202 



MISS G. L. ELLES AND MISS I. L. SLATER ON THE [May I906, 



(i) Sections near Ludlow. 



Many of the sections in the immediate neighbourhood of the town 

 of Ludlow, referred to by earlier authors, are now completely over- 

 grown or built over, and among these is the famous section in the 

 railway-cutting. Of those that remain, the most complete is that 

 exposed on the right bank of theTeme, from Dinham Bridge to the 

 Sewage-works ; this includes the classic section of Ludford Lane and 

 the section in our Temeside Shales referred to by Murchison. 1 



(a) Teme Section. 



On the right bank of the River Teme the following beds are seen 

 in ascending order : — 



Aymestry Group. — The highest beds of the massive Aymestry 

 Limestone (A) are just seen a little south of Dinham Bridge ; they 

 contain Conchidium Knightii, Atrypa reticularis, Strophomena 

 euglypha, Str. rhomboidalis, and Encrinurus punctatus as character- 

 istic fossils. The Mocktree Shales (B), here about 40 feet thick, 

 may be examined in a small quarry close to the bridge, where they 

 have a general northerly dip at a low angle ; and also at the bottom 

 of the track which descends to the river from the Ludlow Arms Hotel, 

 where they dip south-eastward, and the predominant fossil is Dayia 

 navicida : Orthis lunata, 0. canaliculata, and Atrypa reticularis being 

 also abundant. The whole group is characterized by honeycomb- 

 weathering, due to the concretionary nature of the beds. 



Upper Ludlow Group. — The Mocktree Shales are at once 

 succeeded by the lowest members of the Whitcliffe Flags (C). These 

 consist of massive blue calcareous flagstones ; they form the base of 

 the Whitcliffe for the greater part of its extent, and are also seen 

 in the lower part of the quarry north of Clive Cottages. They are 

 about 120 feet thick, and are characterized especially by the abundance 

 of Bliynclionella nucula ; Orthis lunata and Se?pulites lonc/issimus 

 are also highly typical, but Chonetes striatella (though present) is 

 rare. These beds contain at their summit a well-marked band of 

 concretions, some of which measure 4x2^ feet; and as this band 

 appears to occur everywhere at the horizon where the Rhynchonellce 

 give place to the Chonetes as predominant forms, we have utilized it 

 for purposes of mapping, and take it as marking the highest limit 

 of the Jthynchonclla-Fl&gs. The greenish calcareous flags (D), which 

 overlie them, are about 160 feet thick : they are somewhat massive 

 at their base, but become more thinly-bedded in their upper 

 portions. The lower beds of these flags are well seen in the great 

 quarry in the face of the Whitcliffe, and also in the face of the 

 cliff between it and Ludford Bridge; but, although the higher beds 

 too are exposed in both places, they are somewhat inaccessible, 

 and may be more easily studied in what was formerly known as 

 ' Ludford Lane,' now termed the Whitcliffe Road. 



1 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soe. vol. xiii (1857) p. 290. 



