410 



LUDLOW ROCKS OF THE ABBERLEY AND MALVERN HILLS. 



to some height above the Silurian deposits as represented in the above vignette. The 

 altered characters and dislocations of the strata, produced on the sides of these trappean 

 hills, will be noticed, after the nature of the intruding rocks has been described ; ob- 

 servation being first restricted to the nature and range of the sedimentary deposits of 

 the Silurian System. 



Ludlow Rocks in the Abberley Hills. (PL 36, figs. 1 to 4 inclusive.) 



Ludlow Rocks in the Abberley Hills. — This upper formation of the Silurian System occupies 

 about one mile of the ridge immediately to the east of the village of Abberley, marked Abberley 

 Hill on the ordnance map. It is cut off upon the south by intrusive rocks, which, forming a knot 

 of still higher elevation, extend about three quarters of a mile to the west, encircling and over- 

 hanging the village of Abberley on the one side, and receding from the Hundred House on the 

 other. Beyond, and to the west of this trap, the Ludlow formation is thrown off in very contorted 

 and dislocated masses, constituting a headland which advances into the coal field of Abberley and 

 Pensax. From the western side however, of Abberley Lodge, the formation rises into a distinct 

 mural ridge striking S. 10° W. along the western side of Woodbury Hill ; to the south of which 

 it takes a direction a few degrees east of south to Hill End near Martley, the beds disappearing at 

 Kingswood Common. Thence to the gorge where the Teme is deflected through this band, the 

 Ludlow rocks are no longer traceable, older Silurian deposits forming the narrow ridge which 

 separate the Old Red Sandstone on the west, from the New Red on the east. Throughout its course 

 on the western slopes of the Abberley Hills, the Ludlow formation offers, on a small scale, the same 

 triple subdivision as in Shropshire. The upper part, or true Ludlow rock, is the same argillaceous 

 thin- bedded sandstone, containing the gigantic Serpuloides ? longissima, Leptcena lata, Cypricar- 

 dia amygdalina, and other characteristic fossils. 



The Aymestry limestone, or central member of the Ludlow formation, is also well defined, and 

 in parts nearly as thick, but never so pure as in Shropshire. Although it has been burnt for 

 lime from the crest of the ridge east of Abberley ; the rock is now only extracted for the roads, the 

 adjacent limestone of the Wenlock formation being of very superior quality. The fossils of this 

 rock are nearly all the same which are found in it in Shropshire, with the exception of the Penta- 

 merus Knightii, which I have not detected. The large Lingula Lewisii is perhaps the most striking 

 of the organic remains, often retaining, in great perfection, its thin shelly matter. The lower 

 Ludlow rock is also recognised by containing many of the same organic remains as in Shropshire. 

 (See List.) 



From the decomposing nature of the sandstone and shale beds, they are locally called " Mud 

 Stone/' in contradistinction to the hard trappean rocks which occasionally protrude, and are termed 

 " Jew Stone," as in the Clee Hills. The total thickness of the Ludlow formation in the Abberley 

 range does not exceed 300 feet. 



Ludloiu Rocks of the Malvern Hills. 



The Ludlow formation is clearly displayed in a number of low and generally wooded eminences, 

 on the western flanks of the Malvern Hills, from which it is separated, in some parts, by the 



