2i8 Stather : Notes on the Geology of t lie Louth District. 



Althoug-h there are so few places in the neighbourhood of 

 Louth where the glacial beds can be seen in sequence, boulders 

 are ever^'where extremely abundant. They appear to be of the 

 same types that occur in East Yorkshire, with perhaps a slightly 

 higher proportion of Scandinavian rocks, x^mong the larger 

 boulders, perhaps the most notable is that in the stable-yard at 

 Thorp Hall, and if permission could be obtained it should at 

 once be removed to the Louth Museum. It is a fine sample of 

 Laurvikite from the Christiania district, and one of the largest 

 boulders of its kind recorded on this side the North Sea. 

 Another ice-carried boulder which the local antiquaries regard 

 with much interest is the celebrated ' Bluestone ' (basalt) at 

 Louth, but the mineral structure of this rock is not sufficiently 

 distinctive to indicate the locality from whence it came, A visit 

 was also paid to the village of Benniworth, (nine miles west 

 of Louth) to inspect a large boulder recorded as Laurvikite, 

 which has figured as such in the British Association list for 

 some years. The naming of this rock was found to be wrong, 

 and quite misleading* to anyone consulting the lists. This error, 

 probably due to the uninstructed enthusiasm of some tyro, 

 cannot be passed by as a pardonable blunder, for it is well 

 known that both the Chairman and the Secretary of the Erratic 

 Blocks Committee are always willing to assist in the deter- 

 mination of doubtful specimens. 



The Upper Cretaceous Series. — Though the solid geology 

 of East Lincolnshire consists of Upper Cretaceous rocks (white 

 chalk), there are unfortunately no coast sections at all. The 

 quarries around Louth are fairly representative of the whole 

 thickness of Lincolnshire Chalk. Pits near the town show the 

 Grey Chalk and Belemnitella plena marls with Middle Chalk 

 above. Westwards, towards Elkington, higher beds come in. 



When the ' Survey Memoirs on the Geology of Lincolnshire ' 

 were published (1890), all the flint-bearing chalk seen in the 

 county was referred to as Middle Chalk. In the Memoir on 

 ' The Cretaceous Rocks of Britain,' published in 1904, Mr. A. J. 

 Jukes-Browne modifies his views on this point, on the Palcconto- 

 logical evidence produced by some collectors working north-west 

 of Louth. 



One of the critical quarries near Boswell Farm was visited, 

 several very interesting fossils being obtained, including' good 

 examples of Micraster, Holaster, etc., giving a general impres- 

 sion of an Upper Chalk fauna. Mr. Bingley photographed this 

 quarry (Plate XVII., Fig. 2). 



Naturalist, 



