2S2. 
 ^03 
 
 ■iem^nm:- 
 
 BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME 
 FROM THE 
 
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Cornell University Library 
 QE 262.R28B63 1903 
 
 The geology of the country around Readin 
 
 3 1924 004 542 456 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924004542456 
 
' 268. 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURYEY. 
 
 ENGLAND AND WALES. 
 
 THE GEOLOGY OF 
 
 THE COUNTKY AROUND 
 
 READING. 
 
 (EXPLANATION OF SHE3T 2CS.) 
 BY THE LATE 
 
 JOHN HOPWOOD BLAKE, Assoc. M. Inst. C.E., F.G.S. 
 With contributions by William Whitaker, B.A., F.R.S. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 H. W. MONCKTON, F.L.S., F.G.S. 
 
 fUBLISHED BT OKDER OF THE LORDS COMMISSIONERS OF HIS MAJESTY'S TREA8URY. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 FEINTED FOE HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONEEY OFFICE, 
 
 By WYMAN & SONS, Limited, Fetter Lane, E.C. 
 
 And to be purchased from 
 
 E. STANFORD, 12, 13, and 14, Long Acre, London ; 
 
 JOHN MENZIES & Co., Rose Street, Edinburgh ; 
 
 HODGES, FIGGIS & Co., Grafton Street, Dublin ; 
 
 From any Agent for the sale of Ordnance Survey Maris ; or through any 
 
 Bookseller from the Ordnance Survey Olhce Southampton. 
 
 1903. 
 Price Is. 6d. 
 
LIST OF MAPS, SECTIONS, AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS OF THE 
 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ENGLAND AND WALES. 
 
 THE Maps are those of the Ordnance Survey, geologically coloured by the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom, under 
 the Superintendence of J. J. H. Teall, F.R.S., Director. 
 
 For Maps, details of Sections, and Memoirs issued by the Geological Survey, see " Catalogue." 
 
 ENGLAND AND WALES.-(Scale 1 inch to a mile.) 
 
 Maps marked * are also published as Drift Maps. Those marked t are published only as Drift Maps. 
 
 Sheets 3*, 5, 6*, 7*, 8*, 9, 11, to 22, 25, 26, 80, 81, 33 to 87, 40, 41, 44, 47*, 64*, 65t, 69t, 70*, 83*, 86*, pnee 8*. td. each. 
 
 Sheets 4, 5s. Sheets 2*, 23, 24, 27 to 20, 32, 38, 39, 58, 84t, 85t, 4s. each. 
 
 Sheets divided into quarters : all at 3s. each quarter-sheet, excepting those in brackets, which are 1*. td. each. 
 
 1*. 42, 43, 45, 46, NW, SW, NE* SE*, 48, NWt, SW* NEt, (SE*), (49t), 50t, 51* 52 to 57, (57 NW). 59 to 63, C6 SWt, NEt, 
 SW», SEt, 67 Nt, (St), 68 Et, (NWt), SWt, 71 to 75, 76 (N), S, (77 N), 78, 79, NW«, SW, NE*, SB*, 80 NW*, SW*, NE*, 
 SE*, 81 NW*, SW, NE, SE, 82, 63*, 87, 88, NW. SW*, NE, SE, 89 NW* SW*. NE, SE*, 90 (NE*), (SE*), 91, (NW*), (SW*), 
 NE*, SE*, 92 NW*, SW*, NE, SE, 93 NW, SW, NE* SE*, 94 NWt, SWt, (NEt), SEt, 96 NW*, NE*, (SE*), 96 NW*, SW^ 
 NE*, SE*,97 NW*, SW*, NE* SE, 98 NW, SW, NE* SE, 99 (NE*), (SE*), 100*, 101, SE, NE*, NW», SW* 102 NW* HE*, 
 SW*, SE*, 103*. 104*, 105 NW*, SW*, (NE*), SE*, 106 NW*, SW*, NE*, SE*, 107 SWt, NE*, SE*, 108 SW* NE*, SE*, 109 NW*, 
 SW* SE*, 110 (NW*), (NE*), SB*, SW*. 
 
 New Series.— I. of Man*, 36, 45, 46, 56, 57, 8s. ad, I. of Wight, with Mainland*, 380, 331, 844, 345, 8«. 6d. (123*), 165*, 187t, 
 208t, 231*, (232*), (248*) 249*, 261 and 262* 263*, 267t, 268*, 282t, 283t, 284t, (298t), 299t, SOOt, (314tX 315t, 316t, 325t, 328t, 
 329*, 830*, 381*, (332*), (333*), 334*, 339t, (340t), (341 1), 342t, 343t, 349t, 350t, 355t, (356t). Price Ss. each, excepting those ii 
 brackets which are Is. 6<J. each. 
 
 CENEBAL HEAP :— (Scale 4 miles to 1 inch.) 
 
 ENGLAND AND WALES.— Sheet 1 (Title) ; 2 (Northumberland, Ac.) ; 8 (Index of Colours) ; 4 (I. of Man) ; 5 (Lake District); 
 6 (E. Yorkshire) ; 7 (N. Wales) ; 8 (Central England) ; 9 (Eastern Couniies) ; 10 (S. Wales and N. Devon) ; 11 (W. of 
 England and.S.E. Wales); 12 (London Basin and Weald); 13 (Cornwall, &c); 14 (S. Coast, Torquay to I. of Wight), 
 15 (S. Ceast, Havant to Hastings). New Series, printed in colours, sheet 1, 2s. ; sheets 2 to 15, 2s. 6d. each. 
 
 HORIZONTAL SECTIONS. 
 
 1 to 140, 146 to 148, England, price 5s. each. 
 
 VERTICAL SECTIONS. 
 
 1 to 83, England, price 3s. 6d. each. 
 
 COMPLETED COUNTIES OF ENGLAND AND WALES, on a Scale of 1 inch to a mile. 
 
 I 
 
 Old Series. 
 
 Sheets marked * have descriptive Memoirs. Sheets or Counties marked t are illustrated by General Memoirs. 
 
 ANGLESEY t,— 77 N, 78. 
 
 BEDFORDSHIRE,— 46 NW, NE, SWt, SEt, 52 NW, NE, 
 
 SW, SE. 
 BERKSHIRE,— 7*, 8t, 12*, 13*, 34*, 45 SW*. 
 BRECKNOCKSHIREt— 36, 41, 42, 56 NW, SW, 57 NE, SE. 
 BUCKINGHAMSHIRE,— 7*, 13*, 45* NE, SE, 46 NW, SWt, 
 
 52 SW. 
 CAERMAETHENSHIREt,— 37, 38, 40, 41, 42 NW , SW, 56 SW 
 
 67 SW, SE. 
 CAERNARVONSHIREt— 74 NW, 75, 76, 77 N, 78, 79 NW, 
 
 SW. 
 CAMBRIDGESHIREt,— 46 NE, 47*, 51*, 52 SE, 64*. 
 CARDIGANSHIRE t,— 40, 41, 56 NW, 57, 58, 69 SE, 60 SW. 
 CHESHIRE,— 73 NE, NW, 79 NE, SE, 80, 81 NW*, SW*, 
 
 88 SW. 
 CORNWALL t,—24t, 25t, 26t, 29t, 30t, 31t, S2t, & 33t. 
 CUMBERLAND,— 98 NW, SW*, 99, 101, 102, NE, NW, SW*, 
 
 106 SE, SW, NW, 107. 
 DENBIGHt,-73 N W, 74, 75 NE, 78 NE, SE., 79 NW, SW.SE, 
 
 80 SW. 
 DERBYSHIREt,— 62 NE, 63 NW, 71 NW, SW, SE, 72 NE, 
 
 72 SE, 81, 82, 88, SW, SE. 
 DEVONSHIREt,— 20t, 21t, 22t, 23t, 24t, 25t, 26t, & 27t. 
 DORSETSHIRE,— 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22. 
 DURHAM,— 102 NE, SE, 103, 106 NE, SE, SW, 106 SE. 
 ESSEX— 1*, 2*, 47*, 48*. 
 FLINTSHIREt,— 74 NE, 79. 
 
 GLAMORGANSHIREt,— 20, 36, 37, 41, & 42 SE, SW. 
 GLOUCESTERSHIRE!,— 19, 34*, 85, 43, NE, SW, SE, 44*. 
 HAMPSHIRE,-8t, 9t, 10«, llf, 12*, 14, 15, 16. 
 HEREFORDSHIRE,— 42 NE, SE, 43, 56, 66 NE, SE. 
 HERTFORDSHIRE,— It NW, 7*, 46, 47*. 
 HUNTINGDON,— 51 NW, 62 NW, NE, SW, 64*, 65. 
 KENTt,— It SW & SE, 2t, 3t, 4*, 6*. 
 LANCASHIRE,— 79 NE, 80 NW*, NE, 81 NW, 88 NW, SWt; 
 
 89, 90, 91, 92 SW. 
 
 See also New 
 
 -58 NE, 62 NE, 63*, 64*, 70*, 71 SE, 
 
 LEICESTERSHIRE,- 
 
 SW. 
 LINCOLNSHIREt,— 64* 65* 69, 70*, 83*, 84*, 85* 86*. 
 MERIONETHSHIRE^— 59 NE, SE, 60 NW, 74, 75 NE, SE. 
 MIDDLESEXt— It NW, SW, 7*, 8t. 
 MONMOUTHSHIRE,— 35, 36, 42 SE, NE, 43 SW. 
 MONTGOMERYSHIREt,— 56 NW, 69 NE, SE, 69, 74 SW, 
 
 SE. 
 NORFOLKt,— 50 NW* NE*, 64*, 65*, 66*, 67*, 68*, 6». 
 NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,— 64*, 45 NW, NE, 46 NW, 62 NW, 
 
 NE, SW, 63 NE, SW, & SE, 63 SE, 64. 
 NORTHUMBERLAND,— 102 NW, NE, 105, 106, 107, 108*, 109, 
 
 110. NW*, SW*, NE*, SE. 
 NOTTINGHAM,-70», 71* NE, SE, NW, 82 NE*, SE*. SW, 
 
 86, 87* SW. 
 OXFORDSHIRE,— 7*, 13*, 34*. 44*, 45*, 63 SE*, SW. 
 PEMBROKESHIREt,— 38, 39, 40, 41, 58. 
 RADNORSHIRE,— 42 NW M NE, 56, 60 SW, SE. 
 RUTLANDSHIRE,— this county is wholly included within 
 
 Sheet 64*. 
 SHROPSHIRE,— 65 NW, NE, 66 NE, 60 NE, SE, 61, 62 NW, : 
 
 73, 74 NE, SE. 
 SOMERSETSHIRE t— 18, 19, 20, 21, 27, 35. 
 STAFFORDSHIRE*,— 54 NW, 55 NE, 61 NE, SE, 62, 63 NW, 
 
 71 SW, 72, 73 NE, SE, 81 SE, SW. 
 8UFFOLK,— 47*, 48*, 49*, 50*, 51*, 66* SE*, 67*. 
 SURREY,— 1 SWt, 6t, 7*, 8t, 12f. 
 SUSSEX,— 4*, 5,t, 6t, 8t, 9t, lit. 
 WARWICKSHIRE,— 44*, 46 NW, 53*, 54, 62 NE, SW, SE, 
 
 63 NW, SW, SE. 
 WESTMORLAND,— 97 NW*, SW*, 98 NW, NE*, SB*, 101, 
 
 SE*, 102. 
 
 WILTSHIRE -12*, 13*, 14, 15, 18, 19t, 34*, and 35t. 
 WORCESTERSHIRE,— 43 NE, 44*, 64, 65, 62 SW, SE. 61 
 
 SE. 
 
 YORKSHIRE! ,—86-88, 91 NE, SE 92-97* 98 NE* SE*, 102 NE, 
 SE, 103 SW, SE 104. 
 ' Scries Maps. 
 
268. 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 
 
 ENGLAND AND WALES. 
 
 THE GEOLOGY OF 
 
 THE COUNTRY AROUND 
 
 READING. 
 
 (Explanation of Sheet 268.) 
 
 by the late 
 
 JOHN HOPWOOD BLAKE, Assoc. M. Inst. C.E., F.G.S 
 
 With contributions by William Whitaker, B.A., F.R.S. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 H. W. MONCKTON, F.L.S., F.G.S. 
 
 PUBLISHED BI ORDER OP THE LORDS COMMISSIONERS OP HIS MAJESTY'S TREASDRY. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICJtt 
 
 By WYMAN & SONS, Limited, Fetter Lane, B.C. 
 
 And to be purchased from 
 
 E. STANFORD, 12, 13, and 14, Long Acre, London ; 
 
 JOHN MENZIES & Co., Rose Street, Edinburgh ; 
 
 HODGES, FIGGIS & Co., Grafton Street, Dublin; 
 
 From any Agent for the sale of Ordnance Survey Maps ; or through any 
 
 Bookseller from the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton. 
 
 1903. 
 
 Price Is. 6d, 
 
QE 
 
 rut. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The country described in this Memoir is situated in the 
 western part of the London Basin. The Chalk and overlying 
 Eocene strata are gently inclined to the S.E., and over their 
 eroded surfaces have been spread during Pleistocene times 
 various gravels and loams, of which the high level or plateau 
 deposits have suffered considerable erosion. 
 
 The district is one in which the action of rivers and 
 changes in their courses are conspicuously shown, a subject 
 which has been dealt with by Mr. H. J. Osborne White and 
 others, but which cannot be discussed without reference to 
 a much larger area than that under consideration. 
 
 Geologically the area was the scene of some of the early 
 labours of Prestwich, the fine sections of the mottled plastic 
 clays so long worked as tile-earth having led him to adopt the 
 name Reading Beds for the varied group of strata which here 
 intervenes between the Chalk and London Clay. The subsequent 
 researches of Mr. Whitaker and others who carried on the 
 original one-inch survey, and of Mr. Jukes-Browne who gathered 
 information relating to the Cretaceous rocks, have been sup- 
 plemented by notes made by Mr. J. H. Blake and Mr. F. J. 
 Bennett during the more detailed survey on the six-inch scale, 
 which was carried on under the superintendence of Mr. 
 Whitaker. Mr. Blake had nearly completed the MS. of this 
 memoir at the time of his death in 1901. 
 
 Mr. H. W. Monckton then kindly offered to edit the MS. for 
 publication, an offer gratefully accepted. He has retained 
 practically all of Mr. Blake's notes, but has freely inserted 
 additions from his own note book, many of the observations 
 having been made in company with Mr. Blake. These additions 
 relate more particularly to the chapters on the Superficial 
 Deposits, for which Mr. Monckton is thus to a considerable 
 extent responsible. 
 
 The map has not at present been printed in colours, but two 
 editions, with and without Drift, were issued hand-coloured in 
 1898. 
 
 Geological Survey Office, 
 
 28, Jermyn Street, London, 
 25th March, 1903. 
 
 J. J. H. TEALL, 
 
 Director. 
 
 6150. 500— Wt. 1859. 5/03. Wy. & S. Tilr. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preface by the Director iii 
 
 Chapter I. — Introduction 5 
 
 Chapter II. — Chalk 7 
 
 „ Chapter III. — Beading Beds— Outliers 15 
 
 Chapter IV. — Reading Beds — The Tilehurst-Eeading Outliers 23 
 
 Chapter V. — Eeading Beds — Main Mass 32 
 
 Chapter VI. — London Clay 42 
 
 Chapter VII. — Bagshot and Bracklesham Beds 53 
 
 Chapter VIII. — Clay with Flints and Pebble Gravel 60 
 
 Chapter IX. — Plateau Gravel - 63 
 
 Chapter X. — Valley Gravel and Loam 76 
 
 Chapter XL — Becent 82 
 
 Appendix. — List of Principal "Works on the Geology of the 
 
 District 84 
 
 Index 87 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Fig. 1. Rhynchonella Cuvieri, A' Orb. 7 
 
 „ 2. Terebratulina gracilis, var. lata, Eth. 7 
 
 ,, 3. Micraster coranguinum, Leshe 9 
 
 ,, 4. Holaster planus, Mant. 9 
 
 „ 5. Sketch in the Railway -cutting west of Pangbourne - 11 
 
 ,, 6. Rhynchonella plicatilis var. octoplicata, Sow. 13 
 
 „ 7. Echinocorys scutatus, Leshe = E. vulgaris, Breynius 13 
 „ 8. Ostrea bellovacina, Lam. - . 27 
 
 ., 9. Railway-cutting west of Reading (Sir J. Prestwich) 29 
 
 „ 10. Section at Rose Kiln, south of Reading (W. Whitaker) 34 
 
 ,, 11. Anemia subcretacea, Sap. 4.1 
 
 ,, 12. Aralia? cf. A. looziana, Sap. and Mar. 41 
 
 „ 13. Leaf of Laurus t 4 ^ 
 
GEOLOGY 
 
 OF THE COUNTRY AROUND 
 
 READING. 
 
 CHAPTER I.— INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Sheet 268 of the Geological Survey Map represents an area of 
 216 square miles ; that portion on the north of the Thames being 
 in Oxfordshire, and the remainder in Berkshire, with the ex- 
 ception of a somewhat irregular narrow strip along the south, 
 which is in Hampshire. 
 
 Reading, the capital of Berkshire, is situated near the central 
 part of the area ; and the town of Wokingham stands on the 
 eastern edge. The most important villages are Goring, Whit- 
 church, Mapledurham, Caversham and Shiplake in Oxfordshire ; 
 Streatley, Pangbourne, Bradfield, Theale,Burghfield, Aldermaston, 
 Stratfield Mortimer, Swallowfield, Sonning, Twyford, and War- 
 grave in Berkshire ; and Silchester, Stratfieldsaye, and Eversley 
 in Hampshire. 
 
 The area is drained by the river Thames, and its tributaries, 
 the Pang, the Kennet, and the Loddon, together with minor 
 streams. 
 
 The Thames enters the district between Streatley and Goring, 
 flows in a south-easterly direction to Reading, when it turns 
 to the north-east and eventually to the north, and leaves the 
 district soon after passing Wargrave. 
 
 The Pang enters a little north of Hampstead Norris, flows 
 southerly, then in an easterly direction to Stanford Dingley, 
 from there north-easterly to Tidmarsh, and northerly to its 
 junction with the Thames at Pangbourne. 
 
 The Kennet enters near Thatcham Railway Station, flows in an 
 easterly direction to Aldermaston, where it is joined by a 
 tributary the Eriborne flowing from the south-east; it then 
 flows north-easterly to near Theale, and from there easterly to 
 Whitley, where a tributary, the Foundry Brook, flowing from the 
 south past Silchester and Stratfield Mortimer, with branches 
 from near Mortimer and Burghfield Commons, unites with 
 it ; it then flows northerly and easterly through the town of 
 Reading, on the north-eastern side of which it joins the Thames. 
 
 6150. B 
 
6 
 
 GEOLOGY OF READING. 
 
 The Loddon enters at Stratfieldsaye Park, flows in a northerly 
 direction for about a mile and a half, then north-easterly and 
 northerly to its junction with the Thames between Shiplake and 
 Wargrave, where it is divided into two streams. At Swallowfield 
 Park it receives the united streams of the Blackwater and White- 
 water ; and further north is fed by a stream flowing from the 
 south and west of Bearwood ; and by another west of Hurst, 
 flowing from the south of Wokingham.* 
 
 The following is a list of the geological formations which are 
 shown on the map by distinctive colours : — 
 
 .Recent ■ 
 
 Pleistocene - 
 
 Eocene - 
 
 Cretaceous 
 
 Alluvium. 
 Tufa. 
 Loam. 
 
 Valley Gravel. 
 
 Clay-with-flints and Loam (over- 
 lying chalk). 
 Plateau Gravel. 
 Pebble Gravel. 
 Upper Bagshot Beds. 
 Bracklesham Beds. 
 Lower Bagshot Beds. 
 London Clay. 
 Reading Beds. 
 Upper Chalk. 
 Middle Chalk. 
 
 lJ T J* u St ° T I u f S £r me £ f T he ^ Str 4^ s in ^ he Kennet-Thames area has lately 
 been dealt with by Mr. H. J. O. White, Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xvii., p. 399 
 
CHALK. 
 
 CHAPTER It— CHALK. 
 
 This formation is divided into Lower, Middle, and Upper 
 Chalk, but only the Middle and Upper Chalk come to the 
 surface in this district. At Winkfield, m Windsor Forest, how- 
 ever a bonng passed through the whole formation, and the 
 thickness was found to be 725 feet, of which 219 feet was 
 Lower Chalk, 169 feet Middle Chalk, and 337 feet Upper Chalk.* 
 
 Ihe Chalk exists throughout our district, but is only found 
 at the surface over a comparatively small part, for, in the 
 southern half of the area and in parts of the northern half 
 it is covered by Eocene strata often of great thickness, and in 
 other parts the Chalk is hidden under beds of Drift. 
 
 Middle Chalk. 
 
 The Middle Chalk is divided into two zones, namely-- 
 2. The Zone of Terebratulina (Fig. 2). 
 1. The Zone of Rhynchonella Guvieri (Fig. 1). 
 
 Fig. 1.— Rhynchonella Cuvieri, Fig. 2. -Terebratulina graoilis var 
 d Orb. (twice natural lata, Eth. (thrice natural' 
 
 size), size). 
 
 The zone of Rhynchonella Cuvieri consists of a rubblv 
 yellowish chalk in which nodules of flint seldom occur and its 
 base is usually marked by a hard, nodular, chalky limestone 
 known as the Melboum Rock, which does not, however come 
 to the surface in our area. 
 
 The zone of Terebratulina consists of smooth white chalk 
 and in it nodules of flint are occasionally to be found. It has 
 been termed the zone of Terebratulina gracilis, but it is 
 now known, _ through the researches of Dr. F. L. Kitcbin 
 that this species does not occur below the uppermost division of 
 our Chalk ; the name tq. be used for the species of Terebratulina 
 in the Middle Chalk has yet to be decided ; it has been called 
 f. gracilis var. lata., by Mr. Etheridge. 
 
 The Middle Chalk runs down the Thames Valley from Goring 
 and Streatley by Basildon to Pangbourne. 
 
 * "Water Supply of Berkshire," Mem. Geol. Survey, 1901, p. 95. 
 See Whitaker and Jukes-Browne, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. 1., p. 496 (1894). 
 
 6160. B 2 
 
8 GEOLOGY OF BEADING. 
 
 The following note of the details of exposures are by Mr. Jukes- 
 Browne : — 
 
 No outcrop of Melbourn Kock could be found in this district 
 or south of Moulsford, but the old quarry by the road-cutting 
 through the ridge, about one and a half miles north of Streatley, 
 exposed hard yellowish lumpy chalk, which is believed to belong 
 to the zone of Bhynchonella Guvieri, at no great distance above 
 the Melbourn rock, although no fossils were discovered in it; the 
 weathered face has a disintegrated rubbly appearance, and the 
 bedding is indistinct, but, the mass included large irregular lumps 
 of very hard chalk ; features which are also developed in the chalk 
 of this zone at Cleeve near Goring. 
 
 It was therefore inferred that the Melbourn Eock came to the 
 surface on the slope between this road and the river, passing 
 thence below the gravel and reaching the level of the alluvium 
 a little to the north of Streatley. A small pit in the field a 
 quarter of a mile south-west of Streatley Farm exposed a few 
 feet of similar hard chalk. 
 
 On the eastern side of the valley the lower part of the Middle 
 Chalk is well exposed in the railway-cuttings a little out of this 
 district to the north of Goring, and at several jpoints along the 
 river-bank also just north of the district. The first cutting 
 north of Goring Station is about 30 feet deep ; the lowest beds 
 in the centre are hard and full of fragments of Inoceramus, and 
 form regular courses from one to two feet thick ; the higher beds 
 are less hard, and about half-way up the face a single egg-shaped 
 flint was found, but the whole of the chalk has a yellowish tinge 
 and probably belongs to the zone of Bhynchonella Guvieri. 
 
 On the same side of the valley the upper part of the Middle 
 Chalk is exposed in a pit on the slope above Gatehampton 
 Farm, which cannot be far below the Chalk Rock ; it shows : — 
 
 Ft. 
 
 in. 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 Tough white chalk without flints 
 
 Soft and buff-coloured marl 
 
 Firm white chalk with nodules and seams of 
 
 flint, and broken hwceramus 16 
 
 The surface of the bed underlying the marl is hard and 
 nodular. 
 
 The uppermost beds, passing up into Chalk Rock, are also 
 seen in the road-cutting east of Goring. (See p. 10.) 
 
 The outcrop of the Terebratulina zone was found in the 
 road-cutting west of Streatley at a level of 315 feet. Thence it 
 passes along the steep slope of Green Hill, its level gradually 
 falling along the slopes to the southward. 
 
 Uppek Ch.vlk. 
 
 The Upper Chalk consists of soft white chalk, more or less 
 evenly bedded, with numerous irregular nodules of flint along 
 the planes of bedding and sometimes in the chalk between. 
 
CHALK. 
 
 9 
 
 Thin seams of tabular flint occasionally occur along the bedding- 
 planes, or fill fissures or joints inclined at various angles to them. 
 At its base is the Chalk Rock, a cream-coloured limestone with 
 glauconitic grains and many green-coated nodules. 
 
 The Upper Chalk is divided into several zones, only the three 
 lower of which have been identified in our district, namely — 
 3. The Zone of Micraster coranguinum,, Leske. (Fig. 3.) 
 2. The Zone of Micraster cortestudinarium, Goldf. 
 1. The Zone of Holaster planus, Mant. (Fig. 4.) 
 The following account is by Mr. Jukes-Browne, and will appear 
 in his Memoir on the Cretaceous Rocks, vol. III. 
 
