MIDDLE LIAS: EDGE HILL. 227 
At another quarry a little further north the beds are opened 
to a depth of 25 feet the lower beds for 7 or 8 feet being the 
best. At this locality a well was sunk 33 feet, water standing at a 
depth of 3 feet. 
Rhynchonella tetrahcdra occurs in clusters here and there in 
the stone-beds, Terebratula punctata is also met with, as well as 
Belemnitcs, but the stone is usually free from shells. 
The lower beds of the Middle Lias (zone of Ammonites mar- 
(jaritatus) were shown in a deep cutting in Hornton Lane, which 
I visited in company with Mr. E. A. Walfbrd and Mr. S. Stutterd. 
The section was as follows : 
FT. IN. 
f Brown stone with much ferruginous matter, 
and pebbly layer at base. 
I Shelly marlstone - 2 
I Micaceous sandy shale - - - 12 
Middle Lias ( Hard flaggy, micaceous and calcareous sand- 
stone - - - - 1 2 
| Micaceous sandy shale - - - 15 
I Shelly stone, 2 or 3 beds, Cardinia - -20 
[_Micaceous sandy shale - about 25 
Mr. Walford has also noted an exposure of the lower clayey 
beds with Cypricardia cucullata, at a brickyard at Arlescote, 
north-east of Edge Hill. 
The escarpment of the Middle Lias at Edge Hill, as remarked 
by A. Beesley, has the appearance of a steep ridge with a re- 
markably well-defined edge, when seen from the Warwickshire 
vale beneath. The outline of the figure of a horse, said to have 
been originally cut during the fifteenth century, in the red loam 
on the side of the hill, near the old inn called the Sun Rising, 
and not far from Edgehili House, gave the name of the Vale of 
lied Horse to the plain below.* Conybeare writing in 1822 says, 
" The original figure has been destroyed by recent enclosures ; 
and modern art has only replaced it by a miserable colt."t 
South and south-east of Edgehili Tower and Ratley Grange, 
there are several large quarries where the stone, generally termed 
the Hornton Stone, is obtained. The strata are worked to a 
depth of about 25 feet : the uppermost beds are broken up near 
the surface by the action of rain and frosts. The following section 
was shown in one of the quarries : 
FT. IN. 
Traces of Upper Lias with Ammonites serpen- 
tinus, in clay in the joints of the Marlstone. 
'False-bedded blue and brown earthy lime- 
stone, used for road-metal, although not so 
much in demand now as formerly - 10 
, Thin bedded blue-hearted marlstone very 
Middle Lias. ^ hard. " Rag course " used for paving 4 
Rubbly stone - - -10 
Thick bed of marlstone much fissured, used 
for walls, and known as " Hawkins Bed " 30 
_Building stone best stone - - -70 
* History of Banbury, 1842, p. 310. See also Walfoid, Edge Hill: The Battle, 
&c. 8vo. Banbury, 1886. 
| Outlines of the Geol. Eng. and Wales, p. 249. 
p 2 
