GEOLOGY OF GLOUCESTERSHIKE. 



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of Gloucester. The course of the Lias, like that of the Oolite, is from 

 north-east to south-west. The lower Lias is the thickest, being 

 estimated at 600 feet in the district round Cheltenham ; whilst the 

 middle Lias, or Marlstone series, does not exceed 115 feet; but the 

 upper averages from 230 to 270. These deposits thin off very much in 

 their course towards the east, south-east, and south, as may be readily 

 seen by an examination of the sections at Burford, on the east, and 

 Wotton-under-edge on the south. As the upper Lias always forms either 

 a portion of the outer Cotswolds or their outliers, it is there only that it is 

 to be looked for. These lower slopes are, however, usually covered with a 

 vast amount of Oolitic (Ulris, and overgrown with grass ; it is, therefore, 

 very seldom, and only with great difficulty, that this portion of the 

 Lias can be detected. The wet spongy soil, and the projecting plat- 

 form of the hard Marlstone below, are often the only indications of this 

 mass of shales and clay, from which the student will not be very suc- 

 cessful in obtaining fossils near Cheltenham ; though possibly some 

 may be procured from the few sections exposed at Colesbourn, Crickley, 

 and Holcomb, near Painswick. Many years ago there was a good 

 section beyond the turnpike-gate at Dowdeswell, but it is now scarcely 

 visible. We should, therefore, recommend a day or two spent at Al- 

 derton and Dumbleton, two very picturesque hills, eight miles nearly 

 due north of Cheltenham. There the upper Lias and IMarlstone are 

 well exhibited, and in a comparatively short time a fair collection of the 

 characteristic fossils may be made. There is a tolerable inn at Beck- 

 ford, not far otF, and from this point the student would be enabled to 

 study the interesting outlier of Bredon Hill, the highest of the Cotswold 

 outliers, exhibiting, what few of the others do, a considerable thickness 

 of Inferior Oolite, with the upper and middle Lias beneath. The 

 scenery, too, of these hills is particularly striking, and adds to the 

 interest of their geology. The views from them present many different 

 aspects, and their varied features can only be duly appreciated by seeing 

 them at many and different spots. Bredon Hill, for example, affords 

 a fine view of the Syenitic range of the Malverns, the rich Liassic vale 

 of Evesham, the Silurian hills of Abberley, beyond Worcester, the 

 Keuper ridge of Inkberrow, and the more distant plain of Gloucester, 

 bounded by the hills of Cleeve, Leckhampton, and others, which, from 

 their commanding height, more immediately catch the eye. 

 Bredon has the advantage, too, of the Avon flowing at its base on 