 Fig. 3. 
 
 -Micraster coranguinum, 
 Leske. 
 
 Fig. 4.— Holaster 
 planus, Mant. 
 
 I,— Zone of Holaster planus. 
 
 The zone of Holaster planus includes the Chalk Rock,, which, 
 as has been said, forms the base of the Upper Chalk. 
 
 The average thickness of the zone in the Thames Valley is 
 about 20 feet. 
 
 A good section of this zone was exposed in an old quarry facing 
 the Thames in Harts-lock Wood opposite Basildon. The upper 
 30 feet of the quarry-face being inaccessible, only the lower part 
 was measured, the rest being estimated by eye : — 
 
 za 
 
 1 
 
 a 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 03 
 
 
 *— < 
 
 
 Ph 
 
 
 W' 
 
 
 «4H 
 
 
 o 
 
 Chalk, 
 
 
 Eock. 
 
 ta 
 
 
 
 1 *> 
 
 White chalk with flints - about 
 
 Soft white chalk without flints - „ 
 
 Soft powdery chalk with hard lumps which weather 
 out prominently ; contains a few scattered flints 
 and a layer of flints at the base. Micraster 
 common - -about 
 
 Hard compact rock with a layer of green-coated 
 nodules at top ; below it passes into lumpy white 
 chalk - - - - 
 
 Hard yellowish rock full of green-coated nodules in 
 the upper six 6 inches, compact below but passing 
 into nodular chalk 
 
 Feet. 
 12 
 
 2 
 
 16 
 
10 GEOLOGY OF READING. 
 
 (Less nodular white chalk passing into massive white Feet 
 chalk - - 6 
 
 Layer of grey marl just seen 
 Talus hiding lower beds - 20 
 
 There was no sign here of any rock-bed at the summit of the 
 lumpy chalk, but the soft white chalk may be regarded as the 
 base of the zone of Micraster cortestudinarium. The Chalk 
 Rock below has but few fossils. 
 
 Another good section, where every bed can be easily examined, 
 is in the road-cutting on White Hill, east of Goring, and may, 
 perhaps, be given though it is just beyond our district. Here 
 the upper limit of the zone is marked by a thin bed of yellowish 
 rock, xhe beds seen were as follows : — 
 
 Ft. in. 
 Soft white chalk with a layer of flint about half an inch 
 
 thick at the base- - - 5 
 
 r Hard yellowish rock in loose lumps, but without 
 
 nodules. Ventriculites. 1 
 
 Nodular chalk, consisting of hard limestone lumps 
 embedded in loose powdery chalk with a few 
 scattered flints - 12 
 
 Hard white limestone, without green grains, pass- 
 ing down into very hard compact yellowish 
 rock full of green grains, with several layers of 
 
 (green-coated nodules (Chalk Eock) 5 
 
 Hard rock without green grains passing down 
 into rough nodular chalk 2 
 
 Layer of soft shaly marl 3 
 
 
 
 o ^ 
 
 l_ Firm bedded white chalk - 4 
 
 about 30 
 
 Micraster is rare at this place, but Echinocorys scutatus, 
 Spondylus spinosus, and Terebratula carnea occurred in the 
 nodular beds. 
 
 2. Zone of Micraster cortestudinarium. 
 
 The average thickness of this zone in the Thames Valley is 
 about 60 feet, and there seems to be some thickness of chalk, 
 exposed in several pits, which is referable to it. 
 
 There is a quarry at Whitchurch which may possibly be in 
 the Chalk of this zone, but no fossils have been obtained from it, 
 and it is more likely to be in that of M. coranguinum, which 
 continues thence to Reading. 
 
 Part of the zone is well exposed in the railway-cutting west 
 of Pangbourne, where the beds are bent up into a slight anticlinal 
 curve, as represented in Fig. 5. The fault is of small importance, 
 having a throw of only about 2 feet. The flints are black 
 inside, with a very thin rind, and some of them are cavernous. 
 Echinocorys scutatus was the only fossil seen. 
 
CHALK. 11 
 
 Fig. 5.— Sketch in the Railway-cutting west of Pangbourne. 
 
 Ft. in. 
 
 10. Chalk with some flints to 6 
 
 9. A continuous seam of flint 3 
 
 8. Chalk without flints 4. 
 
 7. Chalk with three layers of flint nodules 5 
 
 6. Chalk with a few flints 10 
 
 5. Yellow rocky chalk, with some flints 9 
 
 4. Chalk with scattered flints . 4 
 
 3. Hard yellowish rocky chalk 1 o 
 
 2. Bough chalk with flint nodules . 2 
 
 1. Massive homogeneous chalk seen for 1 3 
 
 30-34 
 
 3. Zone of Micraster coranguinum. 
 
 Along the valley of the Thames the thickness of this zone is 
 about 200 feet. Exposures are numerous, and the follow- 
 ing account has been drawn up from the records published by 
 Professor Barrois, * supplemented by notes furnished by Mr. W. 
 Hill, and Mr. J. Rhodes. 
 
 Being unable to indicate any particular bed as the top of the 
 zone of M. cortestudinarium, and fossils being scarce in the beds 
 which form the passage from it to the zone of M. coranguinum, we 
 cannot be sure about the zonal, horizon of some exposures. It 
 is probable, however, that the chalk seen at Whitchurch belongs 
 to the M. coramguinum zone, and, if so, then all the chalk seen in 
 the numerous quarries along the Oxford side of the river from 
 Whitchurch toShiplake will belong to the same zone. 
 
 The exposure at Whitchurch is north of the village, behind 
 the school -house on the main road, and in 1885 it showed a 
 vertical face of chalk with many layers of flints. The chalk 
 is firm, but not hard ; the flints occur in layers, or courses, 4 to 
 6 inches thick, full of flints crowded together, and these courses 
 are from 2 to 3 feet apart ; there are also some scattered nodules 
 between the courses, and some thin continuous seams of flint. 
 I did not notice any fossils, but could not give time to the search. 
 Dr. Barrois mentions a quarry " north of Pangbourne" which he 
 refers to the zone of M . cortesttulinarium ; it can, however, hardly 
 be this one. 
 
 llecherches sur le Terr. Cret, Sup., p. 148. (1876). 
 
12 GEOLOGY OF BEADING. 
 
 Another quarry was visited by Dr. Barrois, one kilometre (0-62 
 mile) east of Whitchurch, and from his description it appears to 
 be in similar chalk. He obtained the following fossils : — 
 
 Echinocorys gibbus. 
 Micraster coranguinum. 
 Starfish remains. 
 Porosphsera globularis. 
 
 Inoceramus involutus. 
 
 „ Cuvieri. 
 Rhynchonella plicatilis. 
 Cidaris clavigera. 
 
 At Mapledurham and at Chazey Farm, west_ of Caversham 
 there are quarries which are unquestionably in the zone ot 
 M. coranguinum, the chalk being soft, white, with few perfect 
 fossils, but many fragments of large Inocerami ; the flints are 
 in layers from 2 to 3 feet apart, and some of them have a 
 cloudy white band, while others are cavernous and contain 
 numerous Bryozoan remains. The quarry at Chazey Farm is 
 about 80 feet deep. 
 
 At Caversham there is another large quarry, the chalk of which 
 Dr. Barrois referred to the zone of Marswpites, which overlies the 
 zone of Micraster coranguinum, but he did not find any plates 
 of Marsupites, and Mr. Hill, who has recently visited it, saw no 
 reason for separating this chalk from that of Chazey Farm, its 
 general aspect being the -same, the flints nearly as numerous, 
 and no layer of yellow nodules nor any other special feature 
 being visible in either quarry. Dr. Barrois describes the chalk 
 of the Caversham quarry as " white and soft, with layers of flints 
 from 3 to 6 feet apart. These flints are black, with a thin white 
 skin ; some are cavernous, others in tabular layers ; their shape 
 is irregular, generally flattened in the direction of the stratifica- 
 tion." He found the following fossils : — 
 
 Inoceramus (rare). 
 Lima Hoperi, 
 Spondylus. 
 
 Rhynchonella plicatilis, 
 Serpula granulata. 
 
 Cidaris clavigera. 
 
 „ hirudo. 
 Micraster coranguinum. 
 Bourgueticrinus ellipticus. 
 Porosphsera globularis. 
 
 It will be observed that there is nothing here specially char- 
 acteristic of the higher zone, no Belemnite nor Offaster pillula. 
 
 There are several pits between Caversham and Shiplake, and 
 Mr. Hill reports them all to be in chalk with many layers of 
 flints, with very few fossils, and without special features. He 
 refers them all to the M . coranguinum zone. 
 
 South-east of Wargrave, in Berkshire, is a large quarry, 60 feet 
 deep in similar chalk, and the same chalk can be seen at several 
 places on the river slope between Wargrave and Park Place. 
 
 A. J. J.-B. 
 
 Returning to the Chazey Farm pit, it was noted that numerous 
 irregular-shaped flints, and also some tabular flint, occurred 
 along the lines of bedding, and a few flints here and there in the 
 solid chalk between the bedding. r lhe upper part was very 
 rubbly and thinly bedded in places, whereas the lower part was 
 rather thickly bedded, the beds averaging from 1 foot 6 inches 
 to 2 feet or more in thickness. 
 
CHALK. 13 
 
 A flint-cast of a large Ammonite of the [Hapl.] leptophyllus 
 group from the chalk cutting on the Great Western Railway at 
 Waltham, is in the collection of Mr. LI. Treacher of Twyford.* 
 
 Fossils from the Upper Chalk. 
 
 Fig. 6. — Khynchonella Fig. 7. — Echinocorys scutatus, 
 
 plicatilis var. octoplicata, Sow. Leske (f natural size). 
 
 The Rev. W. Buckland gives the following account of the 
 Chalk at Catsgrove [Katesgrove] Hill Brick Kilns, Reading : — 
 
 The chalk is quarried below the green sand containing oysters 
 [Reading Beds] to the depth of about 25 feet, when the workings 
 are stopped by water at a point nearly on a line with the level of 
 the River Kennet. ... In this thickness of 25 feet of chalk, there 
 is but one regular and continuous course of flints, and in this 
 they are disposed in tabular masses, for the most part of about 
 two inches in thickness. (This bed is but a few feet above the 
 water.) In the chalk that lies above this silicious stratum, the 
 flints are disposed irregularly with their usual characters and 
 eccentric forms, derived, in many instances, from the organic 
 remains which they envelope. They are collected for the use of 
 the porcelain manufactories. The chalk itself is extracted 
 largely from under the sands and clays, by means of shafts and 
 levels, to be burnt into lime, f 
 
 The following notes are by Mr. F. J. Bennett : — 
 
 The Upper Chalk with flints is seen at the surface in the 
 north-western corner of the area, and disappears under the 
 Tertiaries at Stanford Dingley, the river there being on the 
 boundary. 
 
 Its thickness there has been estimated at 300 feet. A well 
 at Woodrow's Farm south-west of Aldworth, at which place 
 there is an outlier of Reading Beds, is 300 feet deep, and Chalk 
 Rock seems to have been touched at that depth ; and as there 
 was no great thickness of Reading Beds this seems to agree 
 fairly well with the estimate. 
 
 * H. J. 0. White, Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xvii. (1901), p. 177. 
 t Trans. Geol. Soc, vol. iv. (1817) p. 280. 
 
14 GEOLOGY OF BEADING. 
 
 At Applepie Hill, about a mile and a quarter west of Aldworth 
 Church, a small pit shows some chalk with flints. 
 
 Chalk with flints is also seen in the road-cutting one and a 
 quarter mile south-east of Aldworth and in a large pit just west 
 of Hartridge Farm where there is 15 feet of it. 
 
 In the railway-cutting just south of Hampstead Norris Station 
 there is greyish much broken-up chalk with nodular flints, with a 
 yellow marly band in the middle, showing a dip of 7° S. A little 
 east of Ealing Farm is a large chalk pit with nodular and tabular 
 flints ; a small fault is seen in the pit. 
 
 Chalk is exposed in most of the valleys in the north-western 
 part of the area, and the fields are in many places thickly 
 covered with flints. 
 
 There are several chalk pits near the junction of the Chalk 
 with the Tertiaries : these have been opened for the purpose of 
 getting chalk for dressing the heavy Tertiary clays. There are 
 large pits near Stanford Dingley. — F. J. B. 
 
 Some extensive galleries were found in the chalk at Yattendon, 
 in 1819. They are described * by W. H. Brewer as consisting 
 " of various passages intersecting one another ; the roof formed 
 with no contemptible skill, and supported by square pillars hewn 
 out of the chalk." 
 
 * The Gentleman's Magazine, 1822, p. 416. 
 
READING BEDS. 15 
 
 CHAPTER III.— READING BEDS. 
 
 There is a great break in time between the Chalk and the 
 Reading Beds which are here found resting upon it; for not 
 only are the highest beds of the Chalk wanting in this area 
 but a considerable series of Eocene strata which in other places 
 is found below the Reading Beds is also absent. The Reading 
 Beds accordingly here lie upon a greatly but evenly eroded 
 surface of Chalk. 
 
 They consist of variously coloured mottled plastic clays and 
 more or less loose sands, the former generally occurring in the 
 upper part of the formation, and varying from about 30 to 50 
 feet in thickness, while the sands are found beneath with a 
 thickness of from 20 to 40 feet. The " bottom-bed " consists of 
 stiff dark bluish-grey clay, which is sometimes laminated, 
 interstratified with brown and olive-green glauconitic sands. It 
 is very persistent and usually from about 7 to 10 feet in thick- 
 ness. The whole formation in this area varies from about 70 
 feet or less to 90 feet in thickness. 
 
 The main mass of the Reading Beds extends beneath the 
 surface in the southern half of the district and at its outcrop 
 forms a narrow band running nearly east and west. 
 
 Several outliers are found upon the Chalk to the north of the 
 main mass. Four of them lie north of the Thames and will be 
 first described ; those south of the Thames will then be dealt 
 with from west to east ; and finally the main mass will receive 
 attention. 
 
 Outliers. — North op the Thames. 
 
 Cray's Pond. — North of Whitchurch there is an irregular 
 outlier, the northern part of which extends beyond the district. 
 In that part, a little more than half a mile north-east of Cray's 
 Pond, there was a brickyard in Claypits Wood which showed the 
 following section : — 
 
 Feet. 
 Mottled crimson, grey, and brown clay 16 
 
 White sand - 5 
 
 Brown and grey clay interstratified with 
 
 seams of sand (Bottom-bed) 4 
 
 Chalk. 
 
 Other sections also occurred north of the above on Greenmoor 
 Hill; one showing a very even line at the junction of the 
 bottom-bed (6 feet thick) with the Chalk. 
 
 In digging the well (331 feet in depth) at the cross-roads by 
 Cray's Pond, in 1886, gravel, loam, and clay were passed through, 
 and chalk reached, at a depth of 60 feet, according to information 
 supplied by the well-digger, John Higgs. 
 
 Reading 
 
16 GEOLOGY OP BEADING. 
 
 At Little Heath, north-west of Cray's Pond, red and brown 
 clay was exposed. 
 
 In the southern part of this outlier, there are many small 
 
 exposures of light-coloured sands. South of Cold Harbour Farm, 
 
 a section showed : — 
 
 Feet. 
 
 x. j- t> j f Crimson and grey mottled clay 1 
 
 Eeadmg Beds| Buff sandg) w | 1 . s J tratified 6 
 
 Mapledurham.— With the exception of its south-eastern side, 
 this outlier is covered with gravel; making its north-western 
 limit doubtful. It is possible it may extend in that direction 
 as far as Whittles Farm,, where, in an excavation, 2 feet of red 
 clay were exposed beneath the gravel. The doubtful boundary, as 
 shown by a disconnected line south of Hodmoor Farm, has 
 been drawn there as the bottom-bed, consisting of brown and 
 green sand, was exposed 6 feet beneath the surface in cleaning 
 out the pond near the fork in the road. 
 
 In the cross-roads west of Tokers Green, mottled plastic clay 
 was exposed by the side of the road ; and mottled yellow and 
 grey clay in the road to the west of the Pack-saddle Inn. 
 
 " Just above the ' Pack-saddle ' there is crimson mottled 
 plastic clay ; and in sinking chalk-wells in the fields near, about 
 20 feet of gravel, loam, and clay have been found above the 
 Chalk." * W. W. 
 
 Emmer Green. — This outlier extends from Caversham Grove 
 and Oakley House north-east to Kose Hill. 
 
 In Caversham Park Mr. Whitaker noted} " mottled plastic clay 
 some distance below the house, and sand at a higher level east- 
 ward, whilst the hills on the eastern side of the valley consist 
 of Chalk, at a much higher level than the Tertiary beds in the 
 Park, thus indicating a fault with a downthrow on the west." 
 
 A well in the park passed through 30 feet of Reading Beds, 
 the upper 24 feet being mottled clay and, at the bottom, there 
 were 6 feet of sand on the Chalk. 
 
 At Rose Hill a well showed as much as 61 feet of Reading 
 Beds. 
 
 In the eastern part of the outlier a patch of London Clay is 
 brought in by three faults arranged in the form of a triangle, 
 one of which is that running through Caversham Park, already 
 mentioned. 
 
 Mr. Wbitaker observed a section in a brick-field near Rose 
 Hill showing London Clay thrown down by one of these faults 
 against the variously coloured mottled plastic clays of the 
 Reading Beds. He adds that in a Chalk well about 40 feet of 
 
 •" Geology of the London Basin," Mem. Geol. Survey, vol. iv., 
 1872, p. 202. 
 t Loc. eit. 
 
READING BEDS. 17 
 
 clay was passed through before the Chalk was reached and that 
 immediately above the latter there was about 3 feet of clayey 
 green sands (bottom-bed) with oyster shells at the base* 
 
 Bvnfield Heath. — At the kiln, adjoining Comp Farm, the 
 following section was exposed : — 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Reading Beds | Mottled crimson and grey clay . . 25 
 
 A well-defined fault, with a downthrow of the Reading Beds on 
 the eastern side, and with the chalk coming to the surface on the 
 western side, passes through the north-eastern corner of the 
 wood south of Comp Farm, and continues in a south-easterly 
 direction as far as Dunsden Green. The Chalk to the south- 
 east of the wood is at a little higher level than the surface of 
 the ground at the above section of Reading Beds, and within 
 about 30 yards of the north-western corner of the section, and 
 about 80 yards from the south-eastern corner. 
 
 Close to the north-eastern corner of the wood, a well was sunk 
 in the Chalk to the depth of 72 feet, with galleries for obtaining 
 the Chalk. 
 
 Referring to previous excavations at the same kiln, Mr. 
 Whitaker gives the following descriptionf : — 
 
 " In sinking a chalk-well at the Binfield Heath Brickyard the 
 Chalk was reached after passing through about 20 feet of the 
 Reading Beds, in which, as at Rose Hill, there was but little sand. 
 Immediately above the Chalk was a clayey green sand. When 
 the survey was being made, there was a small section showing 
 three beds of mottled clay with a dip gradually increasing from 
 5° to 15°, about 20° west of south, in which direction, however, 
 the Chalk comes to the surface at a higher level, proving the 
 existence of a fault with a downthrow on the north-east. In a 
 chalk pit just below the kiln the dip is 5° to the east, that is in 
 a contrary direction to that of the Reading Beds on the down- 
 throw side of the fault. In sinking a well at a house on the 
 high road, opposite the road leading to the brickyard, plastic 
 clay was again found at a lower level than the Chalk to the 
 south-west."— W.W. 
 
 Many small exposures of the Reading Beds are to be seen 
 on the eastern side of the fault. Thus in Sandpit Lane, sand 
 and clay was exposed; in Tagg Lane crimson and brown 
 plastic clay was seen ; whilst on the western side of the fault 
 there are chalk pits. 
 
 On the north-western side of the outlier, in a pit in the wood 
 south of Dean Farm, clay was seen overlying Chalk ; and loam 
 and sand in a pit in the northern part of the wood east of Dean 
 Farm. 
 
 On the north, exposures were seen at the pond, at Mays Green ; 
 also on the north-east of High Wood, where red sand occurs ; 
 whilst to the south-east of the same wood a sand-pit showed 
 9 feet of well stratified buff sand. 
 
 * Op. cit, p. 202. t Op. cit., p. 202. 
 
18 GEOLOGY OF READING. 
 
 In the central part, mottled red and grey clay* was exposed 
 beneath gravel, on the south-eastern corner of Oakhouse Wood. 
 
 On the eastern side of the outlier, there are sand pits in the 
 wood north of Shiplake Row known as Long Copse, where 15 feet 
 in thickness of well stratified buff sand was exposed in one pit, 
 and 6 feet in another. At Shiplake Kiln, south- east of the wood, 
 the following section was seen on the west side of the excavation, > 
 south of the road : — 
 
 Feet. 
 
 id j- -d j f Mottled clays - 25 
 
 Heading Beds - [Bluilsh clay with shells (Bottom-bed) 5 
 
 Chalk 
 
 On the southern side of the same excavation, from 15 to 
 20 feet of mottled clays were exposed ; and on the northern 
 side of the road from 1 to 3 feet of gravel. Drift was seen to 
 overlie 25 feet of mottled clays. 
 
 South of this brickfield, a good section showing from 15 to 20 
 feet of mottled clays was exposed in the road-cutting east of 
 Shiplake Row. And in the road leading from Shiplake Row in 
 a southerly direction to the main Reading Road, mottled red 
 and grey clays were to be seen in the upper part ; and sand and 
 clay in the lower. 
 
 In the southern part of the outlier, red and grey mottled clays 
 occur 2 feet beneath the surface in the road west of the Metho- 
 dist Chapel ; and in an excavation in the wood south of The 
 Firs, a section showed 8 feet of brown loam and clay. 
 
 Outliers South of the Thames. 
 
 Bower Farm. — " A small outlier in the north-western part 
 of the district, about half-a-mile north of Aldworth, consists 
 of " a small thickness of the bottom-bed, with yellow sand above, 
 in a hoUow in the Chalk."*— W. W. 
 
 Streatley. — In Common Wood, on the hill to the south-west 
 of Streatley, sand has been excavated in places. 
 
 The following note is by Mr. Bennett : — 
 
 Aldworth. — This outlier is a little south-west of Aldworth. 
 As it is in a hollow in the Chalk it makes no feature. Small 
 sections in it are to be seen in several places. Half a mile west 
 of the church and just north of the road by Pibworth Farm a 
 small pit showed a little mottled clay over 6 feet of yellow sand. 
 A little south-west of this in ia meadow is another sand-pit 
 with 5 feet of sand. There are two ponds close to the farm 
 house ; the one north of the house shows 10 feet of mottled clay, 
 and the other, east of the house, also shows clay. A pond close 
 to Woodrpw's Farm showed 5 feet of mottled clay, and I was 
 informed that the excavation for a tank at the house showed 
 20 feet of clay. 
 
 *Op. ci'i.,p. 194. 
 
READING BEDS. 19 
 
 Ashampstead. — A little north-eastward of Ashampstead and 
 east of Hartridge Farm there is an outlier composed largely of 
 sand. It is also in a hollow in the Chalk, and makes no feature. 
 
 Upper Basildon. — This outlier is very well defined and the 
 brickyard showed the following section : — 
 
 A little pebbly gravel 
 
 A little mottled clay 
 
 Brown mottled clay 5 to 10 Feet. 
 
 Fine white sand 3 to 10 „ 
 
 A shaft sunk in the wood close by to reach the chalk showed 
 20 feet of Reading Beds ; and, as the ground above rose at least 
 10 feet, these beds must here be 30 feet thick. — F.J.B. 
 
 The following notes are by Mr. Whitaker*: — 
 
 Yattendon. — " The Yattendon outlier occupies the high ground 
 between that place and Bradfield, and is capped in two [or more] 
 places by London Clay. The projection on which Yattendon 
 stands consists of the bottom-bed with a capping of sand ; a long 
 section of the former may be seen on the road south of the 
 village, and it is also exposed in a chalk-pit on the road to 
 Manstone Farm. 
 
 " In Lye Wood there is sand, and at its southern end, in an 
 old chalk-pit now overgrown with trees, the bottom-bed is just 
 visible. It contains green-coated flints, one that I found being a 
 cast of a Galeritc 
 
 " At and near Burnthill Common there is sand, capped with 
 gravel on the higher ground; and also at Strouds. South of the 
 fatter place, by Birchland and Hockley Woods, the boundary is 
 obscure ; but the swallow-holes serve as guides. In the fields 
 north of Heath Wood [south-west of Bottom House Farm] there 
 is sand a little distance above the Chalk; and along the road 
 to Bottom [House] Farm a section of the bottom-bed consisting 
 of some feet of bluish-grey clay and sand with green grains, with 
 pebbles in the lower part. This bed is also to be seen in the 
 fields west of the road. There is much gravel here, especially 
 on the higher ground." — W. W. 
 
 Sir Joseph Prestwich has noted the beds shown in a brickyard 
 at Red Hill, near Hewin's Wood,t and remarked that "the 
 peculiarity of this section is the occurrence of a patch of angular 
 chalk fragments and flints, resembling ordinary gravel, beneath 
 the main mass of mottled clay." He gives the following 
 section : — 
 
 Feet. 
 ' Eed and purple clay passing down into red 
 and green mottled clay, and then red clay 20 
 Angular fragments of chalk, subangular 
 
 flints, and flint-pebbles - 1 
 
 Mottled red and yellow sand 0| 
 
 Light-coloured sand 6(1) 
 
 Reading Beds/ 
 
 * Op. eit. p. 195. 
 
 t Quart, Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. x. (1854) p. 87. 
 
