Vol. 56.] STRUCTURE OP THE MALVERN AND ABBERLEST HILLS. 139 



from south to north, beginning with Swinyard Hill, which is 

 situated immediately to the north of* the area described in the 

 writer's former paper. 



II. Swinyard Hill. 



The narrow ridge of Swinyard Hill is separated from Midsummer 

 Hill on the south by the Gullet Pass, and from the Herefordshire 

 Beacon by the depression termed by Phillips l the ' Silurian Pass.' 



It has been pointed out on a former occasion 2 that the Gullet 

 Pass is traversed by a line of fault. North of this line the width 

 of the Archaean massif suddenly narrows, so that the deposits 

 which flank the hill abut on the south directly against the Archaean 

 mass of Midsummer Hill. The Archaean rocks of Swinyard Hill 

 are well foliated towards the south, and show a marked plagioclinal 

 disposition. The. ridge is flanked on each side by May Hill Sand- 

 stone, forming ground with a slope decidedly less steep than that 

 of the ridge itself, especially on the eastern side. The change of 

 slope is usually somewhat sudden, and probably marks lines 

 of faulting on each side ; but the May Hill Beds are very badly 

 exposed, and their actual junction with the Archaean is not seen. 

 The faulted character of the junctions seems to follow from their 

 usually straight or zigzag course. The two rocks occur one on each 

 side of the narrow path leading through the 'Silurian Pass.' This is 

 the only spot where the May Hill Beds are actually seen in situ. 

 They consist here of sandstones and thin impure limestone-bands, 

 such as mark the summit of the May Hill Series. The southern 

 side of the path is apparently formed by the faulted surface of 

 the Archaean ; this face dips E. 33° N. at 60°. The sandstones 

 dip north-eastward : that is, directly towards the Archaean of 

 Hangman's Hill, the southerly elevation of the Herefordshire 

 Beacon. These relations suggest that the May Hill Beds are the 

 remnant of a fold which has been overturned from the north-east, 

 and overthrust by the Archaean of the Herefordshire Beacon (see fig. 1 , 

 p. 141). The May Hill Beds probably occupy most of the eastern 

 slope of Swinyard Hill, down as far as the faulted boundary of the 

 Trias. Symonds states that ' Wenlock beds . . . have been seen still 

 clinging to the eastern slopes of the Swinyard,' and that ' Wenlock 

 corals have been found beneath the debris, in the garden of the 

 cottage on the slope of the hill above the road to the Gullet 

 quarry.' 3 "No traces of these beds have been detected by the present 

 writer. On the other hand, a portion of the upper part of Castle- 

 morton Common is occupied by a southerly extension of the 'Warren 

 House Rocks ' (see Map, PI. VIII), which has hitherto escaped notice. 



The Silurian rocks west of Swinyard Hill are nowhere exposed 

 close to the ridge, but abundant traces of the grey upper beds 

 of the May Hill Sandstone may be seen in places. According 



1 Mem. Geol. Surv. vol. ii (1848) pfc. i, p. 29. 



2 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soe. vol. lv (1899) p. 148. 



3 ' Old Stones ' 2nd ed. (1884) p. 54. 



