 
  Permians 
  ; 
  but, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  I 
  know, 
  

   they 
  never 
  occur 
  in 
  the 
  Triassic 
  marls 
  of 
  the 
  neighbourhood. 
  

  

  Packington. 
  — 
  There 
  are 
  at 
  the 
  village 
  of 
  Packington 
  three 
  small 
  

   exposures 
  of 
  unconsolidated 
  breccia 
  in 
  a 
  red 
  marly 
  matrix. 
  One 
  of 
  

   these 
  is 
  opposite 
  the 
  Bull's 
  Head 
  Inn 
  ; 
  the 
  second 
  by 
  the 
  roadside 
  

   160 
  yds. 
  north 
  of 
  this 
  point, 
  and 
  the 
  third 
  in 
  a 
  brook-course 
  160 
  yds. 
  

   south-east 
  of 
  the 
  inn. 
  These 
  are 
  the 
  most 
  easterly 
  exposures 
  of 
  the 
  

   Permian 
  beds 
  which 
  occur 
  within 
  the 
  area 
  of 
  the 
  Leicestershire 
  

  

  * 
  The 
  marls 
  and 
  breccias 
  indicated 
  in 
  fig. 
  5, 
  p. 
  35, 
  of 
  the 
  Survey 
  Memoir, 
  

   as 
  occurring 
  at 
  the 
  outcrop 
  of 
  the 
  Ten-foot 
  Coal 
  at 
  Blackfordby 
  doubtless 
  belong 
  

   to 
  the 
  Permian 
  and 
  not 
  to 
  the 
  Xew 
  Bed, 
  as 
  there 
  stated. 
  This 
  particular 
  section 
  

   is, 
  however, 
  now 
  obliterated. 
  

  

  