(2) The Witley Group. 



The finest section, of the grey- 

 sandstones which overlie the Old- 

 Hill Series is found in the cutting, 

 of the inclined tramway at Olden hall 

 Colliery. The purple marls extend 

 upwards to a small hridge crossing 

 the tramway near the 500-foot 

 contour-line, and are covered hy 

 coarse, brownish-grey sandstone con- 

 taining a few small and scattered 

 pebbles of quartzite. JN~o break 

 occurs in the sandstones, but the 

 highest beds here seen are finer in 

 texture and lighter in colour than 

 those lower down. In the colliery- 

 shaft, at the head of the incline, 

 45 yards of sandstone rock were- 

 proved. 1 



Similar sandstones extend over 

 the area eastwards to Colman Hill 

 and northwards to Homer Hill and 

 Cradley. They exhibit the same ■ 

 upward gradation in texture and 

 colour. In the Colman-Hill district 

 they contain lenticular beds of dark 

 calcareous sandstone, and 'ironstone' 

 is reported from a well-sinking in 

 the same locality. 2 The dip of the 

 strata at Oldenhall is 15° east-south- 

 eastwards. 3 



These beds are only a portion of 

 a thicker group, inasmuch as higher 

 sandstones, dipping at 25° west- 

 wards, 3 are met with on the western 

 side of the Hayes Fault at Careless 

 Green. Calcareous sandstone also 

 occurs here, but the general char- 

 acter of these upper beds is that they 

 are fine in texture, greenish in 

 colour, and slightly micaceous. The 

 colour changes into a pale yellow 

 towards Lushbridge, where clays con- 

 taining a 1-foot coal are found at 

 a higher level. 4 



i From information supplied by Mr. 

 Bangham, Oldenhall Colliery. 



2 From information supplied by Mr. 

 Jew, Manager of Witley Colliery. 



3 Geological Survey 1-inch map, Sheet 

 LXII, S.W. 



4 From information supplied by Mr. 



