EEPOET OX THE EXPLORATION OF BEIXHAM CAVE. 
481 
II. General features of the district ; Position of the Cave. 
The town of Brixham is situated at the entrance of a narrow valley on the southern 
shore of Torbay, nine miles south of Torquay (see Map, Plate XLI.). The small stream 
which flows through the town into the harbour has a course only of 2| miles. The 
first part is over Devonian slates and grits ; at Brixham it passes through a belt of 
limestone about a mile wide, and which, running parallel with the coast, terminates at 
Berry Head. To the north of the town is Eurzeham Hill, 177 feet high. To the south, 
Windmill Hill (on the north-western angle of which the cave is situated) and Heath 
Hill rise respectively to the height of 175 and 190 feet ; while to the westward, Parkham 
Hill is 164 feet above the level of the mean tide (Ordnance Survey maps). A small 
affluent passes between Windmill and Parkham Hills. The watershed between Brixham 
valley and that of the Dart rises to the height of from 400 to 550 feet. 
Mr. Pengelly states that “ Windmill Hill is entirely composed of impure thin-bedded, 
cleaved and jointed limestone belonging to the Devonian system,”' — one set of joints 
having a “ prevalent direction of N. 82° E. to S. 82° W., and the second running nearly 
magnetic north and south. In fact they have the bearings of the Brixham valleys.” “The 
planes of the first underlie or dip southward, whilst those of the second are approxi- 
mately vertical. The stratification and cleavage-planes intersect at an angle of about 
40°, and with the joints cause the rock to break readily into pieces of small dimensions. 
The dip of the strata is about 38° north, 10° east, magnetic. 
“ Devonian slates, frequently traversed by thick veins of quartz, are largely developed 
at and south of Mudstone Bay ; and a considerable mass of greenstone occurs at Shark- 
ham Point, the headland south of Berry Head*. 
“ Deposits of iron-ore occur in various parts of the district. That at Sharkham Point 
is the red or anhydrous hematite, whilst that found elsewhere is the brown or hydrous 
variety. The most important deposit of the latter occurs at Furzeham. There are no 
indications of iron on Windmill Hill. 
“ A raised beach extends along the northern slope of Berry Head Hill, about 30 feet 
above the sea-level. It is chiefly composed of limestone pebbles, but fragments of flints 
and other rocks are by no means rare.” There is another 4 raised beach,’ on the same 
relative level, at Hope’s Nose, near Torquay, which contains shells identical with those 
at present existing in the adjacent seaf. 
Mr. Pengelly further states that the district is generally free from all superficial 
deposits, except occasionally small depressed patches of sand and gravel, which also 
sometimes fill narrow fissures in the limestone and extend to considerable depths. The 
gravel is composed largely of fragments of quartz, greenstone, and other rocks not of 
immediate derivation. No fossils have been found in the sand or gravel. A red loam 
* On the Geological Survey Hap another mass of greenstone is marked near the Eiver Dart. 
f Mr. God win- Austen gives the following list of them : — Carclium edule, C. tuberculatum, Cyprina islandica 
Modiola modiolus, Ostrea edulis, Pecten maximus, P. varius, Venerupis decussata, Littorina littorea, Murex enna- 
ceus, Patella vidgata, Turritella terebra, and Serpula (Trans. Geol. Soc. vol. vi. p. 442). 
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