46 feet. 
 
 20 GEOLOGY OF BEADING. 
 
 Mr. Whitaker noted that "at Old Pit, west of Bradfield 
 [3 furlongs north-east of Rushall's Farm] there is sand above 
 the Chalk, and in the valley farther west is a swallow-hole. At 
 the southern end of Hanger Copse [3 furlongs north-west of 
 Rushall's Farm] there is a trace of the bottom-bed, and in the 
 woods sand ; at the old brickyard to the east of Yattendon 
 the former is seen to be of considerable thickness, and in it I 
 found an internal cast, in iron-pyrites, of a small Nucula. At 
 King's Wood [probably in the small outlier east of Burnt Hill] 
 light-coloured sand and clay overlie the bottom-bed." * 
 
 The following notes are by Mr. F. J. Bennett : — 
 "A section in Clack's Copse east of the fish-pond showed 5 
 to 12 feet of brown false-bedded sand. East of this in 
 Gravelpit Copse a pit showed loam and angular gravel 
 with masses of pebbles overlying coarse yellow sand, and I 
 was told that silicified trunks of trees had been found in the 
 sand. (See p. 68.) 
 
 The part of the outlier south of Burnt Hill, capped with 
 London Clay, showed the following sections : — 
 
 Section at the Kiln north of Lucksall Farm. 
 
 London Clay Busty brown clay 
 
 T? A' st Tl t\ { "^ e( ^ mott l e d clay 
 
 ° \ Sand and clay, said to be 
 
 Section in a pit three-quarters of a milesouth-east of Lucksall 
 Farm Kiln and east of the road: — '.,-.. 
 
 London Clay 1 Rusty brown day - 4 \ 
 
 -Roadie iws / Brown and s re y cla y e y sand ■ 3 r 8 £ feefc - 
 
 Heading tfeds j j^^^te sand . ^ j 
 
 A little south of Stroud's or Mapleton's Farm (east of Burnt 
 Hill) and west of the road is a large pit showing 10 feet of false- 
 bedded coarse yellow sand capped in one place by brown 
 loam. 
 
 The Reading Beds were seen in the cutting on the road 
 leading from Burnt Hill to Stanford Dingley, and swallow-holes 
 occur in the wood to the east of that road." — F. J. B. 
 
 The following is by Mr. Whitaker f : — 
 
 Frilsham. — " The hills between Frilsham and "Stanford 
 Dingley are formed by a large mass of the Reading Beds, with a 
 thick and extensive capping of London Clay. . . . In the road 
 near Frilsham House the bottom-bed is partly exposed, and 
 above it are loams and mottled plastic clays. Thence to 
 Frilsham the boundary-line is much hidden by Drift gravel 
 and clay, though yellow sand may be seen occasionally; but 
 it may be traced by the swallow-holes which occur in most of 
 the hollows. On the slope of the hill east of Frilsham there is 
 a spring of clear water, said to be constant, thrown out from the 
 loamy basement-bed of the London Clay, by a crimson-mottled 
 plastic clay immediately beneath. In a well, at a house on the 
 
 * "Geology of the London Basin," Mem. Qeol. Survey, vol. iv., 1872, p. 195. 
 t Op. cit., pp. 194, 195. 
 
READING BEDS. 21 
 
 road south of this, light-coloured sand was found above the 
 bottom-bed. In the brickyard close by there are several small 
 pits, one showing the junction with the London Clay, a large 
 mass of which has slipped down over the lower beds. Beneath ' 
 the basement-bed of the London Clay there is crimson and green 
 mottled plastic clay. The bottom-bed is not seen here, but the 
 sand above it is well developed, being as much as 20 feet thick; 
 the upper part is buff, the lower and greater part white, and 
 above it there is clay. 
 
 " Just south-east of Hawkridge [Farm, not named on the map 
 but marked south of Hawkridge Wood] a chalk-pit shows 
 2 or 3 feet of light-coloured sand, and about a foot of clayey 
 sand, with green grains (bottom-bed) above the Chalk. Just 
 west of the other Hawkridge [half-a-mile west of Field Farm] 
 yellow sand comes on a little above the Chalk. At Rusdens 
 [nearly half-a-mile south of west of Field Farm] there is sand, 
 and at a higher level, mottled clay. 
 
 " By the road south of Hawkridge Farm [now Field Farm] 
 there is some of the green sand of the bottom-bed, and also at 
 the higher part of the large chalk-pit near the same place. North 
 of this the boundary-line is much hidden by Drift; but sand 
 may be seen near the farm ; at Dods [half-a-mile north of Field 
 Farm] where there is a swallow-hole, and around Maslin's wood 
 [half a mile south-east of Frilsham House]. At the meeting of the 
 three roads [also] half-a-mile south-east of Frilsham House, the 
 following -section was to be seen : — 
 
 Feet. 
 Light-coloured sand - ■ 3 or 4 
 
 Bottom-bed, greenish throughout, the lower 
 half of a brown colour, the bottom 6 
 inches darker than the rest about 6 
 
 Chalk, with holes (made by boring molluscs 1) " 
 
 W.W. 
 
 Mr. Bennett notes that at the Kiln on this outlier there were 
 two sections, one showing 5 feet of red mottled clay, and the 
 other 20 feet of sharp coarse yellow sand. 
 
 A little north of the Iron Foundry at Bucklebury, a pit 
 shows a little gravel over brown sand; and another pit a little 
 farther north, called the Warren Pit, showed 3 feet of Reading 
 Beds over Chalk, the junction being piped and irregular. 
 
 At the eastern edge of the outlier there are some swallow- 
 holes. F. J. B. 
 
 Upper Bowden Fwrm. — This outlier, south-west of Pang- 
 bourne, is apparently small and consists mostly of sand. In 
 Franklin's Copse, east of Upper Bowden Farm, a pit showed 
 well-stratified sand. 
 
 Ruscombe. — There is a small outlier to the north of this place 
 nearly covered by gravel which overlaps its northern boundary 
 on to the chalk. There was a section at its southern end half a 
 furlong from the Twyford-London Road showing the junction 
 of the Reading Beds with the Chalk. 
 6150, 
 
 Reading Beds 
 
22 . GEOLOGV OF READING. 
 
 The former consisted of grey clay, with green sand and green 
 coated flints at the bottom. 
 
 Wwgrave. — A little east of this place the"re is a large outlier 
 of Reading Beds, but only a portion of it is in our district. 
 Upon this portion there is part of a thick outlier of London Clay 
 forming Bowsey Hill. 
 
 Mottled clay is worked in a brickfield north of Highfield 
 House, and is also seen by the side of the lane towards Gibstrude 
 Farm. 
 
 The well of the Wargrave and Twyford "Waterworks at Tagg 
 Lane, one mile east of the former place, passed through about 12 
 feet of Reading Beds consisting of mottled clay, loam, etc.* 
 
 Mr. Whitaker noted several swallow-holes. His _ account or 
 the whole outlier may be referred to for further details.f 
 
 * " Water Supply of Berkshire,'' Mem. Geol. Survey (1901), p. 90. 
 
 t " Geology of parts of Middlesex," etc. Mem. Geol. Survey (1864), 
 pp. 42-44 ; " Geology of the London Basin," Mem. Geol. Survey, vol. iv 
 U 872, p. 199 j " Geology of London," vol. i. (1889), pp. 180-182. 
 
BEADING BEDS. 23 
 
 CHAPTER IV.— READING BEDS. 
 The Tilehurst-Reading Outlier. 
 
 A large outlier of Reading Beds extends from the hill above 
 Sulham into Reading, and most of the Castle Ward is built 
 upon it or on gravel which overlies it. 
 
 On its western part there is a large patch of London Clay, and 
 upon it the village of Tilehurst stands. 
 
 A well * at Newdams, Tilehurst, proved the full thickness of 
 the Reading Beds to be 51 feet. 
 
 According to Prestwicht "at Sulham . . . the sands over- 
 lying the chalk are more than 20 feet thick." 
 
 In the upper part of Sulham Wood, about one and a half 
 furlongs north-east of the church, and a little south of the road, 
 a pit showed the following section : — 
 
 Mottled red and grey clay 6 \ , R , , 
 
 Well-stratified buff-coloured sand 10 j 1D leet 
 
 On the sloping ground about six furlongs south-eastward of 
 Sulham church, green sand of the bottom-bed was exposed in a 
 dead well showing the junction of the Reading Beds with the 
 Chalk. 
 
 At the limekiln and brickyard" about three-quarters of a mile 
 north-east of Theale railway- station, about 15 feet of Reading 
 Beds overlying Chalk was exposed in 1887, the plane of junction 
 being remarkably even. The top 12 to 15 inches of the Chalk 
 was perforated in every direction with tube-like holes about 
 one-half to three-quarters of an inch in diameter, filled with 
 the greenish and brownish sand of the overlying beds. A few 
 of these tubes reached to a depth of 18 inches from the top of 
 the chalk. The following was the section exposed : — 
 
 Feet. 
 Well-stratified brown sand containing a 
 bed of grey clay about 8 inches thick 
 in its upper part - 8 
 
 Well - stratified and laminated clays 
 variously coloured grey, brown, and 
 Reading Beds. J ® red, with seams of brown and greenish 
 
 sands 6 
 
 Green-coated flints of a more or less sub- 
 angular shape, intermixed with flint 
 pebbles, in a matrix of brown and 
 greenish sand 1 to 1| 
 
 Chalk at a depth of 15£ 
 
 * " Water Supply of Berkshire,'' Mem. Geol. Survey (1901), p. 85. 
 + Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. x. (1854), p. 87. 
 6150. o 2 
 
24 
 
 GEOLOGY OF READING. 
 
 A man who had worked the pit for about thirty-five years, 
 and who had observed fossils in the Chalk, stated that he had 
 not noticed any oysters or other shells in the Reading Beds. 
 There appeared to be a little carbonaceous matter in the laminated 
 grey clays, but no impressions of leaves were found. 
 
 Mr. Whitaker gives the following section at this brickyard :— * 
 
 Feet. 
 Light-coloured sands - - about 5 
 
 / ". Blue and orange-coloured 
 
 mottled clay - - 1J 
 
 Blue and yellow clayey sand 1 
 Light-blue clay, rather sandy , 
 especially at the upper part 
 where there are many dark 
 Beading J Bottom- "" \ grains - - - - \\ 
 Beds. \ bed, < Blue and brown clay (ferru- 
 
 about i_ ginous) - - about f 
 
 6 \ feet. d. Clayey sand, with green grains; 
 
 - green-coated flints at the base 1 
 Yellowish-brown sand at the 
 lower part clayey, and with 
 green grains and green-coated 
 flints .... 1 
 
 Chalk, with^holes of boring molluscs (?) 
 The dip given by the junction, which is very regular, is 2° in 
 a direction 3(F E. of S. 
 
 In both parts of c. there are a few indistinct casts of small 
 bivalves and a great many small flat radiating impressions, 
 apparently casts of selenite crystals." — W.W. 
 
 Mr. Whitaker tells us that Mr. C. E. Hawkins showed him 
 large specimens of impressions of the same sort in mottled clay 
 at Rowland Castle Brickyard (Hants), and a like fact has been 
 observed by M. de la Condamine in another part of this 
 formation (not here present) at Counter Hill, Lewisham.t 
 
 Casts of fossils were found in beds c, d, and e of the above 
 section. 
 
 The following species were recorded J — Cerithium Lunni ? Mot, 
 Area, Cyrena cordata, Mot., Psammobia? Ostrea bellovacina, 
 Lam,. 
 
 Mr. Whitaker§ adds that " along the road above the brickyard 
 there is sand with iron-sandstone and clay. 
 
 "Between Theale and Reading there is much valley-gravel, 
 which hides the boundary-line ; but sand may often be seen. 
 Clay generally occurs at a higher level." — W.W. 
 
 At Calcot Kiln, south-westward of Calcot Park, the following 
 section was exposed : — 
 
 Mottled red and grey clay - - - 3 to 5 \ „_ , 
 
 Buff, white and brown sand indurated in places 15 / 
 
 Mr. Whitaker notes that the upper part of the sands con- 
 tains a slight admixture of clay, so that it is very tough, 
 and may be quarried in blocks, which harden by exposure : tne 
 
 * " Geology of the London Basin," Mem. Geol. Survey, vol. iv. {1872), p. 196. 
 
 t Quart. Jowrn. Geol Soc, vol. x. (1854), p. 123. 
 
 + " Geology of the London Basin," vol, iv., pp. 576-7. § Op. cit., p. 196, 
 
Eeading BedsJ 
 
 
 o 
 
 Reading beds. 25 
 
 lower part is fine sand. He saw a small block of sandstone, of a 
 light and somewhat varied colour, evidently out of the Reading 
 Beds. _ The junction of the clay and sand dips in a westerly 
 direction, down the slope of the valleyside.* 
 
 At Horncastle, south-east of Calcot Park, in the triangular 
 space westward of the Inn, a sand-pit showed 10 feet of stratified 
 buff and brown sand; and about 10 chains south of the Inn 
 there was a pit where the junction of the Reading Beds with 
 the chalk was well exposed in 1887. The following was the 
 'section : — Feet. 
 
 , Soil and brown sandy loam - - 1 to 1£ 
 Brown sand with a little laminated 
 
 grey clay in places 1 
 
 Laminated grey clay 1 
 
 G-reenish sand, ferruginous for 3 to 6 
 inches at base, and containing 
 numerous small green-coated flints 
 averaging from 3 to 4 inches in 
 \ size - | to 1 
 
 To chalk 3f to i\ 
 
 Chalk, rubbly and containing flints - - 8 
 
 The junction of the Reading Beds with the Chalk was even, 
 
 but slightly undulating. 
 
 Mr. Whitaker notesf that " at the brickyard south-south-east 
 
 of Tilehurst the order of the beds, as well as it could be made out, 
 
 is as follows : — 
 
 Basement-bed of / Brown and pale blue mottled sandy clay. 
 
 the London clay. \ Brown sand. 
 
 ? Light-coloured sands. 
 
 t>„, ... r>„j„ J Laminated iron-sandstone, 2 to 5 inches. 
 
 heading .beds. < t, . . . ' 
 
 6 j Dark brown sand. 
 
 \ Light-coloured sands. 
 
 " In a pit lower down there is more of the test, with a little 
 
 light-coloured clay; and, according to a well-sinker, a great 
 
 thickness of sand above the Chalk. 
 
 " In a chalk-pit about a quarter of a mile south of this there is 
 
 a junction of the bottom-bed, partly in pipes, with apparently 
 
 reconstructed chalk. 
 
 " Near Southcot is much sand." — W.W. 
 
 Passing now to the sections in this outlier in the town of 
 
 Reading, we come first to Coley Hill, where bricks were made 
 
 for many years on the site of the present recreation ground. On 
 
 the western side of this Coley brickyard the following section 
 
 was exposed in 1887 : — Feet.. 
 
 Plateau gravel, consisting of subangular flints, flint pebbles, etc. - 4 
 
 Well-stratified greenish-grey clay and loam, 
 
 ■p , . and mottled red, brown, and grey clays and 
 
 u !; a,iln S loams- - - - - 5 
 
 ii. Variegated light-coloured sands - 16 
 
 , iii. White and ash-coloured sands exposed to 12 
 
 * See " Geology of the London Basin," Mem. Geol Survey, vol. iv. (1872) 
 p. 197. 
 t Op. cit., p. 197. 
 
 Beds. 
 
26 gEoLog* of heading. 
 
 The sands of bed ii. were variously stained and mottled : yellow, 
 light pink, grey, fawn, buff, green, etc., in different shades. They 
 were underlain by the very finely stratified white and ash-coloured 
 sands of bed iii., streaked and stained in places by yellow, buff 
 and orange colours. Numerous thin seams and small nodules 
 of grey plastic clay (" clay galls ") occurred interstratified with 
 the sands. Many black specks and fragments of carbonaceous 
 matter were observed in the white sands, also small angular 
 fragments of white flint (resembling fragments of shells but 
 decidedly flint), and fragments of black flint here and there, and 
 occasionally a subangular flint from one to four inches or more 
 in size, often coated with a greenish colour. These white sands 
 are much false-bedded in places. 
 
 The section has at times been cut down to the Chalk, and an 
 account by Professor T. Kupert Jones, F.R.S., and Captain C. 
 Cooper King, R.M.A., will be found in the Quarterly Journal of 
 the Geological Society for 1875* The following abstract of 
 their account is by Mr. Whitaker : — 
 
 Red loamy gravel, chiefly of flints, with some quartz, quartzite, Feet, 
 etc., resting on the whole horizontally, but pocketed in 
 an eroded surface of the clay below, averaging 5 
 
 Mottled clays ; buff, grey, white, and ochreous 
 false-bedded sands ; with layers of blue clay 
 (sometimes peaty, and showing traces of the 
 "leaf-bed"), "clay-galls " (rolled fragments of 
 clay with included flints) some 18 inches in 
 diameter, and occasional ferruginous nodules 
 and subangular flints (one green-Doated) 18 to 30 
 Bottom-bed ; loamy and pebbly green sands ■ 
 with oyster-shells, sharks' teeth (and a frag- 
 ment of the palate of Myliobatis), carbonised 
 woody matter, flint pebbles, sharp fragments 
 of flint, a small pebble of schist, another of 
 quartzite, and small angular pieces of chalk. 
 Chalk, junction even, with perforated surface. 
 
 The authors remark that the sands, which are thickest on the 
 west, "suffered considerable denudation eastward before the 
 Mottled Clay was laid upon them," and they draw notice to 
 certain other irregularities in the series, namely, the absence of 
 oyster-shells in the bottom-bed in some places, whilst near by 
 they are abundant ; the absence of the leaf-bearing clay in some 
 parts, probably from erosion rather than from thinning out ; and 
 the evidence of the partial destruction of some of the beds of 
 the Reading Series before others were deposited that is given 
 by the clay-galls, etc. " This goes to prove the greater compli- 
 cation of processes in the formation of the ' Reading Tertiaries ' 
 and adds to the length of time required for them. In any case 
 not only does the rolling of the clay-galls bespeak a flat shore 
 and neighbouring cliff, but their enclosed flints clearly indicate 
 a beach, bank, or shoal of flint ddbris at no great distance, 
 whether in fresh, brackish, or salt water. "f — W.W. 
 
 Reading 
 Beds. 
 
 * Vof xxxi., p. 451. t Op. cit., p. 456. 
 
READING BEDS. 
 
 27 
 
 The bottom-bed of the Reading Series at Ooley Kiln has 
 yielded some fossils besides Ostrea bellovacina — the following 
 are in the collection of Mr. R. S. Herries ; — * 
 
 Odontaspis (Lamna) contortidens, Ag. 
 
 Pycnodus. 
 
 Cardium (large species). 
 
 Trigonoccelia ? 
 
 Nucula Bowerbanki, Saw. 
 
 Tellina 1 
 Panopsea. 
 Ostrea. 
 Echinus. 
 
 Fig. 8. — Ostrea bellovacina, Lam. Q natural size..) 
 Mr. Whitakerf gives the following account of the sections at 
 Castle Kiln, north of Coley Hill, obtained from two pits, one above 
 the other. The top two beds were much hidden : — _ 
 
 / Mottled clay, crimson, blue, and brown. ' '''"'' 
 
 Light-brown and white sand, with a thin seam of 
 
 mottled clay about 5 
 
 Pale green and brown mottled clay, with bands of 
 
 crimson clay 
 White, grey, brown, and yellow sand, with a few 
 blocks of iron-sandstone ; at the base a few 
 inches of bright oiange sand. The lower part 
 very coarse (a regular grit) ; false-bedded ; pieces 
 of flint in one bed ; in a bed of clay about 5 feet 
 from the bottom there are casts of leaves 
 
 ' Blue clay, laminated by thin seams of 
 
 sand 
 Clayey sand, with green grains 
 Sand 
 
 Bluish-grey and brownish clay, sandy 
 towards the base ; with green grains 
 and grains of yellow sand, and a few 
 green-coated flints 
 
 Blading 
 
 Beds. 
 
 33 feet. 
 
 Bottom- 
 beds 
 U feet. 
 
 31 
 
 20 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 n 
 
 Junction 
 
 Chalk. — The top part bored (by lithodomous molluscs ?) 
 horizontal and very even. — W.W. 
 
 *Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xiv. (1895-96). p. 412. See also W. H. Hudleston, 
 " Excursion to Reading," Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. iv. (1874-76), p. 519. 
 t " Geol. of the London Basin," Mem. Geol. Survey, vol. iv. (1872), p. 197. 
 
28 GEOLOGY OF READING. 
 
 In the pit at the south-east comer of Castle Hill, Reading, 
 and west of the new church (St. Saviour's) a section (in 1887) 
 showed 20 feet in thickness of sand, whitish and ash-coloured, 
 intermixed with a little buff: The whole was very finely 
 stratified, and much false-bedded in the lower part for about 
 six feet upwards from the bottom. A little plastic grey clay 
 occurred in thin seams in places, and nodular lumps of grey 
 and bro-wn plastic clay (" clay galls "), varying in size from half 
 an inch to nine inches in diameter. There were also numerous 
 black specks in horizontal and oblique seams, due, probably, 
 both to carbon and manganese. I was informed that green sand 
 underlaid this white and buff-coloured sand, and then chalk — 
 the foundations of the church reposing in places on the latter 
 at depths varying from 4 to 9 feet from the present surface of the 
 ground. 
 
 The following observations on Castle (David's) Hill were re- 
 corded by Buckland* : — 
 
 " In a hill called David's Hill, west of the town of Reading, 
 on the opposite side of the Kennet to that of the Catsgrove 
 brick kilns, and about one quarter of a mile distant from them, 
 are other large quarries of brick earth, in which many of the 
 subdivisions which have been noted at Catsgrove are not to be 
 recognised, and the entire thickness of some of the pits is made 
 up of the same 'sands and clays as on the opposite side, but 
 more uniformly disseminated through the whole mass, forming 
 a kind of loam more like No. 12 [of the Catsgrove Section, see 
 page 37] than any of the other beds that have been there de- 
 scribed ; ochreous concretions and pyritical nodules abound in it 
 as in No. 12. The total thickness of this deposition at David's 
 Hill above the chalk is about 40 feet. Water occurs in the sub- 
 jacent chalk, as soon as they sink SO feet into it. It is separated 
 from the incumbent brick earth by the bed of green sand, with 
 the same oysters as at Catsgrove." 
 
 The section in the deep cutting on the Basingstoke and New- 
 burv branch lines of the Great Western Railway was described 
 by Prestwicht as follows : — 
 
 " A feature of considerable interest connected with this 
 [Reading] series was exhibited in the railway cutting for the 
 Newbury branch line through the hill west of and adjoining 
 Reading. Under the mottled clays there were a few feet of 
 sand, and then a local and lenticular mass of very finely lamin- 
 ated light greenish clay abounding in places, with the most 
 beautifully preserved impressions of plants. Beneath this bed 
 were strata of yellow sand succeeded Dy the bed of green sand 
 with the Ostrea beUovacina. I give this section in full, both to 
 show these points and also as a good instance of the irregular 
 deposition of the mottled clay series." 
 
 * Description of a series of Specimens from the Plastic Clay near Heading 
 Berks." Trans. Geol. Soc» ser. 1 (1817), vol. iv., pp. 277, 281, 282. 
 t Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. x., p. 88 (1854.) 
 
feEAbltfG BEDS. 
 
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 r?~£a8i 
 
30 
 
 GEOLOGY OF READING. 
 
 Reading 
 Beds. 
 
 Bottom- 
 bed. 
 
 Mr. Whitaker* gives the following account of the same 
 cutting : — 
 
 " In the railway-cutting west of Beading there was, at the 
 northern end, in 1858, a long and good section, since turfed over. 
 All the beds above the bottom-bed were very irregular ; there 
 were many wedge-shaped masses, and much waved bedding. 
 Combining different parts of the section, the following general 
 order was shown : — Feet. 
 
 "Gravel, composed almost wholly of flints, 12 feet in extreme 
 thickness, except in a large pipe more than, twice that 
 depth. 
 
 /-Brown and blue mottled clay ; a few feet. 
 Variously coloured sands, with occasional seams 
 
 and lenticular masses of clay - - from 20 to 30 
 
 'Bluish-grey and brown clay, roughly 
 
 laminated - 1 
 
 Dark bluish-grey laminated clay; some- 
 times sandy ; casts of shells 1 
 Bluish-grey and brown clay, roughly 
 
 laminated clay ; casts of shells - 1 
 
 Dark sands, mostly clayey ; throughout 
 of a greenish tint, owing to the 
 presence of green grains ; casts of 
 shells and beds of oyster shells ; 
 green-coated flints at the base - 5 
 
 Chalk, with holes (of boring molluscs ?) filled with greensand from the 
 
 bed above. 
 " The junction is even, though slightly waved, and the bottom- 
 bed a little varied in structure in different parts. * * * * 
 
 " This section is at the same spot as that given by Mr. Prestwich, 
 [quoted above] that is, in the part of the cutting to the north of 
 the Bath road. Since the time when Mr. Prestwich saw the section, 
 it has been much widened in this part, which will account for any 
 difference from that given above. The large pipe of gravel noticed 
 by him was still to be seen ; but I could not find any specimens 
 of the leaves which he found in such numbers in layers of 
 light-grey and greenish sandy clay in the middle of the sands. 
 
