SECTION OF THE CARADOC SANDSTONE (BANKS OF THE ONNY) . 219 



At Soudley the sandstone is overlaid by the same shelly flagstones and impure lime- 

 stones described in the section of the Onny, and is cut into to a depth of thirty or forty 

 feet. The prevailing colour of the rock is red, with some beds of dull green, striped 

 with darker red, and there are also courses of shale. Among the fossils are Avicula ob- 

 liqua, PL 19. f. 4. ; Orbicula granulata, PL 19. f. 5. ; Orthis Pecten, PL 20. f. 9., with 

 other shells common to the formation. 



The surfaces of the beds are frequently marked by casts of awl-shaped bodies, the Tentaculites 

 of Schlotheim, and the ends of the stems of Crinoidea. The latter fossils are eminently charac- 

 teristic of several subdivisions of the Caradoc sandstone, particularly the Tentaculites annulatus, 

 (PL 19. f. 15.). The same thick-bedded red rock with similar relations, is seen in quarries at 

 Wilson, near Cardington. 



iv. Sandy and pebbly grits, of reddisb brown and yellowisb colours, in tbick and thin beds; the latter frequently con- 

 taining casts of shells and portions of trilobites. On the left bank of the Onny, quartzose grits rise into the high grounds 

 of Woolston and Horderly. Towards their base they become so calcareous as to be partially burnt for lime, and are exhi- 

 bited on both banks of the Onny, at angles of seventy and eighty degrees, still inclined to the east and south-east. This 

 calcareous grit is here about twenty-five feet thick, and is flanked by thin courses of shale, of mottled bluish grey colour. 



The calcareous grit (i of wood-cut) contains the large Orthis anomala, PL 21. f. 10. 

 {Terebratula anomala, Schloth.,) the Pentamerus oblongus, and the plumose coral Cala- 

 mopora fibrosa, (Goldfuss) . The same calcareous rock is again exposed to the north-east 

 in the escarpment called the Broken Stones, underlying the sandy and pebbly grits. 

 This section of gritty and pebbly beds can be traced at various intermediate points, to 

 the north-east, between the Caradoc ridge and the villages of Cardington, Enchmarsh, 

 and Chatwall, always underlying the purple and green sandstone. The highly sculp- 

 tured bucklers of the genus Trinucleus, and also the beautifully ornamented tails of the 

 trilobite Entomostracites punctatus (Wahlenberg) , PL 23. f. 8. are not uncommon. 



To the south-west of the Onny, these quartzose grits are interposed between the Long 

 Lane quarries and Wartle-knoll ; and ranging through the red hills of Aston, they 

 appear for the last time in this district in the low promontory of Gorton. At the latter 

 place, the thick beds extracted as building-stones are chiefly of grey colours, but con- 

 tain small fragments of pink jasper, and occasionally patches of green earth. In the 

 thinner and overlying strata, casts of fossils are numerous, chiefly the Orthis flabel- 

 lulum, PL 21. f. 8.; 0. Vespertilio, PL 20. f. 11.; and Terebratula unguis, PL 21. f. 13. 

 To the south-west of Corton, these porous and coarse grits, dipping on all sides be- 

 neath the argillaceous shale of the overlying formation, become, from their low position, 

 filtering-stones, through which the wet descends, and then naturally decomposing, form 

 an excellent gravel, unlike any stratum in the surrounding country 1 . 



v. Deep reddish purple sandstone, with streaks of dirty yellowish green, in beds from six inches to two and three feet. 



These strata (k of wood-cut) are seen for the distance of two hundred paces on the 

 left bank of the Onny to the west of the calcareous grit ; and though these beds are 



1 The Rev. J. Rocke of Clungunford first pointed out to me this peculiar gravel. 



