40 



NEW RED SANDSTONE IN SHROPSHIRE. 



bedded red stone, ^indistinguishable from the rock in many other parts of its range. 

 But the included mass of light-coloured free-stone is well worthy of description, being 

 perhaps the finest example in England of so deep a section of stone of this quality, in 

 the New Red System 1 . Some of the beds are quite equal in value to any free-stone of 

 the coal-measures, from which they differ in being entirely free from stains of carbo- 

 naceous matter, and here and there slightly variegated by streaks of a delicate pink hue : 

 others have also occasionally a yellow tinge due to the decomposition of iron pyrites. 

 The stone is for the most part rather heavier than other free-stones, in consequence, as 

 suggested by Mr. A. Aikin, of the grains of grey sand being contained in a cement 

 composed chiefly of heavy spar (sulphate of barytes) 2 . The beds vary in thickness from 

 two to eleven feet, and are generally so closely fitted to each other that there is only 

 one very thin parting of clay from the top to the bottom of this fine face of rock 3 . 



The subjoined section affords the details. The strata dip about 6° north-north-west, 

 by which inclination they pass distinctly beneath the calcareous bands of Broughton. 



Section of Grinshill Stone Quarries. 



ft. in. 



Fee, pronounced "Fay," a red rubbly thin-bedded rock, with some marl 13 0 



Flag-rock, yellowish and light brown colour, in thin beds, the thickest being fourteen 



inches; used for nagging, chimney-pieces, monuments, and other interior work .... 19 0 



Sand bed nine inches deep, called JEsh 0 9 



Hard Burr (compact rag) 2 6 



Coarse Freestone, rather mottled, of yellow, and reddish colours ; used for bridge-building, 



finer walls, &c, Best building- stone 9 6 



Grey Freestone 7 6 



Good light yellow Freestone, much preferred from its colour, underlaid by a thin seam of 



clay, the only wayboard in the quarry 11 0 



Good white Freestone 210 



Strong white Freestone ; white with minute yellow grains 8 0 



Sandy and bad Freestone 2 0 



Bad Stone ; sometimes used for walls, bridges, &c 9 0 



Soft yellow Sandstone, grains of sand cemented by a small quantity of decomposed felspar. 4 6 



Sandstone of deep red colour in massive beds sunk through in search of water 222 0 



Total feet 311 7 



1 Quarries of light- coloured sandstone sometimes of a delicate yellow colour, at others inclining to an olive 

 tinge, and like the rock at Grinshill subordinate to the New Red Sandstone, occur at Runcorn, Cheshire, and at 

 Warwick. 



* Aikin, MSS., note. 



3 All the modern edifices in and around Shrewsbury are built of this durable light-coloured sandstone, the 

 finest beds of which are so susceptible of being worked for the highest ornamental purposes, that the column 

 and statue of General Lord Hill are both formed of them. The pillars in the colonnade of Onslow House, the 

 residence of Colonel Wingfield, offer a beautiful example of the slightly tinged pink variety. 