 " However, a few years afterwards, I saw a like bed with im- 
 pressions of leaves at Castle Kiln [see p. 27] and at Shaw Kiln, 
 Newbury ; so that this leaf-bed is perhaps not so local as has 
 been thought." W. W. 
 
 The bottom-bed has recently been well shown in a brickfield 
 between this railway cutting and Tilehurst. The section was as 
 follows :— 
 
 Section in Mr. Jesse's Pit, |-mile south-east of the Barracks, 
 Reading. Feet. 
 
 Drift, f Gravel very coarse; subangular flints, many 
 
 I large quartzite pebbles and boulders, etc. 14 to 16 
 
 Sand, buff and white, much false bedded 8 to 10 
 
 Clay, bluish-grey, stratified 2 to 2J 
 
 Oyster-bed ' - £ to 1 
 
 Clay laminated, grey, With green sand 1| 
 
 Sand, green with clay and oysters, green- 
 coated flints at base - 3 to 4 
 Chalk, with tubular holes filled with green sand. 
 
 Reading 
 Beds. 
 
 
 * " Geology of the London Basin," Mem. Geol. Sur., vol. iv., 1872, pp. 197, 198. 
 
READING BEDS. 
 
 31 
 
 In this excavation an impersistent layer, about 10 yards in 
 length, of subangular green-coated flints occurred in the lower 
 part of the buff sands overlying the bottom-bed, and a similar 
 bed has been noticed in a like, position in a sand-pit a short 
 distance to the east. 
 
 The upper oyster bed had been exposed on the floor of the 
 pit over an area of about 60 by 20 yards. It seemed to thin out 
 in a northerly direction. The shells were mostly Ostrea bello- 
 vacina, many having the valves united, but there were also a 
 large number of shells identified by Messrs. Sharman and Newton 
 as Ostrea gryphovicina. The largest specimens of Ostrea 
 bellovaciva occurred near the base of the bottom-bed, and con- 
 tinued upwards for about 3 or 4 feet in the glauconitic olive- 
 coloured green sand.* 
 
 Mr. LI. Treacher obtained from this pit the following fossils 
 which have been identified by the Survey : — 
 Bottom-bed of Reading Beds. 
 
 Cytherea 1 
 Modiola elegans 
 Nucula. 
 Nuculana. 
 Syndosmya. 
 Tellina 1 2 sp. 
 
 Sow. 
 
 Odontaspis (Lamna) contortidens, Ag. 
 
 » „ macrota, Ag 
 
 Cerithium t 
 Dentalium. 
 Natica. 
 Corbula 1 
 
 West of this brickfield are the extensive excavations connected 
 with Messrs. Colliers' Brick and Tile Works. The following was 
 the section on the northern side of the Rookery, Prospect Hill 
 Park, in 1898. f 
 
 London Clay. Basement-bed, lower part only, stratified sand ' 
 
 and clay 4 to 5 
 
 ( Mottled crimson, grey, etc., variegated clay, 
 J about 
 
 Beading 
 Beds. 
 
 30 to 40 
 
 Buff and white sand, false-bedded in places not 
 [ bottomed, about 10 feet exposed. 
 Some indurated calcareous sand occurred in the buff sands. 
 At Westwood Kiln nearly the whole section shows mottled 
 clays of considerable thickness with buff sand cropping out at 
 their base.J 
 
 At Norcot Kiln, close to Norcot Farm, the section shown in 
 1898 was as follows : — \ 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Plateau gravel 
 
 about 
 
 London 
 Clay. 
 
 Beading 
 Beds. 
 
 Clay, mottled brown and grey 
 
 ' Sand and clay interstratified. 
 White and black flint pebbles 
 Basement- J in brown sand (in lower part), 
 bed. | and casts of shells in ferru- 
 ginous sand at, and near, 
 ^ base 
 Clay mottled crimson and grey 
 Sands, buff and white. 
 
 6 
 10 
 
 9 
 to 10 
 
 * See Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xv. 
 t Ibid., p. 306. X Ibid., p. 307. 
 
 (1897-8), pp. 304-305'. 
 
32 GEOLOGY OF &EADING. 
 
 CHAPTER V.— READING BEDS. 
 Main Mass. 
 
 The main mass of the Reading Beds forms an irregular and 
 somewhat narrow band, along the sloping ground southward of 
 the River Pang by Bucklebury, Stanford Dingley, Bradfield, and 
 Englefield. The beds disappear beneath the valley deposits of 
 the River Kennet, and continue underground north of 
 Sulhampstead Park, Sheffield Bottom, to "Whitley Manor Farm, 
 where they re-appear at the surface, and form the escarpment 
 westward and northward of Whitley Hill and Southern Hill. 
 They continue through Reading northwards of Whiteknight'sPark 
 and westward of Earley Court by Holme Park and Sonning, 
 then south-eastwards, disappearing beneath the valley deposits 
 of the River Loddon at Wmstley Green, and re-appearing at the 
 surface at Stanlake Park, Twyford, and Ruscombe. 
 
 Southward of their outcrop the Reading Beds are continuous 
 underground, beneath the London Clay, throughout the whole 
 of the southern part of the district. - 
 
 Mr. Aveline remarks that to the west of Bradfield the 
 boundary line of the Reading Beds is indicated by the 
 occurrence of numerous and large swallow-holes. At Bushnell's 
 Green, a mile east of Bucklebury, he noted white sand. 
 
 A well at Jennet Hill, Stanford Dingley, passed through 42 
 feet of Reading Beds into chalk.* 
 
 Mr. Bennett notes a pit north of Bradfield Workhouse which 
 gave the following section : — 
 
 Feet. 
 
 (Brown sandy clay - 2£ 
 
 Brown clayey sand - 2| 
 
 Buff sand, fine, evenly bedded, with some black 
 spots, 7 feet shown but not bottomed 
 
 The following is from Mr. Aveline's note : — 
 
 " Less than three-quarters of a mile from Bradfield, on the 
 road to Englefield, is a brickyard ; here there are crimson, green, 
 and blue mottled plastic clays, with a little light-coloured 
 sand."t 
 
 At about the same place, mottled red, grey, and brown clay 
 was recently exposed in a small pit on the western side of the road 
 in Kiln Copse, a short distance north of the Crown Inn, north- 
 westward of Bradfield Brewery. 
 
 Wells for the supply of Bradfield College show the full thick- 
 ness of the Reading Beds to be about 70 feet in this part of the 
 district. J 
 
 * "Water Supply of Berkshire," Mem. Geol. Survey (1901), p. 76. 
 
 t " Geology of the London Basin," Mem. Geol. Survey, vol. iv. (1872) p. 186. 
 
 j "Water Supply of Berkshire," Mem. Geol. Survey (1901), pp. 30,' 31. 
 
READING BKDS. 33 
 
 In a sandpit in Englefield Common Wood on the sloping 
 ground eastward of the Bourne, and a little south of Brad- 
 tield Brewery, the following section was exposed — 
 Eeading / Mottled clay - - 4\ 9±f „. f 
 
 Beds. \ Buff-coloured sand - - 15 to 20/ Zileel - 
 
 Between Englefield and Beading the Beading Beds are hidden 
 to a large extent by Drift, but well-sections at Burghfield proved 
 their thickness to be 70 and 76 feet.* 
 
 Bed clay was noted near the bank of the Foundry Brook, south 
 of Whitley Manor Farm, and a little to the north there are, 
 or have been, very fine sections in the brickfields on the east bank 
 of the Biver Kennet, known as the Bose Kiln, the 
 Waterloo Kiln and the Katesgrove Kiln, the site of the last named 
 of which is now built over and in the town of Beading. 
 
 At Bose Kiln Mr. Whitaker records a section, above ninety 
 yards in length, showing wavy or disturbed bedding. (See 
 Fig. 10, page 34.)f 
 
 In April, 1888, the following section was shown near tho 
 southern end of the brickyard at about 3 or 4 chains north of 
 the hedge, where the beds are shown dipping towards the 
 south : — 
 
 Feet. 
 Soil and mottled clays worked up with gravel 6 
 
 ■ Mottled clay, grey, green, brown, and 
 crimson in upper part - 6 
 
 Sand, occasionally, ash - coloured, orange, 
 
 fawn, and pinkish, but mostly white 18 
 
 More or less laminated grey clay in bands 
 alternating with white and brown sands 
 (in about equal proportions) the upper- 
 most clay-bed being mottled in various 
 colours - - - - - 8 
 
 White sand, loose but well stratified - - 6 
 Northwards there is a gentle anticlinal, and consequently an 
 increase of thickness of the mottled clays by the reverse dip. 
 At 2 chains north of the road leading eastwards to the Basing- 
 stoke main road, there was a fine section showing about 15 feet 
 of mottled red, blue, grey, and brown clay overlying white and 
 buff-coloured sands. 
 
 At the southern part of the excavation at Bose Kiln the follow- 
 ing section was exposed : — 
 
 Mottled red and grey clay and loam 3 \ 
 White sand with patches of red and 
 
 brown in places, and with a few J- 2 3 feet 
 bands of grey clay in the lower 
 part - 20 J 
 
 A little to the north on the western slope of Southern Hill and 
 on the low ground bordering the Kennet is the Waterloo brick- 
 field, worked by Messrs Poulton. In it leaf -beds are occasionally 
 
 * "Water Supply of Berkshire," Mem. Geol. Survey (1901), pp. 34, 35. 
 t " Geology of the London Basin," Mem. Geol. Survey, vol. iv, 1872, pp. 
 186, 187. 
 
 Beading Beds. 
 
 Beading Beds. 
 
34 
 
 GEOLOGY OF BEADING, 
 
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READING BEDS, 
 
 35 
 
 very well seen. They are in a similar position in the Reading 
 Beds to those already, noticed in the railway cutting and at 
 Castle Hill on the opposite side of the River Kennet (pages 
 27 to 30). They occur near the base of the series above the 
 greenish sandy bottom bed. 
 
 At the south-eastern corner of this brickyard, the following 
 section was exposed in March, 1888, and extended north- 
 wards for about 5 chains : — 
 
 Heading Beds. < 
 
 Light-buff and ash-coloured loamy clay 
 with bands of brown sand, about 
 
 Dark mottled crimson and grey stiff 
 clay 
 
 Dark red and crimson clay forming a 
 very marked layer - - from 
 
 Greenish and greyish loamy clay 
 mottled with red in places 
 
 Buff and white sand 
 
 Feet. 
 
 10 
 
 15 
 
 ljto 2 
 
 10 to 12 
 
 The beds dip at a slight angle southwards. The clay beneath 
 the marked red band, gradually thins northward, and at about 
 5 chains distant is reduced to a thickness of 6 feet only, 
 and is underlain by buff-coloured sand, 6 feet of which 
 was exposed. This sand at a distance of about 2 chains further 
 northward was shown to be from 10 to 15 feet thick and not 
 bottomed. It was of various colours — green, white, brown, grey, 
 pink, and other tints being shown ; and was slightly loamy and 
 indurated in places. 
 
 In the south-west corner of the brickyard an excavation on the 
 low ground adjoining, and but little above the level of the 
 Kennet marshes, showed a section in the lower part of the buff 
 and whitish coloured sands (which occur here beneath the 
 mottled clays), consisting of laminated grey loams and clays 
 interstratified with buff sands. The loams and clays in places 
 somewhat resembled fuller's earth, and contained numerous fossil 
 leaves and a few ferns.* This part of the pit has been obscured 
 for several years, but a new section showing what is probably 
 the same leaf-bed was open in October, 1902, some 200 yards 
 north of the old locality. The details were as follows : — 
 
 Greyish sand, somewhat ferruginous in Ft. In. 
 places, with many layers of lamin- 
 ated grey clay, containing leaves and 
 other vegetable remains ; one of 
 these clay layers 9 inches thick, 
 close to the bottom of the bed, 
 yielded the best specimens of leaves 
 
 Greatest thickness - - 3 6 
 
 Buff current-bedded sand, rather 
 
 coarse, with a few very thin 
 
 layers of clay here and there. 
 
 Exposed to 4 
 
 A note on the leaves from this place will be found at p. 40. 
 
 * See also W. H. Hudle3ton, Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. iv. (1876), pp. 520, 521. 
 
 Beading Beds 1. 
 
36 GEOLOGY OF READING. 
 
 As no complete analysis of the mottled clay from the Reading 
 Beds at Reading appears hitherto to have been published, a 
 sample of the clay was obtained from this brickfield. 
 
 The following analysis of the specimen was made in the 
 Geological Survey Laboratory by Dr. W. Pollard* : — 
 
 Si0 2 - 53-43 
 
 T1O2- -84 
 
 Al 2 O s 1877 
 
 Fe 2 Os 9-42 
 
 CaO -51 
 
 MgO 1'40 
 
 K 2 339 
 
 NazO - -54 
 
 H2O at 105 - 5-55 
 
 „ above 105 6-59 
 
 Total - 100-44 
 
 Trace of Li 2 0, MnO. 
 
 FeO cannot be estimated with any certainty, owing to the presence of a 
 
 little organic matter All Iron calculated as Fe 2 3 . 
 
 Sand - - 21-9 % 
 
 Combined Silica - • 316 % 
 
 535 
 
 The Katesgrove workings are a little north of the Waterlow 
 kiln. They are very old, and the oyster-beds at the bottom of the 
 Reading Beds long ago attracted attention. Dr. James Brewer, 
 in a letter to Dr. Sloane, dated January 13th, 1699, mentioning 
 sending oyster-shells to him, and, referring to the place where 
 he dug them out says, "where for so many succeeding genera- 
 tions they have been found." 
 
 The following is a part of a second letter, from Dr. Brewer 
 to Dr. Sloanet: — 
 
 " Heading, 
 " January 26tk, 1699. 
 " Sir, 
 
 " In answer to your last, be pleased to take the following account, 
 the observations which I personally made, were with all' the exactness 
 as the subject and place would admit. The '-circumference then, 
 where these Oyster-shells have been digg'd up, and found, contains (as 
 I before hinted to you) as is judg'd, between ETand 6 Acres of Land. 
 The foundation of these Shells is a hard Rocky Chalk, and above this 
 Chalk the Oyster-shells lye in a bed of green Sand, upon a level, through 
 the whole circumference, as nigh as can possibly be judged; this 
 Stratum of green Sand and Oyster-shells" is (as I measur'd) nigh 2 foot 
 deep. Now, immediately above this Lay re, or Stratum of green Sand 
 and Shells, is a bed of a bluish sort of Clay, very hard, brittle, and rugged ; 
 they call it a pinny Clay, and is of no use. This Bed, or Layre of Clay, 
 I found to be nigh a yard deep; and immediately above it, is a 
 
 *See also Whitaker, Mem. Geol. Survey, vol. iv., p. 101 ; T. Reeks and F. W. 
 Rudler, " Catalogue of Specimens of British Pottery, &c," Appendix, p. 288 • 
 and" British Clayworker" for 1901, p. 467. 
 
 t Published in "Philosophical Transactions," vol. xxii., p. 485, 1700-1. 
 
BEADING BEDS. 37 
 
 Stratum of Fuller's-earlh, which is nigh two foot and a half deep ; This 
 Earth is often made use of by our Cloathiers ; and above this Earth 
 is a Bed, or Layre, of a clear fine white Sand, without the least mixture of 
 any Earth, Clay, etc., which is nigh seven foot deep : then immediately 
 above this is a stiff red Clay, (which is the uppermost Stratum) of 
 which we make our Tiles. The depth of this can't be conveniently 
 taken, it being so high a Hill, on the top of which hath been, and is 
 dug a little common Earth about two foot deep, and immediately under 
 appears this red Clay, that they make Tiles withal ; as the Gentleman 
 that lives on the spot tells me : I should also have acquainted you that 
 this very day with a Mattock I dug out several whole oysters with both 
 their Valves, or Shells lying together, as Oysters before opened, in their 
 Cavity there is got in some of the pre-mentioned green Sand. These 
 Shells are so very brittle, that in digging for them, one of the Valves 
 will frequently drop from its fellow, but 'tis plainly to be seen that 
 they were united together, by placing the Shell that drops off to its 
 fellow Valve, which exactly corresponds ; but I dug out several that 
 were entire ; nay, some double oysters with all their Valves united. 
 **** The account that I have here given you of these Shells, and 
 strata's of Sand, Clay, etc., is what I yesterday and this day observed, 
 and try'd on the spot, therefore you may depend on the faithfulness 
 of it." 
 
 Dr. Buckland, writing in 1817, remarks that the section given 
 above " differs as little as might be expected from that now ex- 
 posed at Beading." * 
 
 The oyster-bed at " Cats Grove " near Beading is mentioned by 
 Bobert Plot in his Natural History of Oxfordshire, published 
 in folio at Oxford, 1705 (see page 120). 
 
 Dr. William Stukeley in "Itinerarium Curiosum" (folio, London, 
 1724, at p. 59) also refers to this locality. He says that near the 
 trench the Danes made between the river Kennet and the Thames is 
 Catsgrove Hill, a mileoff'Beading ; indigging there they findfirst a 
 red gravel, clay, chalk, flints, and then a bed of huge petrified 
 oysters, 5 yards thick, 20 feet below the surface ; their shells are 
 full of sea-sand. 
 
 Mr. Whitaker gives the following note on the section at this 
 
 kilnt : — 
 
 " At Katesgrove kiln the lower part of the section was not so 
 clear at the time when that neighbourhood was mapped by the 
 Geological Survey as when it was measured by Dr. Buckland in 
 1814,+ or by John Bofe in (or before) 1834 § ; indeed neither the 
 Chalk nor the bottom-bed were laid open. I therefore give Dr. 
 Buckland's description, with Mr. Bofe's corrections for the bottom 
 
 P^ Feet. 
 
 13. Clay, sand, and gravel. 
 
 12. Soft loam, lower part ironshot and sometimes with 
 ochreous concretions and decomposing nodules of 
 iron-pyrites (used for soft bricks) - i- - about 1 1 
 
 * Trans. Geol. Soc, vol. iv., p. 277. . 
 
 + "Geology of the London Basin," Mem. Geol. Survey, vol. iv. (1872) pp. 
 
 188, 189. 
 1 Trans. Geol. Soc, vol. iv., p. 277 (1817). 
 tibial., Ser. 2, vol. v., p. 127 (1837). 
 
 pi50 D 
 
2. { 
 
 38 GEOLOGY OF READING. 
 
 Feet 
 
 11. Dark red clay, partly mottled and mixed with grey about 4 
 10. Light ash-coloured clay, with fine sand of the same 
 
 colour (used for bricks) - - „ 7 
 9. Fine sand, laminated and partly mixed with clay 
 
 (used for tiles) - „ 4 
 8. "White vein." Fine ash-coloured sand with a 
 little clay, in some parts passing into loose white 
 
 sand (used for bricks) - „ 5- 
 
 7. Dark red clay mottled with blue (used for tiles) „ 6 
 
 6. Lowest brick-clay, light grey, with fine sand „ 5 
 
 5. White sand (used for bricks) - „ 4 
 
 4. Fuller's earth ... . „ 3 
 
 3. Yellowish quartzose sand „ 5 
 
 "The continuation downwards had better be given from the 
 later measurements of Mr. Kofe : — 
 
 Inches. 
 ' Clay parted by small seams of selenite-crystals - 19 
 
 Sand, with small green grains, and sometimes green 
 
 nodules, flints (rolled and angular) and oyster-shells 14 
 Brown clay, with oyster-shells (larger than those in 
 the bed above) - 13 
 
 1. Chalk, the uppermost foot with tubular hollows filled with sand. 
 The numbers of the' beds are those in Dr. Buckland's paper. 
 No. 13 includes the Drift, and perhaps a little London Clay. 
 No. 1 2 may be the basement-bed of the London Clay. 
 Nos. 1 1 to 3 are the sands and plastic clays of the Reading Beds. 
 . No. 2 is the bottom-bed. 
 
 " The upper part of this large pit, however, was fairly clear when 
 I mapped the Reading District (1858) and showed the following 
 beds : — 
 Gravel. 
 
 Brown and bluish mottled sandy clay, with a little 
 ironstone, containing casts of shells and lines of 
 greenish sand. 
 Dull brownish sand and loam, with layers of 
 ironstone, and sometimes of clay ; at one part 
 v - two beds of shells in greenish sand. 
 Crimson mottled plastic clay of the Reading Beds. 
 
 " The beds below were hidden at this spot ; but near by, at a 
 lower level, there was the section below : — 
 
 Light-coloured sands, with two beds of crimson plastic clay, and 
 
 light-coloured mottled clays interspersed. 
 Green plastic clay." — W. W. 
 
 In June, 1888, the Chalk was worked by a well, and we were told 
 by the workmen that the top of the Chalk was 30 feet below the 
 floor of the pit. This well was on, or nearly on, the site of the 
 proposed^ Church of St. Michael and All Angels. Now, in 1902 
 the working has been abandoned and the ground is being built 
 over. - 
 
 The Reading Beds, consisting of light-brown and grey loams 
 and sands, were exposed in a section in Clover lane, 6 chains east 
 of tbe Wokingham Road, Reading. 
 
 Basement-bed 
 
 of the London 
 
 Clay. 
 
READING BEDS. 
 
 39 
 
 Reading 
 Beds. 
 
 The following account of the Reading Beds near Sonning is 
 from Mr. Whitaker's Geology of the London Basin.* In a 
 chalk-pit between the turnpike road and the Great Western 
 Railway, near the thirty-fourth mile-post on the latter, there 
 is the following section : — 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Flint-gravel 8 or 10 
 
 1. Blue and red mottled plastic clay; only 
 seen at one part .... i 
 
 2. Bottom-bed, chiefly consisting of clay; at 
 the base green-coated flints, rounded and 
 angular - ... about 4 
 
 Chalk ; the uppermost 8 or 9 inches full of holes (1 of boring molluscs). 
 
 The junction with the Chalk is rather uneven. 
 
 In sinking a well at Holme Park Farm the Chalk was not 
 reached after sinking 30 feet, when the work was stopped. 
 Below the wood on the west of the farm-ihere is sand. 
 
 In the gravel pit at Sonning there is, at one part, between the 
 gravel and the Chalk, a small trough of the bottom-bed. 
 
 In _ making the cutting for the Great Western Railway near 
 Sonning, a good section was exposed. It is now quite hidden ; 
 but an account has been given by Prestwich, from which the 
 following is taken f : — 
 
 London 
 Clay. 
 
 Feet. 
 12 
 15 
 
 23 
 
 Subangular ochreous flint-gravel, varies in thickness, averages 
 ' Brown clay with septaria 
 Basement-bed, brown clay with irregular layers of 
 yellow sand, patches of green sand, flint pebbles, 
 and tabular calcareous concretions. Fossils 
 throughout, but most abundant in the blocks of 
 stone ... - 4 to 5 
 
 /Slightly mottled bluish and red clay, eastwards 
 grey - - - 10 
 
 Irregular seam of sand, yellow or light bluish - 2 
 Mottled brown and blue clay 
 Dark grey clay - 
 Mottled red and grey clay, the lower part of 
 
 a lighter colour .... 
 
 Irregular seam of white sand 2£ 
 
 Eed clay - _ 1 \ 
 
 Light-grey clay - - £ 
 
 Very dark grey clay - - 6 
 
 Red clay - - ... 2 
 
 Light-grey clay - - 1 
 
 Yellow sand with bands of brown clay - 2 
 
 said to be continued as follows : — 
 Dark clay ... - 10 
 
 Ash-coloured sand ... - 5 
 
 Green-coated flints, &c. 1 
 
 Chalk. 
 
 Reading 
 Beds. 
 
 * Mem. Geol. Survey, vol. iv. (1872), p. 189. 
 
 + Qvart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. vi. p. 266, and vol. x. pp. 88, 89. 
 
 6150, d 2 
 
40 GEOLOGY OF BEADING. 
 
 The basement-bed rests on a somewhat 'irregular and worn 
 surface of the Reading Beds, and " this section also chows the 
 peculiar waved and irrearular lines of bedding of these strata." 
 * W.W. 
 
 The Reading Beds are worked at the brickfield at Ruscombe, 
 and in 1891 the section was as follows : — 
 
 Feet 
 
 Tlateau. Gravel - - 3 
 
 r Mottled clay on the south side of the working, not 
 bottomed - about 30 
 
 Beading < On the north side of the working the mottled clay was 
 Beds. only about 17 feet thick and was underlain by 
 
 [ yellow current-bedded sand, of which 10 feet 
 was shown. 
 
 In October, 1902, the section seen was more to the north than 
 in 1891, and showed. 12/eet of current-bedded sand on the south 
 side, and greyish clay on the north side. Mr. LI. Treacher told 
 us that this clay had not been found below the sand. 
 
 The bottom-bed, dark clay, 6 feet, black stones and green- 
 coated flints, 3 feet thick, was traversed by the well at 
 Twyford Vicarage* 
 
 The Reading Beds have been proved in several wells to the 
 south of their outcrop. 
 
 At Woolhampton their thickness was found to be about 
 72£ feet.f At Oakfield, Stratfield Mortimer, a thickness of 69 
 feet was recorded, { and in other wells near that place beds of 
 " stone " or " rock," probably indurated sand, were found in 
 the Reading beds.§ At Bearwood the unusual thickness of 86 
 feet is stated to have been found, II but possibly this is an error, 
 for at Wokingham the thickness in one well was found to be 
 70 feet, and in another only 68 feet.U 
 
 Note on Plants from Waterloo Brickyard, Reading. 
 
