Vol. 56.] GEOLOGY OF THE MALVERN AND ABBERLEY HILLS. 175 



Beds of that hill. Exposures of the sandstone in this locality are 

 not common, but the limits of the formation may be generally 

 determined with some approach to accuracy by the character of the 

 slope, the colour of the soil, and by debris. Allusion has been 

 already made (p. 167) to the inversion of the Passage-beds. At a 

 point north-west of Barrel Hill Farm the Old Red Sandstone dips 

 83° east by north, and in the bed of a small stream at a point 

 north-west of Camp Farm greyish-white sandstone, such as cha- 

 racterizes the lower part of the Old Red Series in Herefordshire, 

 dips 70° east by north. West of the tongue of Coal Measures 

 protruding southward from the Forest-of-Wyre Coalfield the dips 

 are gentler, and evidently normal in character. At a point east 

 of Hocketts Farm, and north-north-west of Aaronshead Farm, 

 purple and greyish-white Old lied Sandstone dips 30° west-south- 

 westward. In the valley at a point north-east of this, along the 

 western margin of the Coal Measures, horizontal greyish-white and 

 red sandstones are seen ; these evidently belong to the Old Red 

 Sandstone, like those already mentioned. The bed of the stream 

 , at this point is occupied by a fault, probably of small throw : this 

 runs in a general northerly direction. East of the fault the same 

 grey sandstones are seen in a horizontal position. They are 

 overlain directly by horizontal Coal Measures, the superposition 

 being actually seen in the steep bank of the stream. 



Towards the southern extremity of the tongue of Coal Measures, 

 shales belonging to that formation dip 35° north-north-westward, 

 and close to the eastern boundary of the tongue an important 

 section in a hopfield west of Ridge House shows soft ferruginous 

 sandstones and clays, with bits of coal — undoubtedly belonging to 

 the Coal Measures — dipping 30° east-south-eastward. Still farther 

 north, close to the inverted grey sandstone already mentioned, 

 greatly contorted clay, overlain and underlain by clearly stratified 

 shaly coal, may be seen on the bank of the stream. These beds are 

 thrown into a small dome, about 5 feet across, overfolded towards 

 the east. 



The details given above show : (1) that the Coal Measures rest 

 with apparent conformity upon certain white and red sandstones 

 of the Old Red Series ; and (2) that the strata, horizontal or 

 inclined at low angles on the western side of the tongue, as in 

 the Forest-of-Wyre Coalfield generally, on the eastern side become 

 contorted and inverted, like the Silurian beds. The tongue accord- 

 ingly represents a narrow synclinal fold the eastern side of which is 

 inverted (fig. 27, p. 174). The mere shape of the tongue, with its 

 axis parallel to that of Wallsgrove Hill, might have prepared us for 

 this conclusion. It is clear, moreover, that the Coal Measures 

 of Wallsgrove Hill rest unconformably, and comparatively undis- 

 turbed, upon an overfolded and overthrust series of Silurian, Old 

 Red Sandstone, and older Coal Measures. The evidence is, therefore, 

 fairly convincing that the great movements which resulted in the 

 folding of the beds of Wallsgrove Hill took place chiefly during 

 Coal-Measure times. 



