194 
PROCEEDINGS COTTESWOLD CLUB 
1917 
of the Liassic period an arm of the Liassic Sea, which then covered the greater 
part of Central Europe, extended in a northerly direction through a strait, 
of which the western shore was formed by the Welsh Mountains, and in 
that locality had a width of approximately 100 miles. Towards the north 
this arm had a north-westerly extension which covered a portion of t]ic 
North of Ireland, the North-West of England, and embraced, practically 
speaking, the whole of the Hebridean Islands and a considerable portion of 
the mainland of Scotland. Towards the North-East another expansion 
covered a large portion of the central and eastern Midlands, including Lincoln- 
shire and the whole of Yorkshire to the east of the Pennine Range, and 
extended far out into the North Sea. The fauna of the western extension 
is entirely marine, while that of the eastern arm is more of an estuarine 
character, and it is considered probable that a river of some magnitude came 
in from the North-East. Towards the close of the Liassic period, barriers 
appear to have arisen towards the South, somewhere in the neighbourhood 
of the Mendips, and also towards the North, so that the Cotteswold area 
became to a considerable extent isolated, and this condition persisted during 
practically the whole time that the Lower Oolitic Rocks were being deposited, 
with the result that the fauna of the area became differentiated from that 
of the larger or European area to the South. Eventually, owing probably 
to a general depression, the whole of the Cotteswold area was again 
united with the southern waters, andthe fauna became to a large extent general, 
as is shown in the Upper Tngowm-grit and later rocks. During the isolation 
period, the Cotteswold area was subjected to various oscillatory movements, 
resulting in local deposits of a limited area, and of a more or less lenticular 
character and of varying composition, such as were displayed in the section 
there present, which showed the “ Harford Sairds,” consisting of almost pure 
silex resting on Upper Freestone, and overlaid by a stiff blue clay known as 
the Suowshill Clay, upon which again rested the Lower Tvigonia-gvit, here for 
the most part consisting of a siliceous grit with beds of limestone and re- 
plete with fossils. This again is succeeded by a somewhat sandy Limestone 
known as Buckmani-gvit. A short distance away is a section showing the 
junction of the Buckmani-gxit, with the overlying Gryphite-grit, with 
Notgrove Freestone succeeding the latter bed. 
Mr Upton also called attention to some remarkable concretions in the 
“ Harford Sands ” formed by the consolidation of the siliceous sand through 
infiltration. After an examination of the fossils and other details of the 
pit, the Rolling-Bank Quarry was visited, and a series of Sandy Limestones 
known as the PhilHpsiana Bourgnetia Beds, a series of singular interest, 
and, so far as known, confined to the Cleeve Hill plateau. These contain a 
Brachiopod fauna peculiar to the Beds, a complete series of which was pro- 
duced for inspection. This particular series of Beds was for a long time a 
puzzle to geologists, and it is due to Mr S. S. Buckman’s researches that 
their correct relationship to the other Inferior Oolite Rocks has been 
ascertained. 