 By E. T. Newton, F.lt.S. 
 
 The plants collected from the Reading Leaf Bed in the rail- 
 way-cutting, Reading, and described by Sir J. D. Hooker in a 
 " Note " following Prestwich's paper,** were not named ; and I 
 am not aware that they have since been determined ; their frag- 
 mentary nature preventing any useful comparison with other 
 specimens. A series of leaves, etc., were collected for Mr. J. 
 H. Blake some years ago, by Mr. J. Rhodes, from these beds 
 in the Waterloo Brickyard, and were examined by Mr. G. 
 Sharman and myself. Certain of these are probably the same 
 forms as were figured by Sir J. D. Hooker. Two or three fairly 
 good fronds of a fern seem to us to agree precisely with the form 
 
 * " Water Supply of Berkshire," Mem. Geol. Survey (1901), p 87 
 t Op. cit., pp. 101, 102. % Op. tit., p. 78. § Op. tit., p. 77. 
 H Op. tit., p. 25. H Op. tit., pp. 98, 99. 
 ** Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. x. p. 163 (1854). 
 
BEADING BEDS. 
 
 41 
 
 figured by Saporta* as Asplenium subcretacemn, afterwards 
 named by Mr. J. Starkie Gardnerf Anemia subcretacea, and we 
 have referred the Reading specimens to the same species. 
 
 Fio. 12. 
 Aralia ? cf. A. looziana, 
 S. db M. 
 
 Fig. 11. Fm. 13. 
 
 Anemia subcretacea, Laurus ? 
 
 Sap. 
 
 Several tripartite leaves more or less fragmentary resem'jle 
 those of the Maple (Acer). Other triple forms more deeply 
 divided and with serrated edges are evidently more nearly related 
 to the Aralia as figured by Saporta and Marion,^ and may be 
 compared with their Aralia looziana. Some large ovate leaves 
 remind one of the Laurel (Laurus), and have the general form 
 and venation of Laurus jovis, de la Harpe.§ Other smaller 
 leaves, narrower and more lanceolate, resemble those of the 
 Willow (Salix). One example of the basal part of a leaf bears 
 a very close resemblance to the Litsaea figured by Saporta 
 and MarionJI and another fragmentary specimen has venations, 
 so far as preserved, resembling the Viburnum. .IT 
 
 There are two or three examples of what appear to be small 
 cones with slender bracts broken across ; but at present they 
 remain undetermined. 
 
 Quite recently Mr. 0. A. Shrubsole obtained a series of plant- 
 remains from another part of Messrs. Poul ton's pit (about 200 
 yards to the north, see p. 35), and these seem mostly to be re- 
 ferable to one or other of the forms above mentioned, but one or 
 two may be different, and they have not yet been determined. 
 
 E. T. N. 
 
 * Mem. Soc. Geol. Fr., Ser. 2., vol. viii., p. 315., pl.ii., fig. 4. (1868). 
 t Brit. Eocene Flora, p. 40., pis. viii. and xi., Pal. Soc. (1880). 
 \ Heersienne de Gelinden, p. 77, pi. xiii., figs. 1-3 (1877). 
 
 Mem. Couronne's, L'Acad Royale Belg. (1878). 
 § " Geology of the Isle of Wight," pi. vii., fig. 3, Mem. Geol. Surv. (1862), 
 II Loc. cit., pi. xi., figs. 1-3. IT Idem., pi. xii., fig. 1. 
 
42 GEOLOGY OF BEADING. 
 
 CHAPTER VI.— LONDON CLAY. 
 
 This great clay formation appears at the surface within the 
 area occupied by the main mass of the Reading Beds, with Bag-- 
 shot Beds and Drift-deposits overlying it in many places ; and it 
 also occurs on some of the outliers of the Reading Beds, where 
 it is, in most cases, itself partially covered by Drift. 
 
 It consists of stiff brown and dark bluish-grey clay, with layers 
 of concretionary masses of argillaceous limestone known as 
 septaria. It is very uniform in character, excepting near the 
 top, which is often sandy, and at the bottom, where there is a 
 very well marked and persistent basement-bed from 6 to 18 feet 
 in thickness. 
 
 This basement-bed consists of loam and clay interstratified 
 with brown and olive-green glauconitic sand. It often contains 
 septaria, nodules of concretionary argillaceous ironstone, flint 
 pebbles, lignite, and iron pyrites, and sometimes the whole bed 
 is blackish, owing to the presence of carbonaceous matter. It 
 is often very fossiliferous. 
 
 The well at the Wokingham Waterworks * in the Finchamp- 
 jstead Road passed through 273 feet of London Clay, and the top 
 of the well is about 19 feet below the level of the bottom of the 
 Bagshot Beds, so that the London Clay is about 292 feet thick at 
 Wokingham, on the eastern border of the district. It thins 
 towards the west At the Poplars on Burghfield Hill a well 
 passed through 205 feet of London Clay ; and, as its site is close 
 to the edge of the Bagshot Beds, that must be nearly the full 
 thickness of the London Clay.f At Woolhampton the total 
 thickness was found to be only 176 feet.J 
 
 The following fossils from the top beds of the London Clay at 
 Wokingham, were collected by Mr. LI. Treacher, and identified by 
 the Survey Palaeontologists : — 
 
 Serpula bognoriensis, Mant. 
 Nucula Bowerbanki ? Sow, 
 
 (internal cast). 
 Protocardium nitens, Sow. 
 , Modiola elgans, Sow. 
 Cythereatenuistriata,iSote. var. 
 Cyprina Scutellaria, Lam. 
 
 (= C. planata, Soiv.) 
 Astarte rugata, Soto, var. 
 Turritella (internal cast). 
 Pyrula Smithi, Sow. 
 
 Pleurotoma teretrium, Edw. 
 
 „ sp. 
 
 Pisania (Buccinum) labiata, 
 
 J. de C. Sow. 
 Natica labellata, Lam. 
 Fusus, sp. 
 
 Cyprsea Bowerbanki, Sow. 
 Cassidaria nodosa, Solatider. 
 Actaeon (Solidula) simulatus 1 
 
 Sow. 
 Odontaspis elegans, Ag. 
 „ macrotus, Ag. 
 
 • " Water Supply of Berkshire," Mem Oeol. Survey (1901), p. 97. 
 + Op. cit., p. 35. 
 + Op. cit., p. 101. 
 
london clay. 43 
 
 Outliers North of the Thames. 
 
 There is a small outlier of London Clay north-east of Emmer 
 Green. As has already been stated it is brought in by three 
 faults arranged in the form of a triangle, and is described by Mr. 
 Whitaker a's follows : — * 
 
 " The London Clay * * * * is mostly of a bluish-grey colour, but 
 partly brown and containing septaria (with fossils) and ironstone. 
 
 " The basement-bed is not seen in the section ; but I was told 
 that in sinking in the orchard just by, and at the same level as 
 the Reading Beds in the brickyard, below about 30 feet of blue 
 clay, there was a sort of loam, with a little green sand and with 
 shells. I saw some of the shells which belong to the basement- 
 bed.****Some of the septaria lying about are very full of Ditrupa 
 plana and probably come from the same bed. Pectwnculus 
 brevirostris is also abundant."— W.W. 
 
 Outliers South of the Thames. 
 
 Frilsliarn. — The following account of this outlier is also by Mr. 
 Whitakerf :•— 
 
 "The outlier of the Reading Beds near Frilsham, as before 
 noticed, is capped with London Clay, the boundary- line of which 
 is much hidden by gravel, as well as by the thick woods on the 
 high ground. The basement-bed is exposed in the road-cutting 
 to the. west of Frilsham House; it contains flint-pebbles and 
 ironstone, is underlaid by mottled clay, and dips to the south. 
 On the hill, above Frilsham, by the spring before mentioned 
 (p. 20), there are the remains of a small brickyard, with a shallow 
 section in brown London Clay. Along the road, higher up, a few 
 rounded flints occur in the clay. In the brickyard farther 
 southward, by the hedge at the highest part, there is a little of 
 the basement-bed above red mottled clay ; and, lower down, in a 
 mass that has slipped over the Reading Beds, are two small 
 sections of the same, which consists of light brown loam, with a 
 few scattered flints (rounded and sub-angular), and pieces of 
 ironstone. In the eastern part of this irregular-shaped outlier 
 there are no sections ; but in the fields on the north-east of 
 Rusdens [i.e. east of Field Farm] there are many of the large 
 flint-pebbles of the basement-bed. Just above the kiln, nearly a 
 mile to the south of Yattendon, there is mottled light-brown and 
 grey sandy clay passing into the basement-bed, consisting of the 
 usual brownish loam ; the bottom of this was not shown." — W.W. 
 
 Yattendon. — There are two outliers of London Clay to the 
 south of Burnt Hill on the Yattendon outlier of Reading Beds. 
 
 Mr. F. J. Bennett describes the larger outlier as a thin capping, 
 and adds that the section at Luckshall Farm Kiln shows 8 feet 
 of rusty brown clay resting on red mottled clay. The former 
 being, he believed, London Clay. 
 
 * " Geology of the London Basin," Mem. Geol. Survey, vol. iv. (1 872), p. 305. 
 t Op cit, p. 300. 
 
44 GEOLOGY OF BEADING. 
 
 Tilehurst. — Much of the eastern part of the Tilehurst-Reading 
 outlier of Beading Beds is covered by London Clay, which is, 
 however, to a great extent hidden under Drift. A well gave 42f 
 feet of London Clay including the basement -bed, which measured 
 12|feet* 
 
 Sections at a brickyard south south-east of Tilehurst and at 
 Norcot Kiln have already been described. (See pages 25 and 31.) 
 At the last-named place, casts of shells were found in iron-sand- 
 stone in the basement-bed. The following list is from Mr. 
 Whitaker's Geology of the London Basin, 1872. (Seepages 198, 
 583-6 ) 
 
 Cyprina Morrisi 1 Sow. 
 
 Cytherea obliqua 1 Desk. 
 
 Pectunculus terebratularis. Lam. ? 
 
 Ditrupa plana. Sow. 
 
 Aporrhais Sowerbyi, Mant. 
 
 Cassidaria. 
 
 Fusus. 
 
 Natica. 
 
 Pyrula. 
 
 A second patch of London Clay occurs on the Tilehurst outlier. 
 It is in Prospect Hill Park, and a section, showing the basement- 
 bed, has already been given at page 31. 
 
 Wargrave — Bowsey Hill. — A considerable portion of the 
 Wargrave outlier of Reading Beds in this district is covered 
 by London Clay, which must be of considerable thickness. 
 Mr. Whitakerf notes the occurrence of the basement-bed along 
 the road rather more than half-a-mile east of Chamberlain's 
 .Farm, which is apparently the place named Gibstrude Farm on 
 the new series oi the map. In it he observed a bed of flaggy 
 sandstone at least a foot thick. 
 
 The basement-bed was also seen at the side of a field west of 
 Bear Grove. 
 
 Main Mass. 
 
 The main mass of the London Clay extends practically over 
 the southern half of the district. It is, however, largely covered 
 by the Bagshot Beds and by Drift. The formation is so uniform 
 in character that a detailed description of sections is unnecessary. 
 The basement-bed is, however, of interest on account of its 
 abundant fossils, and deserves more particular notice. 
 
 At Burghfield, when the serpentine road-cutting was made on 
 the sloping ground to the east of Hosehill Farm, a little more 
 than one mile and a quarter north-west of the church, a good 
 section of London Clay was exposed. It consisted mostly of 
 well-stratified brown loam and clay. No fossils were seen. 
 
 At the brickyard a quarter of a mile south-west of Hosehill 
 Farm, many fossils, mostly fragile, were observed in 1886 in a 
 thin bed in the London Clay, exposed in a section in the south- 
 eastern corner of the brickyard, a little below the general floor of 
 the working. 
 
 * "Water Supply of Berkshire," Mem. Geol. Survey (1901) p 85 
 t "Geology of the London Basin," Mem. Geol. Survey, vol. iv, (1872), p. 300- 
 and " Geology of London," vol. i., p. 251. F ' 
 
LONDON CLAY. 
 
 45 
 
 This is the locality noticed by Mr. Whitaker* as follows : — 
 " At the brickyard at Woolwich Green, north of Sulhampstead 
 Abbots, there is a large section in brown London Clay* * * When 
 I saw the section (in 1860), the basement-bed was just cut into at 
 the northern end. It consists of the usual brown loam, and, 
 although but little of it was to be seen, two or three beds of 
 fossils were shown. It also contained a little clayey ironstone 
 and some selenite, which latter I had not noticed in the 
 basement-bed elsewhere." The fossils found here were as 
 followsf : — 
 
 Actaeon. 
 
 Aporrhais Sowerbyi, Mant. 
 
 Fusus. 
 
 Natica labellata, Lam. 
 
 Natica, sp. 
 
 Pleurotoma, sp. 
 
 Avicula, sp. 
 
 Cardium, sp. 
 
 Cyprina Morrisi, Sow. 
 
 Cytherea obliqua 1 Desh. 
 
 Modiola, sp. 
 
 Nucula, sp. 
 
 Glycinieris (Panopsea) sp. 
 
 Pectunculus brevirostris, Sow. 
 
 „ decussatus, Sow. 
 
 Tellina, sp. 
 
 Corbula, 
 
 The following section was exposed in 1886 in a small clay 
 pit at the eastern end of Bennett's Hill Copse, at the foot 
 of the slope, nearly one mile N.N.W. of Burghneld Church : 
 
 London 
 Clay. 
 
 Brown loam and clay, more or less stratified - 
 Greenish sand interstratified 
 with brown clay, with three 
 beds containing numerous 
 shells ; and with black flint 
 pebbles here and there at the 
 base, some of which measured 
 1\ inches in their longest 
 diameter 
 Brown sand 
 
 Ft. 
 8 
 
 In. 
 6 
 
 Basement- 
 bed. 
 
 ) 
 
 There is another clay pit one mile N.W. by N. of Burghneld 
 Church, on the western side of the road, known as Bennett's Hill, 
 adjoining the copse of that name. The following section was 
 exposed m 18S6 : — 
 
 London 
 Clay. 
 
 Brown loam and clay, more or less stratified . 
 
 Brownish and greenish sand, interstra- 
 tified with nine thin beds of brown 
 and grey clay ; and containing a 
 mass of shells in a fragile condition, 
 throughout - - - 
 
 Slightly indurated and laminated 
 brown loam and clay, with indi- 
 cations of plant remains (?) . 
 
 White sand, finely stratified and con- 
 taining irregular- shaped orange- 
 coloured sandy concretions . 
 
 Ft. 
 9 
 
 In. 
 
 
 Basement- 
 bed. 
 
 2 3 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 * " Geology of the London Basin," Mem. Geol. Survey, vol. iv. (1872), p 295. 
 t Op. cit., p. 583, etc. 
 
46 
 
 GKOLOGY OF READING. 
 
 Ft. Ins. 
 
 London 
 
 Clay, 
 (cont.) 
 20 feet. 
 
 Basement- 
 bed, 
 (cont.) 
 11 Feet. 
 
 4 
 
 1 6 
 
 9 
 
 3 
 
 Brown sandy loam with orange- 
 coloured concretionary nodules at 
 the top- 
 
 Hard greenish-grey and brown sand- 
 stone, the bottom very irregular. 
 From 9 inches to 
 
 Mottled brown and grey clay con- 
 taining nodules of clay and a few 
 scattered large oval flint pebbles, 
 which measured from 4 to 5 inches 
 ^ in longest diameter , - 
 
 Reading Beds 1 Loose brown sand, more or less stratified, and 
 containing some greenish bands in places exposed to - 
 
 The hard sandstone mentioned in the above section formed the 
 floor of the pit, but it had been broken through in places in order 
 to obtain some of the loose sand beneath it. The surface area of 
 this hard bed exposed measured 24 by 8 feet. 
 
 Southern Hill, Reading, is formed of London Clay with a 
 capping of Drift. The basement- bed with shells was exposed in 
 Whitley Hill by the road side. 
 
 Mr. Whitaker* remarks that: "At Katesgrove Kiln, the 
 basement-bed is shown, and has yielded many fossils. When 
 paying a flying visit to this section in 1862 with my colleague, 
 Mr. T. McK. Hughes, we found a slab of hard stone in the base- 
 ment-bedj it was crowded with Ditrupa and other fossils, the 
 most noteworthy being some dozens of specimens of the little 
 Hemiaster Bowerbanki. Mr. R. Gibbs, our fossil collector, also 
 found a number of the same. The species had not been 
 recorded as occurring in this bed, unless as the Spatangus, got 
 by Mr. Prestwich at Sonning." — W. W. 
 
 The following note of the basement-bed at Katesgrove Kiln 
 was made in 1883 : — 
 
 Hard ferruginous sand with a layer of shells - 
 
 Sand - - - 
 
 Green sandy clay full of shells 
 
 Sand - - - 
 
 Green sandy clay full of shells 
 
 Dark clay ' 
 
 Carbonaceous bands - 
 
 Dark clay 
 
 The hill in the side of which this excavation is made is known 
 as Bob's Mount. At the northern end, the following section 
 was exposed in March, 1888, during the building of the houses 
 along the new street, at a spot situated two chains south of the 
 end of Hill Street and exactly opposite to it. 
 
 ?t. 
 
 In. 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 G 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 *Op. tit., p 296. 
 
LONDON CLAY. 
 
 47 
 
 London Clay. 
 Basement-bed, 
 10 feet. 
 
 Soil and Plateau Gravel from 5 to 8 feet, 
 
 Brown loam with numerous thin beds 
 of grey clay in it, and concretionary 
 nodules of brown ironstone. These 
 nodules commenced at 18 inches from 
 the top and occurred in layers along 
 the thin grey clay bands throughout 
 nearly the whole thickness of the bed 
 exposed, with occasional iron nodules 
 here and there as well. The section 
 presented a stratified appearance, 
 brown in colour, with the exception of 
 the uppermost 18 inches, which was 
 more or less mottled with red and 
 grey - - 10 feet. 
 
 Another section of the basement-bed was exposed at the same 
 time north-west of the above spot ; and about two chains west 
 of the end of Hill Street the section was as follows : — 
 
 Ft. 
 Soil and Plateau Gravel 
 
 / Brown loam with thin beds of grey 
 clay and layers of iron nodules, similar 
 to those in the above section but not 
 so numerous - 
 
 Orange-coloured sand, greenish in 
 places 
 
 Chocolate-coloured clay with bright 
 green specks and patches in it, and 
 black flint pebbles 
 
 Buff and brown sand with flint 
 pebbles, a few small pebbles of chalk, 
 and a few nodules of mottled clay 
 derived from the underlying Reading 
 Beds ; one measured 6 inches in 
 longest diameter 
 
 London Clay. 
 
 Basement-bed, 
 
 12ffeet. 
 
 In. 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 1 to: 1 6 
 
 3 
 
 The following fossils were obtained from the London Clay 
 basement-bed at Bob's Mount and named by the Survey 
 Palaeontologists :— 
 
 Ditrupa plana, Sow. 
 
 Cytherea tenuistriata, Sow. ( = C. 
 
 suessoniensis, Watelet). 
 Pectunculus (Axinaea) brevirostris, 
 
 Sow. 
 
 Protocardium sp. 
 Aporrhais Sowerbyi, Mant. 
 Fusus sp. (c/. Speyeri, Desk.). 
 Natica hantoniensis 1 Pills.' 
 Natica labellata ? Lam. 
 
 Ostrea bellovacina, Lam. was obtained from the London Clay 
 a few feet above the basement bed at the same place. 
 
 The following fossils from the London Clay (basement-bed) 
 were obtained in drainage works in Redlands Road, Reading 
 and determined by the Survey Palaeontologists:- 
 
 Ditrupa plana, Sow. 
 Hemiaster branderianus, Forb. 
 Cytherea tenuistriata, Sow ( = C. 
 
 suessoniensis, Watelet). 
 Glycimeris (Panopsea) intermedia, 
 
 Sow. 
 
 Modiola elegans, Sow. 
 „ simplex, Sow. 
 Nucula sp. 
 
 Ostrea bellovacina 1 Lam. 
 Pectunculus (Axinaea) brevirostris, 
 
 Sow. 
 
48 
 
 GEOLOGY OF READING. 
 
 Protocardium Laytoni, Morr. Fusus sp. (cf. Speyeri, Desk.) 
 
 „ plumsteadiense 1 Sow. ~ „ sp. 
 
 Aporrhais Sowerbyi, Mant. Natica hantoniensis, PilL 
 
 Bulla sp. „ sp. 
 
 Cassidaria sulcaria ? Desk. Pyrula nexilis 1 Lam. 
 
 The following is by Mr. Whitaker *: — 
 
 " At the brickyard [| mile south of the cross roads at the 
 Cemetery and] to the east of Eedlands House, the following beds 
 were to be seen in 1858, but the brickyard has since been given 
 up and the section hidden (1862) : — 
 Drifted clay and gravel. 
 
 London Clay.- — Bluish-grey and brown stiff clay ; the lower part 
 rather sandy, and with a little ironstone ; about 12 feet ; passing 
 into the bed below. 
 Basement bed. — Brownish sandy clay, with a few small flint- 
 pebbles and lines of ironstone (with fossils), more sandy towards 
 the base, in fact passing into clayey sand. About 6 feet from 
 the top there is a bed of shells, 5 feet below which is another 
 bed, and between the two a few scattered shells. Not sunk 
 through ; greatest thickness about 1 2 feet. 
 " There are lying about some rather flat masses of limestone, 
 which come from the lower part of the basement-bed." — WW. 
 The basement-bed was exposed in some excavations for main 
 drainage in Wokingham Road, Earley, to the east of Reading. 
 The following fossils obtained there have been determined by 
 the Survey Paleontologists : — 
 
 Wood (Lignite). 
 Ditrupa plana, Sow. 
 Hemiaster branderianus, Forbes. 
 Oytherea orbicularis, Edw. 
 
 „ tenuistriata, Sow. (= C. 
 
 suessoniensis, Wat.) 
 
 Cyrtodaria (Glycimeris) rutu- 
 
 piensis 1 Morr. 
 Modiola elegans, Sow. 
 „ simplex, Sow. 
 Nucula sp. 
 
 Ostrea bellovacina, Lam. 
 Pectunculus (Axinaea) breviros- 
 tris, Sow. 
 
 Protocardium Laytoni, Morr. 
 „ plumsteadiense, 
 
 Smv. 
 Actajon sp. (near to A. limnei- 
 
 f or mis, Sandb.) 
 Aporrhais Sowerbyi, Mant. 
 Buccinum 1 
 
 Fusus (Strepsidura) turgidus, 
 Solander. 
 „ sp (rf. Speyeri, Desk.) 
 Natica hantoniensis, Pilh. 
 
 „ labellata, Lam. 
 Pleurotoma terebralis, Lam. 
 teretrium, Edw. 
 
 At the brickyard (known as Mock Beggars') north of White- 
 knights Lake, and nearly half-a-mile west-north-west of St. 
 Peter's Church, Earley, an excavation made in February, 1887, 
 showed the following section :— Ft. In. 
 
 (Brown loam - 1 ft. 6 in. to 2 6 
 
 Gravel, resting very irregularly on the London 
 Clay 1 ft. to 2 
 
 ' Brown and grey sandy loam and clay, sometimes 
 greenish, containing much white " race " in 
 I places, and numerous shells at different levels- 3 
 Brown sand, in places pebbly *and gravelly, 
 \ with shells, from - - 6 inches to 8 
 
 Valley 
 Gravel, etc, 
 
 London 
 Clay. 
 Basement- 
 bed. 
 
 * " Geology of the London Basin," Mem, Geol. Surv., vol. iv. (1872), p. 296. 
 
LONDON CLAY. 
 
 49 
 
 Reading 
 Beds. 
 
 Greenish-grey stiff clay, slightly mottled with Ft. In. 
 red and brown in places. At its junction 
 with the bed above, there is an even but 
 slightly undulating and well-marked plane 2 6 
 
 Dark grey and brown clay mottled with red, 
 there being a large quantity of the latter or 
 crimson in the lower part exposed to 7 
 
 In another portion of the same brickfield, but on higher 
 
 f round, an excavation in 1886 showed 16 feet in thickness of 
 iondon Clay, consisting of brown loam and clay. 
 This brickyard is at almost the same place as that described by 
 Mr. Whitaker as about half-a-mile to the east of the one near 
 Badlands.* 
 
 The following fossils were obtained from the basement-bed of 
 the London Clay in this brickfield. They have been determined 
 by the Survey Palaeontologists. 
 
 Wood (Lignite). 
 Ditrupa plana, Sow. 
 Hemiaster branderianus, 
 Forbes. 
 Cytherea orbicularis, Edw. 
 „ tenuistriata, Sow. 
 
 (=C. suessoniensis (Wat.) 
 Glycimeris (Panopsea) inter- 
 media, Sow. 
 
 Fossils from the London Clay a few 
 Lamna Vincenti, Winkl. 
 Odontaspis cuspidatus, Ag. 
 „ elega,ns,'Ag. 
 
 Nucula sp. 
 
 Pectunculus (Axinsea) brevir- 
 ostris, Sow. 
 Protocardium Laytoni, Morr. 
 
 „ sp. 
 
 Fusus sp. (cf. Speyeri, Desh). 
 
