290 



T. V. HOLMES ON THE PERMIAN, TRIASSIC, AND 



"bank, as far down as Cummersdale Print- Works. It is, in short, 

 the Kirklinton Sandstone ; but the dip at the rifle-butts is slightly 

 west of north, and, being towards the Caldew, the surface of the 

 low river-cliff is wet and slimy, and the characteristic bright colour 

 and false bedding are both obscured. The soft Kirklinton stone, 

 however, invariably weathers, as at Cummersdale, about, and for a 

 few feet above, the surface of the river, along whose course it is 

 exposed. A comparison of the sections at Cummersdale with those 

 about Kirkandrews-on-Esk and elsewhere will show this very 

 clearly. Fortunately the identity of the rock at Cummersdale is 

 placed beyond dispute by the presence of a small but dry section 

 about 100 yards below the rifle-butts. The spot is marked by the 

 stump of an old tree, at the base of the bank bounding the alluvial 

 flat on the right side of the stream. Here the bright and almost 

 scarlet colour and false bedding are both mauifest. 



The question arises, in what way the absence of the Gypseous 

 Shales at Cummersdale may be best accounted for. There can be 

 no doubt that they suffered very much from denudation before the 

 deposition of the Kirklinton Sandstone, as their total absence east of 

 Carlisle bears witness. As regards the amount of their extension 

 eastward, there are but two items of evidence. The first is the old 

 boring at Great Orton, already alluded to, in which 132 feet of what 

 were probably Gypseous Shales were pierced and (apparently) their 

 base not reached. The second is a very recent boring at Justice 

 Town or Linehow, about a mile above the junction of Line and Esk. 

 This showed about 170 feet of Kirklinton stone resting directly on 

 that of St. Bees. These borings tend to show that the Gypseous 

 Shales cease to exist more speedily north than south of Carlisle. On 

 the whole, I am inclined to think that the Gypseous Shales would be 

 visible at Cummersdale, but for an extension of the Brackenbank 

 and Newbiggin fault. This, if prolonged westward, might very well 

 cross the Caldew between Dalston Hall and the rifle-butts, cutting 

 off the Gypseous Shales and bringing in the Kirklinton Sandstone 

 on its northern side ; just as further eastward we find it bringing 

 down the St.-Bees Sandstone on its northern side against the Lower 

 Gypseous Shales on the south. 



The Kirklinton Sandstone is best seen in the parish from which 

 it derives its name, and at Eockcliff and Netherby. I have already 

 described its appearance at Cummersdale. Descending the Caldew 

 it is again visible at Holmhead Bridge. Below Carlisle the upper 

 beds are well shown at Skew Bank, north of Grinsdale, and lower 

 ones at Eockcliff. Ascending the Eden from Carlisle it appears at 

 Eickerby, in the river-bed at Low Crosby, and in the left bank a 

 few yards N.E. of Holmgate. The junction with the St. Bees stone 

 must be between the last-named spot and the junction of the Eden 

 and Irthing. 



Between the Eden and Caldew the only evidence is the following. 

 In the Petterill there is a small section, showing rock like that at 

 Cummersdale, a few yards above the house called Petterill Bank ; 

 and the record of a boring at Garlands Lunatic Asylum tells us that 



