§14. 



THE CLENT HILLS. 



771 



of a truncated dome ; its summit is deeply excavated, whence 



the common ironical name. This hill, as shown in Lign. 



173, consists of arched strata of Wenlock 



shale and limestone. The limestone teems 



h with the characteristic fossils of this di- 

 ps 



a vision of the Silurian system, namely, Tere- 



Q bratulce, Lingulce, Orthes, Atrypce, and Tri- 



< lobites, Crinoidea, Corals, &c. Castle Hill, 



* and Hurst Hill, are similar and parallel 

 % upheaved masses. 



I The truncated appearance of the summit 



p of Wren's Nest, has evidently originated 



% from the denudation of the upper part of the 



£ dome of which it once consisted : the strata 



o 



g having been originally protruded in an 



5 arched position, as in Kettle Hill (see the 



* section, Lign. 173); and we have in these 

 a Silurian limestones and shales, a corre- 

 5 sponding structure with that observable in 

 m the mountain limestone of Crich Hill in 

 g Derbyshire, of which we have already 

 g spoken {ante, p. 685). 

 g 14. The Clent Hills. — In the above 



! ^ section, the upheaved and contorted sedi- 

 | S mentary deposits are alone displayed, the 

 i, deep-seated volcanic mass, by which they 

 £ were elevated and thrown into their present 

 position, being concealed from view. But 

 in several places in the surrounding district, 

 the intrusive igneous rocks appear above the surface, in 

 sharply-defined ridges ; as in the Rowley Hill, near Dudley, 

 and those of the Clent, Romsley, and Lickey ; and the more 

 distant ranges of Abberley, and the Malverns, in Worcester- 

 shire. 



About two miles to the south of the Dudley coal basin, 



VOL. II. 3 E 