 „ sp. 
 Natica labellata, Lam. 
 „ sp. 
 
 feet above the basement-bed: 
 Otodus obliquus, Ag. 
 Vertebra (Elasmobranch). 
 
 The following fossils, collected from the basement-bed of the 
 London Clay at Sonning by Mr. LI. Treacher and the author, 
 have been determined by the Survey Palaeontologists : — 
 
 Oculina raristella, Defr. 
 
 Ditrupa plana, Sow 
 
 Cyrena tellinella, Fer. and Desh. 
 
 „ sp. 
 Cytherea orbicularis, Edw. 
 
 „ tenuistriata, Sow. ( = C. 
 
 suessoniensis, Wat.) 
 
 Glycimeris (Panopsea) intermedia, 
 
 Sow. 
 Modiola, sp. 
 Nucula venusta, S. Wood. 
 
 Pholas Levesquei, Wat. 
 
 Protocardium plumsteadiense, 
 
 Tellina sp. 
 
 Aporrhais Sowerbyi, Maid. 
 
 Buccinum ? 
 
 Calyptrsea sp. 
 
 Cassidaria sulcaria 1 Desh. 
 
 Fusus sp. 
 
 Natica hantoniensis, Pilk. 
 
 „ labellata 1 Lam. 
 Pseudoliva sp. 
 Odontaspis cuspidata, Ag, 
 
 Sow. 
 
 Ostrea sp. 
 
 Pectunculus (Axinsea) breviros- 
 tris, Sow. 
 
 Mr. Whitakerf saw a section of the basement-bed in a ditch 
 on the western side of the road leading to Hurst Green, nearly 
 three-quarters of a mile south-west of Haines Hill. " Near the 
 
 Op. cit., p. 297. 
 
 t Op. cit, p. 297. 
 
50 
 
 GEOLOGY OF BEADING. 
 
 cross roads there was clayey sand with Ditrupa, Ostrea, Pectun- 
 culus and other shells, and flint pebbles ; further towards the 
 Green there was brown clay with " race " (irregular-shaped 
 calcareous concretions) ; beyond this light bluish-grey and brown 
 mottled loam ; then brownish sand with flint-pebbles ; and farther 
 still the same without pebbles. [He] could not make out the 
 super-position of the different members of the basement-bed, but 
 it is clear that together they take up a great space at the 
 surface." 
 
 In the brickyard south of Mortimer, Nautilus centralis, Sow. 
 was found in the London Clay, and Mr. LI. Treacher has col- 
 lected teeth of Lamna as well as Pectwnculus, Cyprina, etc., 
 from the brickyard dose to Wokingham Station 
 
 Fossils fkom the Basement- Bed of the London Clay. 
 
 Localities from which the fossils have been obtained, with 
 references to the sources of information :— t- 
 
 1." Englefield Brickyard ; Prestwich. Quart. Joum. Geol. Soc. vol. 
 vi. (1850). p. 266. 
 
 2. Norcot Brickyard, Tilefiurst ; Whitaker. Geology of the London 
 
 Basin 1872, p. 583. 
 
 3. Woolwich Green, Sulhampstead Abbots ; Whitaker. (Ibid.) 
 
 'Katesgrove Brickyard ; Prestwich and Whitaker* (Ibid.) 
 (loc. cit. p. 266.) 
 
 Bob's Mount, close to Katesgrove ; J. H. Blake. See 
 above, p. 47. 
 
 Redlands Brickyard ; Whitaker. (loc. cit.) 
 
 -Drainage Works, Redlands Road; J. H. Blake. See 
 above, p. 47. 
 
 Do. do. Wokingham Road; J. H. Blake. 
 
 See above, p. 48. 
 
 4. Reading 
 
 5. 
 6. 
 
 7. 
 
 (Mock Beggars' Brickyard, Wokingham Road ; J. H. 
 Blake. See above, p. 49. 
 Brickyard east of Redlands (same place), Whitaker 
 (loc. cit.) 
 
 9. Sonning Cutting, Prestwich (loc. cit. p. 267.) and LI. Treacher 
 and J. H. Blake. See above p. 49. 
 
 Basement-bed of the London Clay. 
 
 - Oculina raristella, Defr. - 
 Ditrupa plana, Sow. 
 Hemiaster Branderianus, Forbes 
 „ Bowerbanki, Forbes 
 
 Spatangus sp. (? = Hemiaster)- 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 '9 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 G 
 
 7 
 7 
 
 8 
 8 
 
 9 
 
LONDON CLAY. 
 
 51 
 
 Holoparia Belli, WCoy 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 — 
 
 5 
 
 - 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 - 
 
 Astarte sp. 
 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 Avicula sp. 
 
 
 
 31 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 _ 
 
 Cyprina Morrisi, /. de G. Sow.- 
 
 - 
 
 21 
 
 31 
 
 _ _ 
 
 - 
 
 _ 
 
 8 
 
 - 
 
 Cyrena tellinella, Fer. and 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Desh.- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 sp. - 
 
 
 
 
 f 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 Cyrtodaria (Glycimeris) rutupi- 
 
 
 
 
 [•■•;•-; 
 
 
 
 
 
 ensis, Mor.- 
 
 — 
 
 - 
 
 — 
 
 - ' — 
 
 , - 
 
 11 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 Cytherea orbicularis, Mor. 
 
 — 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 4 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 „ tenuistriata, Sow. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ( = 0. suessoniensis, Wat.) 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 4 
 
 - 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 Glycimeris (Panopsea) inter- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 t 
 
 
 media, Sow.- 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 6 
 
 - 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 ,, ,, sp. 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 31 
 
 — 
 
 _ 
 
 - 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 - 
 
 Modiola elegans, Sow. 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - ' 
 
 4 
 
 - 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 - 
 
 9 
 
 „ depressa, Sow, . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 „ simplex, /. de C. Sow. 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 _ 
 
 - 
 
 sp. - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 3 
 
 - 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 9 
 
 Mytilus sp. 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 51 
 
 - 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 - 
 
 Nucula venusta, S. Wood 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 „ sp. - 
 
 11 
 
 _ 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 - 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 Ostrea bellovacina, Lam. 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 6? 
 
 7 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 „ pulchra, Sow. (1 0. pul- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 cherrima, Wood) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 „ sp. 
 
 — 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 Pectunculus (Axinsea) breviros- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 tris, /. de C. Sow. 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 3 
 
 4, 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 „ decussatus, Sow. 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 ,, plumsteadiensis, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sow. 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 „ terebratularis,Za»w. 
 
 — 
 
 2 
 
 - 
 
 4 
 
 ■ _ ' 
 
 — 
 
 _ 
 
 8 
 
 - 
 
 Pholas Levesquei, Wat. - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 Protocardium Laytoni, Morrfc- 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 4? 
 
 - 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 - 
 
 „ nitons, Sow. 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 4 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 9 
 
 „ plumsteadiense, Sow.- 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 4 
 
 - 
 
 6? 
 
 7 
 
 _ 
 
 9 
 
 „ semigranulatum, Sow.- 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 4 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 8? 
 
 9 
 
 sp. 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 - 
 
 _ 
 
 8 
 
 - 
 
 Tellina sp. 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 3? 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 — 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 9 
 
 Venericardia t 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 91 
 
 Actseon sp. - 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 7 
 
 _ 
 
 — 
 
 Aporrhais Sowerbyi, Mant. 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 - 
 
 6 
 
 11 
 
 - 
 
 9 
 
 n.sp. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 Buccinum sp. 
 
 4 
 
 - 
 
 ~ 1 ~ i ~ 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 7 
 
 - 
 
 9 
 
 11 ' 
 
 Bulla sp. 
 
 __■ 
 
 i 
 
 _ 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 Calyptrsea aperta, Solander ( = 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 C. trochiformis, Lam.)- 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 — 
 
 4 
 
 - 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 Cancellaria lseviuscula, Sow. - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 8? 
 
 _ 
 
 Cassidaria sulcaria 1 Desk. 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 61 
 
 - 
 
 _ 
 
 9 
 
 „ sp. - 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Fusus sp. (cf. Speyeri, Desk.) - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 4 
 
 - 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 - 
 
 „ turgidus, Solander- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
52 
 
 GEOLOGY OF READING. 
 
 Fusus sp. 
 
 Natica hantoniensis, Pilh. 
 „ labellata, Lam. 
 " sp. - - 
 Pleurotoma terebralis, Lam. " 
 „ teretrium, Edw. -■ 
 sp. 
 Pseudoliva sp. 
 Pyrula nexilis, Solander 
 
 » .sp- 
 Scalaria sp. 
 
 Voluta denudata, /. de C. Sow. 
 Lamna (teeth) 
 Odontaspis ouspidata, Ag. 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 4? 
 4 
 4 
 
 4 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 1 6 
 1 6 
 
 6 
 
 61 
 
 7 
 7 
 
 7 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 8 
 
 9 
 9 
 9 
 
 9 
 9 
 
 91 
 91 
 9 
 9 
 
LOWER BAGSHOT BEDS. 53 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 UPPER BAGSHOT, BRACKLESHAM, AND 
 
 LOWER BAGSHOT BEDS. 
 
 The Lower Bagshot Beds rest more or less conformably upon 
 the London Clay, there being apparently passage-beds in places. 
 They consist of buff, brown, yellow, grey and white sands, with 
 thin beds of "pale grey pipe-clay and occasionally laminated white, 
 grey, and liver-coloured clays. The sands are well stratified, 
 very often current-bedded, frequenth* micaceous, in some places 
 ferruginous, and contain occasional beds of flint pebbles. The 
 full thickness is only found in the south-eastern corner of the 
 district, and it is then probably nearly 100 feet. 
 
 They cover a large area in the southern part of the district, but 
 are usually hidden by the Plateau Gravel. In most cases the 
 Lower Bagshot Beds can be seen along the slopes of the hills 
 beneath the level of the sheets of gravel. These beds, with their 
 capping of gravel, form the Commons of Bucklebury, Crookham, 
 Brimpton, Padworth, Burghfield, Silchester and Barkham. 
 
 Lower Bagshot Beds — Outliers. 
 
 The following notes on the western outlier are by Mr. Bennett : — 
 In the south-western portion of the district the Lower Bagshot 
 
 Beds seem to be largely clay or sandy loam with occasional beds 
 
 of sand, but sand seems to be the exception, for wherever it is 
 
 found it is dug, and there are very few sandpits. 
 
 There seems to be a gradual passage from the London Clay 
 
 into the Lower Bagshot Beds, though sometimes a bed of pebbles 
 
 occurs at about the boundary. 
 
 Bucklebury Common. — On this large outlier sandy loam was 
 noted in some of the road-cuttings leading from the Common, 
 but only one good section was seen. It was at Midgham Kiln, 
 and the section in 1887 was as follows : — 
 
 Feet 
 Grey and brown mottled sandy clay - - - 4 
 
 Brown clayey sand _ . 1£ 
 
 Stiff brown and grey mottled clay - 3 
 
 Soft buff sand .... 3 
 
 The section mentioned in " The Geology of the London Basin," * 
 at the kiln near Harts Hill no longer exists. 
 
 The Lower Bagshot Beds are stated to have consisted ''of 
 alternations of yellow and white sands, with pale blue clay and 
 layers of iron sand-stone." 
 
 * Mem. Geol. Survey, vol. vi. (1872), p. 310. 
 8150 E 
 
54 GEOLOGY OF READING. 
 
 At Upper Woolhampton the Bagshots have been found to 
 extend farther than was shown on the old map, and this is in 
 agreement with the record of the well sunk at St. Mary's College, 
 Woolhampton. West of Midgham Green sandy loam and red 
 sand may be seen, and reddish loam in the road west of the 
 College. There is also a scattering of pebbles on the surface of the 
 ground here and there. The road-cuttings north and south of 
 the Blade Bone public house, Chapel Kow, show mottled red and 
 grey clay. Half-a-mile west of Hall Place Farm, and almost mid- 
 way between it and Woolhampton Church, a small section 
 showed five feet of reddish -brown bedded loam. 
 
 Four small outliers have been mapped near Woolhampton. 
 
 Crookhcvm Common. — Only the eastern end of this outlier 
 lies in our district. The gravel in some places covers up the 
 Bagshot Beds, and no good sections were seen. 
 
 Hv/wtsmoor Hill. — In the road-cutting at the north of this 
 outlier brown sand and brown and red mottled clay may be 
 seen. There are two small outliers near Ashford Hill. 
 
 Silchester. — A large outlier extends from Wasing to Sulhamp- 
 stead and away south beyond our area. It is almost wholly 
 covered by Drift, and the top is flat and mostly wood and heath 
 land. Brimpton, Padworth, Mortimer, and Silchester Commons 
 are upon it. 
 
 West ef Brimpton Common the road cutting west of Blacknest 
 Farm shows loam. 
 
 At Ashford Hill Kiln the section in 1887 was as follows : — 
 
 A little gravel. Feet. 
 Stiff brown and grey clay, bedded, at bottom 
 
 darker, and containing much iron 5 to 6 
 Stiff dark-brown clay with iron-pan at bottom 1 
 
 Soft brown sand 2 to 4 
 
 Below this there were alternations of loam and sand. This 
 section is on the side of the valley and close to the top of the 
 hill. Lower down the slope and near the stream another pit 
 showed five feet of brown sandy clay with irony concretions. 
 
 South-east of the kiln loamy soil is shown on the sides of the 
 valley. 
 The section at Inhurst Brickyard in 1887 showed. 
 Subangular gravel. . Feet. 
 
 Grey and red laminated clay with sandy partings 7 
 
 Sand (base not seen). 
 At Tadley there was a kiln close to the Fox and Hounds 
 public house. It showed, in 1887, the following sections : — 
 
 Northern Pit. 
 Gravel. Feet. 
 
 Rather coarse, yellow sand with seams of pipeclay 9 
 
 Finer, yellow sand - 3 
 
 Then I was told they came to clay and water. 
 
 Southern Pit. Feet. 
 
 Much contorted gravel in clay matrix. Grey and brown 
 mottled laminated clay. Very dark shaly clay with 
 much black, pyritised, woody matter 1q 
 
LOWER BAGSHOT BEDS. 55 
 
 South-east of the Fox and Hounds, small pits showed gravel 
 over pipe-clay ; yellow sand ; and gravel over sand. 
 
 About half-a-mile east of the Fox and Hounds a pit showed 
 in succession gravel over clay and sand. 
 
 On Silchester Common, a third of a mile south-east of the 
 Crown Inn, sand capped by gravel was seen, and nearly a mile 
 north of the Inn at Hungry Hill there was a similar 
 section. 
 
 The section at Mortimer West End Kiln showed stiff grey and 
 brown mottled clay very much like the Eamsdell clay, up to 10 
 feet. West of this sand was dug, and the section in 1887 was 
 thus : — 
 
 Gravel. Feet. 
 Brown and grey laminated clay, becoming a pipeclay when 
 
 wet 6 
 
 Rather coarse, yellow sand - 2 
 
 Finer yellow sand and pipe-clay - 3 
 
 This pit seemed to be abandoned in 1897, and no section 
 was to be seen. 
 
 A third of a mile east of the south gate of the Roman city 
 of Silchester a small section showed ferruginous sandy clay over 
 ferruginous clayey sand. North of this, and in the road north- 
 west of Sheepgrove Farm, mottled laminated clay over sand was 
 seen in the road^cutting. Half-a-mile westof Broca Lane Farm, 
 in a new drain, ochre was seen in ferruginous clay and the like 
 south of Sims Farm. 
 
 Half-a-mile due east of the school at Pad worth, a pit in Uf ton 
 Park Wood showed 10 feet of bedded buff sand with pipe-clay. 
 
 F. J. B. 
 
 Brickelton Farm. — There ' is a small outlier north of this 
 farm. In 1891 sand was seen in a ditch-section 10 chains south- 
 east of the Silchester Arms. 
 
 Hechfield. — Only a portion of this outlier lies in this district. 
 It is mostly covered by Gravel, but sand was dug in a pit a quarter 
 of a mile north of the Wellington Monument, where the section 
 was : — 
 
 Feet. 
 Plateau Gravel - 5 
 
 Lower Bagshot Beds. Buff sand, dug to a depth of 5 
 
 Farley Hill. — This is a small outlier, and as usual has a gravel 
 capping. A well at the Poplars passed through 32£ feet of 
 Lower Bagshot Beds, consisting of sand, loam, and clay* 
 
 A section in a gravel-pit to the west of Farley Castle showed 
 6 feet of Bagshot Beds consisting of yellow sand with many 
 laminae of white clay. This was covered by a few feet of gravel, t 
 
 At the south-western corner of the outlier there is a section in 
 Sandpit Lane showing 9 feet of reddish sand with-a little light- 
 coloured clay. 
 
 * " The Water Supply of Berkshire," Mem. Geol. Survey (1901), p. 43. 
 t See Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xlviii. (1892), p. 53. 
 6150 * 2 
 
56 GEOLOGY OV BEADING. 
 
 To the west of and close to Farley Hill, there is a small out- 
 lier of Lower Bagshot Beds forming a hill named Fir Grove, 
 above Nutbean Farm. A section showed 12 feet of well strati- 
 fied sand, for the most part reddish, but buff and white in places, 
 and with many very thin seams of grey clay. In places the 
 sand is indurated. 
 
 Arborfield Cross. — This is a long narrow outlier, and on it 
 stands the village of Arborfield Cross. A sandpit £ mile south- 
 west of the cross roads gave the following section : — 
 
 Feet. 
 Lower [ Sand of a buff colour and ferruginous 1J 
 
 Bagshot | Clay of a grey and liver colour 5£ 
 
 Beds. [ Buff sand dug down to - 3 
 
 King Street. — Yellow and brown sand occurs close to Bear- 
 wood Lodge and the ground at Toutley Hall is sandy. There is, 
 therefore, probably a thin capping of Lower Bagshot Beds. It 
 may be, however, that only the sandy topmost bed of the London 
 Clay is present here. 
 
 Wokingham. — The town of Wokingham stands upon a well- 
 marked outlier of Lower Bagshot Beds, the greater part of 
 which is in this district, though it projects slightly to the east. 
 Judging by the elevation, the Bagshot Beds must be about 40 
 feet thick at the highest part of the outlier, and as usual there 
 is a capping of Drift. 
 
 In the radway-cutting to the north of Wokingham Station and 
 close to St. Paul's Church, well stratified buff and brown sand 
 with thin seams of grey clay was shown to a depth of 15 feet. 
 
 A little north of the gas-works on the south of the town there 
 was a pit in yellow Lower Bagshot sand, whichmust have been close 
 to the bottom of the formation, for only 7 chains to the south on 
 the opposite side of the gas-works, and at a very slightly lower 
 level, there was a brickfield, the section in which was as follows 
 in 1881 :— 
 
 Feet. 
 London f Sandy clay of a light brown colour 4 
 
 Clay. I Stiff dark blue clay dug to - 9 
 
 In the cutting on the South Western Railway south of 
 Wokingham the section was as follows *: — 
 
 Feet. 
 Plateau ( Fnnt pebbles, subangular flints and Lower Green- 
 Gravel 1 sand fragments.interstratified with beds of yellow 
 
 | sand up to - 7 
 
 Lower f Wel1 st F atined yellow and white sand with 
 
 Bagshot ' ferruginous concretions and seams of grey and 
 
 Beds 1 liver-coloured clay, the lower part mainly white 
 
 [ current-bedded sand, to 12 
 
 Lower Bagshot Beds— Main Mash. 
 
 A small portion of the main mass of the Lower Bagshot Beds 
 extends into the south-eastern corner of the district. 
 
 South of Bramshill Common, and just outside the district, 
 there is a sand pit in the Lower Bagshot Beds. 
 
 * Quart. Jown. Qeol. Soc. vol. xlii. (1886), p. 409. 
 
LOWER BAGSHOT BEDS. 57 
 
 Yellow sand (Lower Bagshot Beds) was dug under 4 feet of 
 gravel in a pit at the cross roads south, of Wixenford. 
 
 Sandy clay was found beneath the gravel a little north-east of 
 Glaston Hill House, and the boundary of the Bagshot Beds 
 probably crosses the Kiver Blackwater between Eversley and 
 Eversley Cross, where it is covered by gravel and alluvium. 
 
 In a brickfield west of Fleet Hill Farm very sandy clay, 
 probably the topmost bed of the London Clay, was worked, and 
 in Fleet Hill Copse, at rather a higher level there was a pit in 
 yellow sand with a few laminae of light-coloured clay which 
 belongs to the Lower Bagshot Beds. 
 
 At Webb's Farm a well is said to have been dug in 7 to 10 feet 
 of sand with water. 
 
 There is a brickfield in London Clay at the western end of the 
 Nine Mile Ride to the north of Shepperlands Farm. Close to 
 it on the east the surface is very sandy, and yellow sand with clay 
 laminae (Lower Bagshot) is seen in a road-section south-east of 
 Long Moor Lake, and also below gravel in a pit close to Warren 
 Lodge. 
 
 There is a large sand-pit north of Dowles Farm, Barkham, 
 showing 15 feet of. yellow, white and buff sands well stratified, 
 with slight current-bedding in places and numerous bands of 
 light coloured clay, often an inch in thickness, but usually 
 thinner. 
 
 Mr. R. Trench notes that : " About three-quarters of a mile 
 north-north-west of Barkham, near Wokingham, there is light- 
 brown fine micaceous glauconiferous sand, with thin layers of 
 pipe-clay towards the top, about 12 feet thick, over a pebble -bed 
 m whitish micaceous sand." * 
 
 In 1887 a working for road-metal was opened a little more 
 than three-quarters of a mile rather west of north of Barkham 
 Church, and probably at much the same place as the section 
 above referred to. It was described by the Rev. Dr. Irving as 
 follows f : — ■ 
 
 Feet. 
 "a. Drift (coarse sand and flint fragments) - 2 
 
 b. Loamy sands 3 
 
 c. Pebble-bed in greenish and brown sand- 5 
 
 d. Coarse brown loam - £ 
 
 e. (1.) Clay, tough, hard, pale grey, laminated "j 
 
 e. (2.) Clay, more compact, chocolate-coloured V 2 J 
 
 c (3.) Clay, tough, hard, drab-coloured, laminatedj 
 
 /. Coarse irony sand with clay laminae like e £ 
 
 g. Coarse sand, irony 3|" 
 
 The strata below the Drift u in this section are probably Lower 
 Bagshot Beds.J The bed b, is a yellow sand with many irregular 
 and thin layers of light-coloured clay. The bed c, is a mass of 
 
 * "The Geology of the London Basin,'' Mem. Geol. Survey, vol. iv. 
 (1872,) p. 314. 
 
 t Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xliv. (1888), p. 176. 
 
 J The question of their age is discussed— ^Mflrri. Journ. Geol. Soc, v.%1, 
 xlviii. (1892), p. 53— under Beartvood. 
 
58 GEOLOGY OF READING. 
 
 flint pebbles ; among them are a few minute pebbles of quartz 
 not more than T Vth inch in diameter. This pebble-bed probably 
 extends with more or less regularity for some distance in this part 
 of the district, for the hill north-east of the Manor House is capped 
 by a mass of flint pebbles which were dug for road metal in 1885. 
 
 The surface at Eastheath, near Wokingham, is also very pebbly, 
 and there is a large proportion of flint pebbles in the gravels there. 
 
 A section near Sindlesham Church showed reddish-brown 
 sandy and loamy clay, probably the topmost beds of the London 
 Clay, and a little higher np the hill light buff loam and sand 
 appears. — (Lower Bagshot Beds). 
 
 An excavation 32 chains south-east of Lucas's Hospital showed 
 the junction of the Lower Bagshot Beds with the London Clay. 
 The former consisted of brown sandy loam over brown sand 
 with seams of grey clay, and the latter was a mottled grey and 
 brown loamy clay. 
 
 The Bracklesham Beds. 
 
 The Bracklesham Beds lie conformably on the Lower Bagshot 
 and have a thickness of about 40 feet. .They consist of yellow, 
 brown and olive-green glauconitic sands, all more or less clayey 
 in the upper part, and of brown, grey and liver-coloured clay 
 generally laminated in the lower part. The sands are sometimes 
 current-bedded, and contain one or more layers of flint pebbles. 
 
 The Bracklesham Beds only occur in the south-east corner of 
 our district. 
 
 No fossils have been recorded from the Bracklesham Beds of 
 the area dealt with in this memoir. 
 
 A small outlier has been mapped to the west of Finchampstead. 
 Mottled red and grey stiff clay appears at its southern edge. 
 
 The village of Finchampstead stands on the main mass of the 
 Bracklesham Beds. Green glauconitic sand was noted in several 
 places in ditch sections below East Court. 
 
 In the lane to the north-west of Finchampstead Church the 
 junction of the Bracklesham and Lower Bagshot Beds was 
 seen, the sections being as follows : — 
 Bracklesham j Brown fairly stiff clay. 
 
 Beds { Dark green glauconitic sand. 
 
 \ Grey laminated clay. 
 Lower Bagshot Beds. Brown sand. 
 A clay pit in Wick Hill, about 7 furlongs north-west of 
 Finchampstead. Church, showed the following section* : — 
 
 Feet. 
 Drift. Yellow sand with flint pebbles - 1| 
 
 ' Green glauconitic sand - - lj 
 
 Yellow and white sand with a little white 
 clay in places ... 41 
 
 Bracklesham Green- clayey sand with iron pyrites - - 5 • 
 Beds. I Dark blue clay with stalk-like markings 
 
 and carbonaceous matter passing down 
 into yellow laminated clay with ferru- 
 ginous concretions, dug down to — _-. 3A 
 
 See Quart. Jourii, Geol, Soo. Tol. xlii. (188®, p. 402. 
 
