174 
of peat, clay, and alluvium. At Ormskirk, the Lower Keuper 
Sandstone and Upper Bunter Sandstone are the prevailing rocks. 
The Pebble-beds occur at Hale, Speke, Garston, Woolton, 
Wavertree, West Derby, Roby, Rainhill, Widnes and Farnworth; 
and the Upper Bunter Sandstone at Halewood. The solid rocks at 
Melling, Kirkby, and Knowsley, are the Pebble-beds; at Ince- 
Blundell the Lower Keuper Sandstone is the prevailing rock, and 
at Maghull, the Upper Bunter Sandstone. The Lower Keuper 
Sandstone can be seen at Little Crosby, the Upper Bunter Sand- 
stone occurs at Aintree ; the Lower Keuper Sandstone at Lydiate 
and Great Crosby. At Rufford the bed rock is the Upper Bunter 
Sandstone, and at Liverpool the Pebble-beds, Upper Bunter 
Sandstone, and Keuper Marl. 
The Boulder Clay, which is essentially a glacial deposit, 
obscures the solid geology of the Liverpool district to a large 
extent. This clay must be regarded as an important factor in 
the growth of vegetation. Thick deposits are found in cliffs 
on the estuary of the Dee, about Dawpool and Thurstaston. 
Similiar deposits fringe the estuary of the Mersey between Garston 
and Hale. The Boulder Clay gives evidence that at a com- 
paratively recent period in geological history this neighbourhood 
was covered with an ice sheet or ice sheets which carried with 
them, from north to south, either on the surface or embedded in 
the ice, striated, and other boulders, most of these being specimens 
of the rocks which prevailed in the countries over which the ice had 
travelled. Not only are the boulders striated, but the solid rocks 
over which the ice sheets moved are marked, in many places, with 
striations of a similar nature. These markings indicate the 
direction in which the ice sheets travelled. 
Characteristic specimens of these boulders may be seen at the 
side entrance to the Liverpool Museum, William Brown Street, at 
Leasowe Castle, the Mayer Museum, Bebington, and at Little 
Neston. At Great Crosby a large boulder of gypsum, nearly 
twenty tons in weight, which was found in a clay-pit, was recently 
placed on a pedestal in the centre of the villiage, by the Great 
Crosby Urban Council. This is the largest boulder of gypsum that 
has been found in the neighbourhood of Liverpool. This boulder 
was probably derived from the Keuper Marl of North Lancashire. 
Besides the large boulders there were also deposited smaller 
boulders, as well as gravel, sand, and clay, the latter being used 
extensively for brick-making. Nearly all the pebbles on the 