BRACKLESHAM BEDS. 59 
 
 At a brickfield at California, to the north of Wick Hill, the 
 following was the section : — 
 
 Feet. 
 Bracklesham f Yellow sand - - - 2 
 
 Beds. IGl-rey clay and buff sand dug to 10 
 
 A little to the north of the brickfield there was a pit in-yellow 
 and white stratified sand (Lower Bagshot Beds.) This brickfield 
 is now disused* 
 
 The Upper Bagshot Beds. 
 
 The Upper Bagshot Beds consist of buff, yellow and white 
 sand with little or no sign of bedding : pebbles seldom occur 
 above the bottom, where there is a fairly well marked and 
 continuous pebble-bed. No fossils have been found in this 
 district, but casts of shells were fairly numerous at the eastern 
 end of the Finchampstead Ridges outlier in the railway cutting 
 at Ambarrow, on the South-Eastern Railway. 
 
 Finchampstead Church stands upon a small outlier. On the 
 south-west there was a section showing 15 feet of buff sand, 
 and in the churchyard another section showed 10 feet of buff 
 sand with a few green grains. In the lane to the north-west 
 many pebbles were seen in the banks at about the 300 feet 
 contour, and probably were from the basement bed of the 
 Upper Bagshot. 
 
 The Ridges, Finchampstead, are on another outlier which 
 extends just beyond the eastern edge of the district. A road 
 cutting at North Court showed 1-5* feet of yellow sand with 
 green grains, and other sections in yellow, buff or white sand of 
 the Upper "Bagshot Beds were noted in the lane to the east of 
 Ridge Farm, in the road from North Court to Wick Hill, 
 and in the wood north of Halls Farm. 
 
 The basement pebble-bed was very well shown in the 
 cutting between Ambarrow and Wellington College Station, 
 a little east of the margin of the district.! 
 
 * An account of these sections by the Rev. Dr. Irving will be found — 
 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xliv. (1888), p. 172. 
 
 t See Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xxxix. (18P3), p. 351. ; vol. xliv. (1888), 
 p. 614. 
 
60 GEOLOGY Of reading. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 CLAY "WITH FLINTS AND PEBBLE GRAVEL. 
 
 Clay with Flints and Loam. — Overlying Chalk. 
 
 The name " clay with flints " was given by Mr. Whitaker to 
 a deposit of stiff brown and reddish clay, with large unworn 
 flints which occurs over the higher parts of the Upper Chalk 
 tract. 
 
 It lies very irregularly on the Chalk filling pipes in that rock, 
 and does not occur as an even overlying bed like the Reading 
 Beds. At the base there is generally black clay a few inches 
 thick, also with flints, in this case black-coated. It does not 
 occur in the bottoms of the valleys, though often running some 
 way down the upper part of their slopes. 
 
 Besides the unworn flints there are sometimes pebbles which 
 may have been derived from Tertiary or Drift Beds. 
 
 Mr. Whitaker considers that the clay with flints is of many 
 ages, and may be even forming at the present day, and that it is 
 owing in greater part to the slow decomposition of chalk under 
 atmospheric action.* 
 
 Above the clay with flints there is occasionally a loam, sandy 
 clay or brick-earth, probably formed from the waste of the 
 sands and clays of the Reading Beds. 
 
 The clay with flints and loam covers a considerable extent of 
 the Chalk in the north-western part of the district, round 
 Aldworth and. Ashampstead, and extends to the hills above 
 Hampstead Norris oh the west and almost to the Thames on the 
 north-east. Patches also occur on the Chalk east of Goring and 
 north of Shiplake. 
 
 Mr. Bennett remarks that though the clay with flints is thin 
 there is (juite enough of it to affect the agricultural character of 
 the district. 
 
 He adds that it is very irregular in thickness, as may be seen 
 in some of the chalk pits, where deep pipes of the clay are often 
 shown: These result from water percolating down lines of weak- 
 ness in the Chalk dissolving it, and leaving the clay as a 
 lining to the pipe. 
 
 Mr. Bennett also contributes the following note of the section 
 at Buttonshaw Kiln. It is about a mile south-west of Aid- 
 worth, and a third of a mile south-east of Buttonshaw farm, and 
 showed 6 feet of large unworn flints and sarsens resting irregularly 
 on rusty brown and black-stained clay. A hole dug for clay near 
 the kiln showed a mixture of plastic clay and coarse red sand, 
 capped with clay with flints. The plastic clay seemed in process 
 of conversion into the rusty, brown clay. 
 
 * "Geology of London," Memoirs of the Geol. Swrvey (1889), i. 281. 
 
CLAY WITH FLINTS AND PEBBLE GRAVEL. 61 
 
 Near Aldworth well-sections give up to 11 feet of clay with 
 flints * and at Ashampstead the deposit was found to be 19 feet 
 thick at the keeper's house on the common, f 
 
 Pebble Gravel. 
 
 The pebble gravel is probably the oldest Drift deposit of the 
 district. As its name implies, it consists almost wholly of 
 pebbles, and no fossils have Deen found in it. It is distinguished 
 from tbe pebble beds of Eocene age by the presence of a con- 
 siderable proportion of pebbles of quartz, whereas the Eocene 
 pebbles are almost all of flint. On the other hand it is distin- 
 guished from the other Drift gravels by the scarcity of subangular 
 flints, of which they are largely or mainly composed, and by the 
 absence of red quartzite pebbles and other pebbles and boulders 
 which, as will be explained later on, are believed to be derived 
 from Triassic pebble beds. 
 
 Streatley. — There are small patches of gravel on the outlier 
 of the Reading Beds in Common Wood, on the hill above Streatley. 
 The level is rather over 540 feet ; no good sections were seen, 
 and the gravel seems to be thin. It consists largely of quartz 
 pebbles, but does not appear to be a good example of pebble 
 gravel for there are many subangular flmts and some pebbles of 
 red quartzite. Probably it is the debris of pebble gravel mixed 
 to a certain extent with other Drift. 
 
 The same may be said of another patch of pebbles which 
 occurs on the road from Streatley to Aldworth. It is on the 
 Chalk, ac a level of 548 feet. There is also a small pebbly patch 
 on high ground one and a half miles west of Streatley. It has 
 been coloured pebble gravel, but like the above is more probably 
 a gravel formed mainly of the debris of that formation. I 
 
 Cray's Pond and Cold Harbour. — Patches of pebble gravel 
 have been mapped at Cray's Pond and Cold Harbour. They 
 lie at a level of nearly 550 feet, upon an outlier of the Reading 
 Beds. 
 
 At Greenmoor Hill, on the same outlier, there is another patch 
 which is just outside our boundary. It has been described 
 by Prestwich.§ 
 
 Boivsey Hill. — Four small patches of pebble gravel have 
 been mapped on the top of Bowsey Hill, Wargrave, between 
 400 and 460 feet above the sea. 
 
 A digging for road-metal in the highest patch showed 3 feet 
 of stones and sand with little or no sign of stratification. 
 
 * Mem. Geol. Survey, "Water Supply of Berkshire," (1901), p. 16. 
 
 t Loc. cit., p. 22. 
 
 J See H. J. O. White, " On the Distribution, etc., of the Westleton and 
 Glacial Gravels," Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xiv. (1895), p. 21. 
 
 § Quart. Joum. Geol. Soc, vol. xlvi. (1890), p. 140. See also Proc. Geol. 
 Assoc, vol. xii. (1891), p. 113, and H. J. O. White, ibid., vol. xiv. (1895), p. 15 
 
62 GEOLOGY OF READING. 
 
 The stones are mainly flint pebbles, many of which are as 
 much as 3£ inches in longest diameter. There are a consider- 
 able number of subangular flints, many of which have been very 
 little rolled or water worn. They are often large, stones of 7 
 inches in length being far from rare. 
 
 Next to flint, the most abundant constituent of the gravel 
 is quartz. Pebbles over 2 inches in diameter are common, and 
 pebbles over half an inch abound. The quartz is usually white, 
 but pink quartz occurs. There are a few pebbles of white 
 sandstone. Mr. Whitaker mentions a section, on the top of 
 this hill, which showed 5 feet of gravel.* 
 
 * "Geology of London," Mem. Geol. Survey, vol. i. (1889), p. 293 
 Accounts of the gravel on this hill, by Prestwich, will be found— 
 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. jclvi. (1890), p. 141, and by H. J. O. White, 
 Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xiv. (1895),. p. 21. 
 
PLATEAU GRAVEL. 63 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 PLATEAU GRAVEL. 
 
 The plateau gravel covers considerable areas in all parts of 
 our district. It usually forms flat expanses at various levels, 
 from about 160 to over 500 feet above the sea. Sometimes 
 it forms a mere stony bed at the surface, but it is often 20 feet 
 or more thick. 
 
 Its composition varies in different parts of the area, but it 
 usually consists mainly of subangular flints and flint pebbles. 
 The former are generally brown, much rolled and water worn, 
 and have probably in most cases been derived from still older 
 
 travels. The flint pebbles are nearly always from Eocene pebble 
 eds or from the pebble gravel. 
 
 North of the Thames, and at some places near that river, 
 though to the south of it, the gravel contains numerous pebbles 
 or boulders of a reddish quartzite. Similar pebbles are found 
 at many places in the higner parts of the Thames Valley, and 
 have long attracted attention. They were noticed by Dr. 
 Buckland in "Reliquiae Diluvianse" (1821, 4to., p. ,279) and by 
 Prof. John Phillips in his " Geology of Oxford and the Valley of 
 the Thames" (Oxford. 1871). 
 
 Prof. Phillips says (at p. 458) : "On a large portion of the 
 Cotswolds, but not rising to their greater elevations, we find a 
 scattered gravel deposit of a kind entirely different from that 
 which is so common in the greater part of the Thames Valley. 
 It is not accompanied by boulder clay, contains no large erratic 
 blocks, but a considerable variety of stones of greater size than 
 such as are commonly found in gravel. Two sorts of stone are 
 the most common, one is quartz, usually in small white pebbles, 
 the other hard reddish gritstone or quartzite, a metamorphic 
 rock which corresponds with none in situ better than with that 
 of Hartshill near Nuneaton. This kind of stone may be collected 
 from half the ploughed lands of Oxfordshire, on the southward 
 slopes of the oolites on the Chiltern Hills and in the Vale of 
 the Thames about Oxford and Abingdon. I have never seen a 
 fossil in it. It is probable that the new red conglomerates of 
 Warwickshire and the midland counties may, with justice, be 
 credited as the immediate source of the pebbles. Whence they 
 came originally may be hard to determme, though such rocks 
 as those of the Lickey Hills and Hartshill, metamorphic sand- 
 stones of some paleozoic kind, possibly destroyed in early 
 mesozoic frges, are clearly indicated." 
 
 Mr. H. J. Osborne White, who has made a careful study of the 
 gravel near Reading, has come to the conclusion that the red 
 quartzite pebbles in them, like those noticed by Prof. Phillips, 
 come from the Triassic rocks of the midlands.* 
 
 Prof. Bonney says that a fine grained quartzite pebble found 
 
 * Proc. Geol. Assoc.,, vol. xv. (1897), p. 160. 
 
64 GEOLOGY OF READING. 
 
 in gravel at Rose Hill, near Caversham, appears identical with 
 the liver-coloured quartzite of the Midland Bunter.* 
 
 Associated with the red quartzite pebbles, we find a varied 
 collection of pebbles and boulders of quartz, sandstone, black 
 chert or grit, and occasionally igneous rock, and probably much 
 of this material has, like the red quartzites, been derived 
 from the Bunter Beds of the Midland Counties. 
 
 In the eastern part of our district the gravel often contains a 
 considerable proportion of light-coloured chert and ragstone 
 derived from the Lower Greensand Beds of the Wealden area. 
 These fragments of Lower Greensand rock are more especially 
 abundant in patches of gravel near the River Black water and 
 the lower part of the Loddon, and at Shiplake they are found in 
 gravel north of the Thames. 
 
 In the south-western part of the area we neither find Triassic 
 pebbles nor Lower Greensand fragments in the gravel, and it 
 consists of flint with fragments of sarsens and a few ferruginous 
 concretions from the Eocene Beds. 
 
 Plateau Gravel North of the Thames. 
 
 There is a considerable spread of Plateau Gravel on the high 
 ground above Whitchurch up to a level of about, or rather over, 
 500 feet. Whitchurch Gate, Goring Heath, Cane End, and 
 Kidmore End are on this gravel. It differs in composition from 
 the pebble gravel which has been described as occurring at still 
 higher levels, for it consists mainly of subangular flints. It 
 contains many pebbles, often large, of red and brown quartzite 
 and sandstone, and flint pebbles which form so large a part of 
 the pebble gravel, are far less abundant. 
 
 The fields above the 400 contour south-east of Abbot's Wood 
 are scattered with flints, quartz, and quartzite pebbles, etc.f 
 
 Between Stapnall's Farm and Gatehampton Farm, near 
 Goring, the soil is gravelly, The stones are mostly subangular 
 flints, but quartzite and sandstone boulders, 5 to 6 inches in 
 diameter, and also quartz pebbles are common. 
 
 There is a pit in this gravel close to the Pack Horse Inn. 
 Bardolph's Wood (300 feet o.D.). It is composed mainly of 
 subangular flints, and there is a small proportion of flint 
 pebbles. Reddish and white quartzite pebbles are common, and 
 there are also pebbles of sandstone, etc. 
 
 There is another pit at Gallowstree Common, in the southern 
 angle formed by the cross roads, a little more than half a mile 
 north-east of Cane End. The section showed 5 feet in thickness 
 of gravel of a similar character to that at the Pack Horse Inn 
 pit. The stones were mostly of small size. The total thickness 
 of the gravel was not shown. A sarsen-stone, 1 foot 6 inches in 
 diameter, was seen by the side of the road, nearly 300 yards 
 south-east of the pit. On the high ground between Gallowstree 
 Common and Kidmore End, the gravel is pebbly, but is otherwise 
 
 * Qun.rt. Joiorn. Geol. Soc. vol. liv. (1898), p. 592. 
 
 t Mr. H. J. O. White has recorded the presence of many boulders of red 
 and grey quartzite in the gravel N.E. of Goring Heath. Proc. Geol. Assoc , 
 vol. xiv. (1895), p. 18. 
 
PLATEAU GKAVEL. 65 
 
 very similar in character to the above, though the stones are 
 larger and more rounded in some localities than in others. 
 There is apparently a little clay with flints in places between 
 the gravel and the underlying chalk, as shown in the road 
 section about half a mile south-east of the smithy at Cane 
 End. In some places there is some loam intermixed with the 
 gravel near the surface of the ground, and the soil is of that 
 nature around Coldnorton Shaw, about midway between Gallows- 
 tree Common and Kidmore End. 
 
 About 8 feet of gravel was exposed in 1887 in a pit on the 
 west side of the road about 8 chains west of Tanner's Farm 
 between Kidmore End and Caversham. This gravel consisted 
 mainly of subangular flints. Flint pebbles were tolerably 
 numerous. There were also a few quartz pebbles and some 
 small well-rounded boulders of red grit and sandstone, three or 
 four inches in diameter. 
 
 Between Chazey Heath and Caversham there is a gravel- 
 covered plateau with a level of between 200 and 300 feet. 
 
 A pit a quarter of a mile north of Blagrave's Farm gives a very 
 good section at a level of 269 feet. The gravel is stratified. It 
 consists mainly of subangular flints, which are mostly rather 
 small. Flint pebbles are not very common. A few of the flints 
 have not been rolled or waterworn. There is a great quantity of 
 small quartz pebbles, and many pebbles of red quartzite — these 
 last measuring up to 7 inches in longest diameter. Pebbles of 
 black stone and of ironstone occur. The gravel contains very 
 little sand, but there is some loam in places; a thickness of 
 18 feet was shown. 
 
 Another pit near the southern edge of the same sheet of 
 gravel, and ] 50 yards to the east of Chazey Wood, at Gravel Hill, 
 gives a good section, showing 10 feet of similar gravel. It 
 was apparently not bottomed. 
 
 In another pit situated on the west side of Tokers Green Lane, 
 at a little more than one mile and an eighth north north-west 
 of St. Peter's Church, Caversham, and 200 yards south-east of 
 Farthingworth green, a section showed 10 feet in thickness of 
 gravel also of a similar character. 
 
 Gravel has been dug to a considerable extent in the field 
 between Toot's Farm and St. Peter's Hill, Caversham. The 
 level is about 235 feet above the sea. The gravel consists 
 mainly of subangular flints-flint pebbles are not very abundant. 
 Pebbles of white quartz and of variously coloured quartzite are 
 common. A block of white quartz 7|x5| x3f' inches in size 
 was noticed. 
 
 Mr. O. A. Shrubsole has recorded that " in this pit a large 
 number of flint implements have been found. They occur 
 mostly in a definite zone which follows the bedding of the 
 gravel, and is usually only 1 to 3 feet from the surface." * 
 
 In Mr. LI. Treacher's collection there are some implements of 
 red quartzite from this locality. 
 
 * Quart. Jowrn. Geol. Soc, vol. xlvi. (1890), p. 583. See also Proc. Geol. 
 Assoc., vol. ix. (1885-8), p. 209. 
 
66 GEOLOGY OF READING. 
 
 There are four small patches of Plateau Gravel around 
 Ernmer Green. 
 
 There was a section in the most westerly of them about 
 400 yards north-west of Caversham Grove, on the east side of, 
 and close to, a plantation. It was a small pit, and 8 feet of 
 gravel was exposed. It consisted mainly of subangular flints 
 and flint pebbles. 
 
 In the patch on Caversham Hill, there was a pit about 
 150 yards east of Springfield House, and 200 yards north-west 
 of the Independent Chapel, where a section showed 9 feet of 
 flint gravel of a reddish-brown colour, containing erratics here 
 and there. The stones were mostly of small size; and the 
 excavation did not apparently show the total thickness of the 
 gravel. 
 
 There is a third patch at Rose Hill Kiln, near Caversham, 
 which has been described by Mr. Shrubsole.* He collected 
 from it a considerable variety of pebbles of quartz, quartzite, 
 felstone, and rhyolite, notes on which by Prof. Bonney are 
 given in his paper. 
 
 The Binfield Heath outlier of Reading Beds is capped by 
 patches of plateau gravel. A working above Shiplake Row, 
 about 305 feet above the sea, showed 4£ feet of gravel of very 
 much water- worn and broken flints, with a considerable number 
 of pebbles of a dark red and brown quartzite. 
 
 Mr. LI. Treacher observed! the occurrence of a few fragments 
 from the Lower Greensand in this gravel. It is so far as we 
 know the most westerly point in this district at which they have 
 been found in gravel north of the River Thames. 
 
 There is a patch of gravel at Caversham a little below the 
 200 feet contour, which it has been found convenient to class 
 with the Plateau Gravel. 
 
 A large quantity of gravel has been excavated from a pit in 
 this patch on the north side of the road to Shiplake, one mile 
 and a quarter east by north of St. Peter's Church, Caversham, and 
 200 yards south-east of The Elms. A section of the eastern side 
 of the pit showed 9 feet of coarse gravel. Another section on 
 the western side exposed chalk beneath the gravel. 
 
 The gravel consisted of subangular flints, flint pebbles, and 
 also contained pebbles of quartz, quartzite and sandstone. 
 
 Two patches of gravel near Shiplake have also been coloured 
 Plateau Gravel. They rise very little above the 200 feet contour, 
 and extend some distance below it. 
 
 A gravel-pit is situated 350 yards west by south of the church, 
 on the southern side of the road, south of the " Plough " Inn. 
 A section showed 8 feet 6 inches of gravel overlying chalk, 
 which latter was dug down to, at the eastern end of the pit. 
 
 Gravel has also been dug to a depth of 6 feet close to the 
 cross-roads three furlongs north of the church. It is stratified 
 
 * Quart. Journ. Oeol. Soc, vol liv. (1898), pages 591-592, 
 t See Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xiv. (1895); p. 20. 
 
l'LATEAU URAYEL. 67 
 
 yellowish brown, and consists mainly of brown subangular flints 
 with some flint pebbles. Red quartzite, sandstone, and quartz 
 pebbles are common, and there are numerous fragments of Lower 
 Greensand Rock. 
 
 Plateau Gravel between the Rivers Thames and Kennet. 
 
 Passing now to the south of the Thames we find a small 
 patch of gravel capping the outlier of Reading Beds at Upper 
 Basildon. It is at the high level of 466 feet above the sea. 
 
 Mr. F. J. Bennett noted a section of 4 feet of pebbly gravel 
 in a clayey matrix, and a similar bed has been worked near 
 the cross roads above Kiln Farm. 
 
 The gravel consists of pebbles of flint, quartz, red and brown 
 quartzite, and black chert with some subangular flints. The clay 
 in which the stones lie is mainly mottled, and no doubt derived 
 from the Reading Beds. 
 
 A sheet of gravel extends from" Upper Basildon to the hill 
 above Pangbourne. Its level varies from 250 to 404 feet 
 above the sea, and it rests upon chalk excepting at one place 
 where it slightly encroaches on the Upper Bowden Farm outlier 
 of the Reading Beds. The gravel is very clayey, or loamy, in 
 places. A well at New Town passed through 20 feet of gravel 
 and loam to chalk,* and at Upper Bowden Farm the Drift in a 
 well-section is described as 10 feet of brown clay.f 
 
 A road-cutting 4£ furlongs east of New Town showed 6 feet 
 of clayey sand full of stones. Waterworn flints, more or less 
 broken, were common, but the stones were mainly pebbles 
 of brown and red sandstone, and quartzite, and of white quartz. 
 There were only a few pebbles of flint. 
 
 At Lower Bowden Farm 18 feet of red clay were found 
 in a well-section.:]: 
 
 To the north of Lower Bowden Farm there is another sheet 
 of similar gravel. A pit was noted in it a little to the west 
 of Park Farm. The section showed 6 feet of gravel. Red and 
 brown quartzite and quartz pebbles occur on the surface all 
 over these patches of gravel. 
 
 Between Tidmarsh and Slade Gate there is another extensive 
 patch of gravel rising from 220 feet to 404 feet. A well at Bere 
 Park Farm passed through 18 feet of gravel to chalk. A pit 
 was noted by the small wood north of Dark Lane Copse which 
 showed 12 feet of gravel. There were eight sarsens m the pit, 
 measuring from 4 to 9 inches in length. 
 
 Gravel has also been worked \ mile east of the cross roads at 
 Blenheim Barn. It consists mainly of fragments of brown flint, 
 with a few flint pebbles. No quartz and no quartzite pebbles 
 were seen. 
 
 The Frilsham and Burnt Hill Eocene outliers are capped by 
 patches of gravel which Mr. Bennett remarks is very pebbly, 
 
 * "The Water Supply of Berkshire," Mem. Geol. Survey (1901), p. 66. 
 + Op. cit., p. 65. 
 % Op. cit, p. 66. 
 
68 GEOLOGY OF READING. 
 
 much more so than most of the Plateau Gravel farther to the 
 south. There is a patch of pebbly gravel on Frilsham Common. 
 It is dug in shallow pockets here and there ; the highest part is 
 at a level of 413 feet. 
 
 East of Yattendon and north of Burnt Hill there is another 
 small patch of pebbly gravel capped with loam. A section 
 showed 
 
 Feet. 
 [ Loam clean and also mixed with gravel - 2 to 3 
 
 Plateau ' Pebbly gravel, with patches of subangular gravel, 
 Gravel, 'i sometimes found intermixed. The pebbles are 
 
 ' occasionally very large - 7 
 
 Reading Beds. — Coarse yellow sand with, it was stated, trunks of 
 trees. See p. 20. 
 
 South ot the Axe and Compass Inn, on Burnt Hill Common, a 
 pit showed 4 feet of the pebbly gravel which caps the outlier 
 there.— F. J. B. 
 
 The high ground between the rivers Pang and Kennet is covered 
 
 to a great extent by sheets of gravel of a very uniform character, 
 
 consisting almost entirely of subangular flints and flint pebbles. 
 
 Blocks of sarsen are common, but there is an absence of the 
 
 pebbles and boulders of quartz, quartzite, etc., which are so 
 
 abundant in the gravels near the Thames. A flint implement 
 
 was found in August, 1.902, in a gravel pit, at a level of 283 feet, 
 
 o.d., near Englefield House. It is now in the Reading Museum.* 
 
 The following notes are by Mr. Bennett : — 
 
 Bucklebury Common is covered by gravel, which varies 
 
 from 4 feet to about 7 feet in thickness, and where seen in section 
 
 generally has a clayey matrix. A pit a little north-east of Hart's 
 
 Hill showed 5 feet of gravel, with a few sarsen stones in a clay 
 
 " matrix. This gravel weathers white. A pit a little north-east 
 
 of the cemetery showed 6 feet of gravel in a clay matrix. 
 
 Half-a-mile south-west of Beenham Church a pit showed 6 
 feet of rather fine gravel. From 2 to 7 feet of gravel was 
 seen capping the clay at Beenham Kiln. 
 
 At Mare Ridge there were two pits showing from 5 or 8 feet of 
 clean shingly gravel. 
 
 To the south-west of Bradfield there are two patches of 
 gravel resting on London Clay. Pits a little south-west of the 
 workhouse showed 8 feet of rather fine gravel and sand. One 
 of the well sections at South End recorded 15 feet of gravel, but all 
 the rest about Bradfield, averaged from 6 to 7 feet. — F. J. B. 
 
 To the south-east of Bradfield there is a patch of Plateau Gravel 
 on the Reading Beds. A pit 5 furlongs north of east of Bradfield 
 - Church showed gravel, composed of small subangular flints with 
 flint pebbles, the whole weathering white. As in the case of 
 the othem pits south of the Pang already described, no quartz 
 or quartzite pebbles could be found. 
 
 There are a number of patches of Plateau Gravel on the Tile- 
 hurst outlier of London Clay and Reading Beds, and on the 
 north-west it extends on to the Chalk as far as Purley. 
 
 * Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. lviii. (1902). Proa, p. lxxxii. 
 
PLATEAU GRAVEL. 69 
 
 There was a pit showing 3 to 5 feet of gravel nearly half-a-mile 
 north-east of Purley Hall ; another pit 3 furlongs east of south of 
 the same house showed 6 feet of gravel and chalk beneath it. 
 Quartzite pebbles abound on this part of the patch. 
 
 Another pit 2 furlongs east of Sulham Church, at a level of 
 about 310 feet, showed 3 feet of gravel consisting mainly of 
 brown subangular flints and flints pebbles. There were only a few 
 pebbles of red quartzite and a few large quartz pebbles. 
 
 The quartzite and sandstone pebbles and boulders increase 
 in number as we go eastwards, and in the small gravel patch at 
 Chapel Hill the gravel consists mainly of quartz, quartzite and 
 sandstone pebbles and boulders. Quartz pebbles over 6 inches 
 long are not uncommon, and big blocks of sandstone occur. 
 
 Tilehurst Common. — The plateau gravel on Tilehurst Common 
 is much intermixed with loam and seams of clay in places. 
 It was proved to be 13 feet in thickness in a central position 
 on the Common, at a point 350 yards south-east of the 
 Independent Chapel. 
 
 In a clay pit a little more than three-quarters of a mile north- 
 west of St. Michael's Church, Tilehurst, red and grey mottled clays 
 of the Reading Beds are shown capped by coarse gravel. On 
 the north side of the road, a little more than half-a-mile north 
 of the church, a section extending for more than 100 yards 
 showed similar gravel. The plateau gravel on the high ground 
 five-eighths of a mile westward of the church is very pebbly in 
 character, and contains many small quartzite and sandstone 
 pebbles. 
 
 Gravel has been worked to a considerable extent above Norcot 
 Kiln, the section at which has been already given (page 31). 
 The level of the gravel is about 290 feet. Subangular flints, 
 some of which are brown but many black and not much water- 
 worn, form about half the deposit, and the other half consists of 
 flint pebbles, quartz pebbles and blocks, red and liver-coloured 
 quartzite pebbles, and pebbles of black chert, sandstones, iron- 
 stone, etc. Boulders of igneous rock occur,* and rolled blocks 
 of sarsen are common. 
 
 To the east of Tilehurst there is a large patch of Plateau 
 Gravel with a level of from 180 to 200 feet. It lies upon Reading 
 Beds excepting on the north-west, where a long spur projects and 
 lies partly on the Chalk. This spur forms a well-marked terrace 
 on the hillside above and south-west of Reading Barracks. 
 There are, or have been several gravel-pits in this terrace. 
 
 There are gravel and chalk pits about 15 chains south of the 
 Barracks. In one of them about 10 to 12 feet or more of gravel 
 was exposed overlying the Chalk, the total thickness not being 
 clearlysnown. The gravelmostly consists of pebbly and subangular 
 flints intermixed with many well-rounded sandstone quartzite and 
 quartz pebbles. Immediately overlying the chalk on the south 
 side of tne pit were some green-coated flints, and from about 1 foot 
 6 inches to 3 feet of greenish and brownish sand, and mottled 
 brown and grey clay. The above had every appearance of being 
 
 * Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xlix. (1893), p. 308. 
 6150 F 
 
70 GEOLOGY OF READING. 
 
 in situ, and thus showing the junction of the Reading Beds with 
 the chalk. From about 3 to 6 feet or more of brownish loamy- 
 clay overlaid the gravel at the northern part of the pit, where it 
 thins out on the sloping ground. Here the gravel rested 
 unevenly on the Chalk, being piped into it in many places, 
 whereas on the southern side, where the sand and clay of the 
 Reading Beds overlaid the chalk, the junction was even. 
 
 The gravel pit, known as Hill's Pit and sometimes as Grove- 
 lands, is also in this terrace. It is situated to the south-east of 
 the Barracks, and a quarter of a mile south-south-west of Elm 
 Lodge. The gravel consists mostly of subangular flints and flint 
 pebbles, intermixed with many quartz, quartzite, and sandstone 
 pebbles and boulders often measuring from 4 to 8 inches in size, 
 One boulder of quartz measured 11x7x6 inches, and several 
 boulders of quartzite from 8 to 10 inches. There is apparently a 
 rough, irregular, horizontal stratification, which is sharply cut off 
 at the slope of the valley to the north, showing denudation since 
 the deposition of the gravel. A large quantity of gravel has 
 been excavated from this pit for road metalling. Bones of 
 Elephas antiquus, Falc, and Cervus elaphus, Linn., as well as 
 flint implements, have been obtained from the gravel of .this pit* 
 
 In the town of Reading, about 12 feet in thickness, of coarse, 
 subangular, and pebbly gravel, resting on brown loam, was ex- 
 posed in 1887 in a large square pit, 10 chains north of the Bath 
 Road, and 9 chains west of Turret House, or 17 chains 
 westward of the centre of the railway-cutting (Basingstoke line). 
 At 6 feet down from the surface there is a blackish irregular 
 band from 6 to 9 inches in thickness, the gravel being stained 
 there apparently with manganese. Two other similar bands 
 occur beneath this, with a distance of 18 inches between them. 
 This gravel consists almost entirely of flints, but well-rounded 
 quartzites occur in places. The matrix is mostly sandy, with a 
 little loam here and there. The colour of the gravel is generally 
 brown, with whitish patches in places, similar to that exposed 
 at Hill's or Groveland's Pit (described above), of which it is 
 apparently a continuation. Several Echinoderms in flint have 
 been found. 
 
 Plateau Gravel between the Rivers Kennet and Loddon. 
 
 In the south-west quarter of our district there are very extensive 
 sheets of gravel capping the outliers of the Lower Bagshot Beds. 
 In composition and general character they agree with the gravel 
 of Bucklebury Common already described. They contain no 
 red quartzite pebbles or Lower Greensand fragments, and quartz 
 pebbles are very rare. When we pass into the eastern part of 
 the district a change in composition takes place. Lower Green- 
 sand fragments are found, often in considerable abundance, as we 
 approach the River Loddon, and red quartzite and variously- 
 
 *See also Proc. Oeol. Assoc, vol. ix. (1895-96), p. 211 ; vol. xv. (1897-8), 
 pp. 305-6, and O. A. Shrubsole, Qtcart. Journ. Oeol. Soc, vol. xlvi. (1890) 
 p. 585. 
 
PLATEAU UKAVEL. 71 
 
 coloured Sandstone pebbles and boulders in the gravels near the 
 Thames. The following notes are by Mr. Bennett : — 
 
 On Crookham Common a pit north of the Traveller's Inn 
 showed 6 feet of gravel. A pit close to the road, a little south- 
 west of Brimpton church, showed 5 feet of clean coarse and fine 
 gravel, with 10 per cent, of flint pebbles. Four sarsen stones were 
 also seen, two of them large. At the bottom of the gravel was a 
 bed of sandy loam. 
 
 A little north of Wasing Rectory, on Brimpton Common, 
 10 feet of feiTuginous gravel was dug. North of Blacknest Farm 
 another pit showed 8 feet of gravel. A little north-west of 
 Inhurst House 6 feet of gravel in a clay matrix was dug, and 
 south-east of the house 3 feet of gravel was seen in a smallpit. 
 
 About one mile north of Borson two pits showed from 4 to 5 
 feet of gravel. 
 
 On Tadley Common, half-a-mile west • of New Town, a small 
 pit showed up to 4 feet of gravel in a clay matrix. Both the 
 pits at the Tadley Kiln showed gravel restmg irregularly on the 
 Bagshot Beds, but in the south pit the junction was the more 
 irregular, and the gravel and clay much intermixed. — F.J.B. 
 
 Gravel has been worked to a large extent on Silchester Common, 
 the workings usually showing from 4 to 6 feet of gravel. The level 
 is about 330 feet above the sea. As a rule the gravel is of a very 
 light colour, often nearly white, not very sandy or clayey, and with 
 but little sign of stratification. It consists of subangular flints, 
 much weather-worn and broken, and of flint pebbles, together 
 with a few blocks of sarsen. No Lower Greensand fragments 
 could be found in it.* The Roman town of Silchester stands 
 upon this gravel. 
 
 Near Padworth, Mr; Bennett notes that two pits east and west of 
 Round Oak showed 4 to 5 feet of gravel in a clay matrix. South 
 of Padworth Church 4 feet of gravel was dug, and near the schools 
 6 feet of rather fine gravel. 
 
 Numerous gravel workings were noted on Mortimer Common 
 and showed gravel from 2 to 4 feet in thickness. 
 
 It consists of flint pebbles and of subangular flints very much 
 broken and weather worn, often quite white, and usually small in 
 size. Indeed, the small stuff might fairly be described as bleached 
 chips of flint. There are a few blocks of sarsen, and very rarely 
 a quartz pebble occurs. One 1£ inch in diameter was found in 
 a working. No red quartzites or sandstones nor black chert nor 
 fragments from the Lower Greensand could be found. 
 
 Sometimes the gravel is rather sandy, but usually it is a mass 
 of stones with little or no sign of stratification. 
 
 On Burghfield Common there are several pits in a similar gravel. 
 
 The Lower Bagshot outlier at Brickleton Farm is capped by a 
 small patch of plateau gravel with a level of 297 feet. Only a 
 ditch-section was to be seen, and it seemed to show a gravel like 
 that of Silchester ; no Lower Greensand fragments could be found. 
 
 * Quart. Joum. Oeol. Soc, vol. xlviii. (1892), p. 37. Proc. Geol. Assoc, 
 vol. xvi. (1900), p. 514. 
 
 6150 * f 2 
 
72 GEOLOGY OP READING. 
 
 To the north-east of Stratfield Mortimer there are several 
 small patches of plateau gravel, all of which lie at a lower level 
 than either Mortimer Common or Silchester and rest upon London 
 Clay. 
 
 The patch at Great Park Farm is at a level of 241 feet. That 
 at St. Mary's Church, Beech Hill is at a rather lower level. 
 
 Near Crosslane Farm there are two small patches at a still 
 lower level (about 190 feetj. Gravel has been worked in the 
 fields on both these patches : it appears to be about 4 feet thick. 
 The gravel is like that of Silchester and no Lower Greensand 
 fragments could be found.* Other patches of gravel occur at 
 Bromfield Hatch and Beid's Farm. 
 
 About three quarters of a mile north-east of Crosslane Farm, 
 and about 50 feet higher in level, there is another patch of gravel 
 with a thickness of about 4 feet. There is a pit close to White- 
 house Farm which shows that the gravel consists of the usual 
 subangular flints and flint pebbles but with the addition of 
 many fragments of Lower Greensand chert and ragstone. 
 
 There are several patches of Plateau Gravel at, and near, 
 Spencerwood Common and Shinfield, but they call for no special 
 notice, and we may pass on to the patch on Southern Hill in the 
 town of Beading which lies at a level of 230 feet above the sea. 
 Christ Church occupies nearly a central position on this patch. 
 The greatest thickness of this gravel appears to be about 16 feet, 
 as proved in a well situated in a garden about 130 yards south 
 of Christ Church. At the northern part of Bob's Mount, sections 
 show it to be about 7 feet in thickness, with a very irregular 
 line at its junction with the underlying basement-bed of the 
 London Clay. In a pit 400 yards west-south-west of Christ 
 Church — in a field south of Kingsclere Villas — 8 feet in thickness 
 was shown ; and in two pits 300 yards south of Christ Church, 
 6 feet in thickness was exposed. The stones composing the 
 gravel in these pits were mostly small. 
 
 They are mainly brown subangular flints and flint pebbles, 
 but flints which have been scarcely at all rolled or water-worn 
 occur. There are also a great number of pebbles of quartz and 
 variously coloured quartzite. Black pebbles occur, one of which 
 was found to be a tourmaline grit. This gravel consequently 
 resembles that of Tilehurst, and is very different from that of 
 Silchester. Some fragments which may have been derived from 
 the Lower Greensand were noticed.j- 
 
 To the east of Southern Hill, Beading, a group of patphes of 
 Plateau Gravel are found at levels of sometimes rather over and 
 sometimes a little under 200 feet. They lie on London Clay, 
 Beading Beds, and to a very small extent on Chalk, and lorm a 
 flat topped tract of high ground projecting between the Thames 
 and the Loddon. 
 
 In the South Eastern Bailway cutting at Woodley Hill, Earley, 
 the gravel was from 12 to 15 feet in thickness, and a pit at a level 
 
 * Quart. Joum. Geol. Soc. vol. xlviii. (1892), p. 37. 
 t See Quart. Joum. Geol. Soc. vol. xlix. (1893), p. 310. 
 
PLATEAU GRAVEL. 73 
 
 of 214 feet, close to the railway and a little west of Earley station, 
 showed that it contained a great many Lower Greensand frag- 
 ments, but no quartzite pebbles could be seen. 
 
 Mr. LI. Treacher has obtained numerous flint implements 
 from the Gravel cut through by the Great Western Railway 
 south of Sonning. 
 
 A pit in a field east of Wheeler's Green, about 2f miles east 
 of Southern Hill, Reading, showed 6 feet of Plateau Gravel with 
 rather indistinct stratification, agreeing in composition with the 
 pit by the railway, for Lower Greensand fragments were very 
 common, and the quartzites which are so abundant at Southern 
 Hill were apparently absent. This pit is near the Loddon, but 
 one and a quarter miles to the north-west, and nearer to the 
 Thames there is another pit in gravel which contains quartzite 
 pebbles in abundance. 
 
 The pit referred to is on the, south-east side of the London 
 Road Bridge over the Great Western Railway cutting. The 
 section showed 9 feet of gravel with some loam in places resting 
 on the clay of the Reading Beds. The gravel is stratified, but the 
 stratification is indistinct in places. It consists mainly of the 
 usual subangular flints and flint pebbles. Quartzite pebbles 
 are common, and often measure as much as 4 J inches in 
 longest diameter. Fragments from the Lower Greensand 
 occur, but are not common. 
 
 Another pit, known as the Charvil Hill Pit, in the same 
 sheet of gravel by the side of the Readmg-Twyford Road, and 
 6 furlongs south-east of Sonning Church, gave a section in 
 well stratified gravel with a little current-bedded sand in 
 one place. The gravel resembles that in the last pit by the 
 railway bridge. Quartzite pebbles are common, the red 
 quartzite which has been noted at so many places near the 
 Thames being abundant. A number of flint implements from 
 this pit are in the collection of Mr. Treacher. 
 
 Plateau Gravel east of the River Loddon. 
 
 The Bagshot outlier of Heckfield Heath is capped by an ex- 
 tensive sheet of gravel usually some 6 feet in thickness, and at 
 a level of 270 feet above the sea. It is thus some 50 feet lower 
 than the gravel of Silchester, rather more than four miles to the 
 west, and differs from it in several respects. It is much more 
 sandy, is well and evenly stratified, the stones in it are less broken 
 and weather-worn, and it contains fragments from the Lower 
 Greensand. 
 
 There are numerous pits in Heckfield Heath ; one in 
 which the junction with the underlying Lower Bagshot Beds 
 was seen has been already noted (page 55). The gravel, as 
 usual, consists mainly of brown subangular flints and of flint 
 pebbles. Lower Greensand fragments are quite common, and 
 minute pebbles of quartz occur. 
 
 The Lower Bagshot outlier at Farley Hill is capped by 
 a patch of Plateau Gravel of a character similar to that of 
 Heckfield Heath. A block of white quartzite was found in a 
 
74 GEOLOGY OF READING. 
 
 pit a little south of Farley Castle. Sept., 1902. . It was of 
 
 irregular shape, and weighed 51b. 6oz. 
 
 A. specimen of the rock has been examined by Dr. J. S. Flett, 
 
 who reports as follows: — 
 
 The rock is a milky white, worn quartzite with diffuse patches 
 of ferruginous staining. It is somewhat granular or sacchar- 
 oidal, but in the hand-specimen shows no gritty texture. 
 Under the microscope it exhibits a mosaic of irregular inter- 
 locking grains of quartz, which vary greatly in size. All are 
 filled with minute fluid cavities, in lines and streaks, which do 
 not as a rule pass across the boundaries of the individual grains 
 from one to another. Shearing has evidently taken place, as 
 much of the quartz has unduktory extinction, and streaks of 
 fine grained granulitic material are frequent. There is no 
 evidence of original sedimentary character or of a cementing 
 material between the grains, and the rock is apparently a 
 mass of crushed vein-quartz. 
 
 There are small patches of similar gravel on the Lower Bagshot 
 outlier of Arborfield Cross. 
 
 Another patch lies on the main mass of the Lower Bagshot 
 Beds at Bannisters, near Eversley.. A pit in Fleet Copse shows 
 about 5 feet of gravel consisting of brown subangular flints, of 
 flint pebbles and Lower Greensand fragments, with some ferru- 
 ginous concretions probably from the Bagshot Beds. It is 
 dark yellow, very sandy, well stratified, and with current- 
 bedding in places. Here and there the gravel is consolidated 
 into a ferruginous conglomerate. 
 
 The Upper Bagshot outlier of Finchampstead Ridges is 
 capped by a sheet of Plateau Gravel with a level of rather over 
 300 feet, that is to say, about the same level as the Silchester 
 plateau, nearly 10 miles to the west. The thickness of the 
 gravel is sometimes as much as 13 feet. It consists of brown 
 subangular flints, of flint pebbles, a good many small frag- 
 ments of Lower Greensand rock, and a good deal of quartz in 
 the form of very small pebbles usually under £ inch in diameter. 
 Blocks of sarsen are not common, but occur occasionally. Many 
 flints of irregular shape, which have been but little water- worn, 
 occur, and all are of a brown colour, 
 
 Mr. 0. A. Shrubsole found a few pebbles of white quartz or 
 quartzite[in this gravel, the largest measured 31 x 24 x 17 inches. * 
 
 In it there is frequently a good deal of coarse quartz sand, 
 sometimes with irregular white clayey layers, and the whole 
 is often contorted, the contortion being most usual in the upper 
 part. 
 
 Some stones found in this gravel, which have possibly been 
 used as scrapers, have been described by Prof. Rupert Jones, 
 F.R.S., as Eolithic Flint implements, f 
 
 The gravel is very ferruginous and is frequently consolidated 
 
 * Qwvrt. Joum. Oeol. Soc. vol. xlix. (1893), p. 320. 
 t Eeport of the Wellington College Natural Science Society, for 1901, 
 published 1902, page 58. 
 
PLATEAU GRAVEL. 75 
 
 into a hard conglomerate or grit. This is also the case in many, 
 or most, of the patches of gravel in this part of the district, and 
 the rock thus formed has been used as a building-stone. The 
 tower of All Saints' Church, Wokingham, is mainly built of it. 
 
 On Barkham Common there are small patches of gravel re- 
 sembling that of Finchampstead, and at Bearwood there is a 
 patch where the proportion of Lower Greensand chert is higher 
 than at Finchampstead. 
 
 At and near Wokingham are some more patches, the gravel of 
 which consists very largely of flint pebbles probably derived 
 from the Lower Bagshot Beds. (See p. 78.) Lower Greensand 
 fragments are present in all these gravels. 
 
 No red quartzites could be found, but they occur m the two 
 patches of plateau gravel at Twyford and Ruscombe. Some 
 trial holes in a field 2£ furlongs south of Twyford station 
 showed 6 feet of reddish gravel consisting of subangular flints, 
 of flint pebbles with many pebbles of red quartzite, and an 
 abundance of fragments from the Lower Greensand. The place 
 is about 2 miles from the Thames and a little east of the Loddon. 
 A section showing the gravel of this patoh resting on clay 
 and sand of the Reading Beds was noted (October, 1902) at a 
 brickfield between Ruscombe and the Great Western Railway. 
 The gravel resembles in character and composition that of 
 Charvil Hill on the opposite side of the River Loddon (see p. 73) 
 and like that gravel it has yielded flint implements.* 
 
 According to Mr. H. J. 0. White a section in the north side 
 of this brickyard in 1893 showed " a gravel of purely southern 
 type [with Lower Greensand fragments but without the quartzites] 
 underlying one of north-western facies."f 
 
 * See O. A. Shrubsole, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. zlvi. (1890), p. 591. 
 t Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xvii. (1901), p. 177, 
 
76 GEOLOGY OF BEADING. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 THE VALLEY GRAVEL AND LOAM. 
 
 Valley Gravel of the River Thames. 
 
 The patches of Valley Gravel along the course of the Thames 
 are of no great extent. They lie in nearly all cases on Chalk. 
 
 Mr. A. J. Jukes-Browne notes that at Goring, near the corner 
 of a new road opposite the school, a bell pit was sunk (February, 
 1886) through soil and gravel into Chalk, the last being about 
 10 feet below the surface. There is also a large gravel-pit about 
 half a mile north of Streatley. 
 
 Near the house built for Mrs. Stokes at the southern end of 
 , this road a pit was open for sand. Mr. Joseph White stated 
 that the thicknesses proved were as follows : — 
 Gravel about 10 feet 
 Sand ,, 17 „ 
 Chalk beneath. 
 
 There are patches of Valley Gravel at Basildon Whitchurch, 
 and Pangbourne. 
 
 Much of the town of Reading stands on Valley Gravel. A broad 
 strip runs from the Barracks to the County Gaol and Biscuit 
 Factory. This gravel was found to be 15 feet thick at the Royal 
 Albert Hotel. 
 
 There was for some time a pit on the east side of Elm Lodge, 
 and more recently (1902) a pit has been worked close to the 
 County Cricket Ground, Kensington Road. The sections showed 
 from 17 to 18 feet of stratified gravel resting on Chalk. The 
 gravel consists of much small chalk, of subangular flints, some 
 being of large size and but slightly waterworn, together with a 
 few large rounded quartzites. A. few pieces of broken bone and 
 some teeth of Hippopotamus have been recorded from this pit* 
 
 In a small pit at Battle Farm, situated a little more than 300 
 yards east-north-east of the workhouse, 5 feet in thickness of 
 light-coloured subangular flint gravel was exposed. 
 
 At the time when the excavations were made for the base- 
 ments of the new buildings in the central part of Blagrave Street, 
 on the western side near the Reading Observer Office, 14 feet 
 in thickness of subangular flint-gravel was exposed resting on 
 Chalk, which latter was penetrated to a depth of 8 feet, when 
 water was reached. 
 
 An excavation made for drainage-purposes in the road in the 
 Forbury, near the Assize Courts, exposed 8 feet in thickness of 
 gravel and sand. 
 
 To the east of the Kennet there is a wide spread of Valley 
 Gravel resting partly on Chalk and partly on Reading Beds. 
 Most of Church Ward is built upon it. 
 
 * Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xv. (1897-98), p. 304, and vol. xvii. (1902), p. 381. 
 
VALLEY GRAVEL AND LOAM. 77 
 
 In the London Road, opposite Portland Place, an excavation 
 showed 3 feet in thickness of brown subangular flint gravel. 
 
 At the north-western corner of the Alexandra Road, at a spot 
 about 50 yards eastward of the Unitarian Chapel and adjoining 
 the London Road, an excavation in 1887 showed 15 feet in thick- 
 ness of brown subangular flint gravel resting on Chalk at 
 one part; and at a point a few feet southward of the above, 
 chalk was reached at a depth of 10 feet. The stones com- 
 posing the gravel were for the most part very small, particularly 
 in the upper portion ; but towards the base, there was a large 
 light coloured or whitish patch of coarse flint gravel lying at a 
 considerable angle, and mostly made up of stones varying from 
 about 4 to 8 inches in diameter. There were no indications of 
 stratification. 
 
 Some sections in a gravel pit a little to the east of Reading 
 School were described by Mr. E. B. Poulton in 1880, as follows.* 
 
 The Valley Gravel including the surface bed was about 12 feet 
 thick, and beneath it was some 9 feet of clays and sands apparently 
 derived from the Eocene Beds, containing mammalian remains and 
 portions of trunks of trees a foot or more in diameter, and in 
 some cases several feet in length. 
 
 The Valley Gravel has been extensively dug near the mouth 
 of the River Kennet. A pit between the South Eastern Railway 
 and Cholmeley Road showed 16 feet of well-stratified gravel 
 resting on the Chalk. The gravel contained some flints not 
 much waterworn and some small pebbles of chalk and fragments 
 of shells from the Eocene Beds. Numerous pebbles of quartz 
 and quartzite and a piece of quartz conglomerate were noticed. 
 Amongst the small stuff were irony fragments many of which 
 were bits of fossils probably from the Oolites. The bulk of the 
 deposit was as usual formed of subangular flints and flint pebbles.f 
 
 Mr. 0. A. Shrubsole mentions that mammalian bones have been 
 found here. j 
 
 There are some patches of gravel resting mainly on Chalk at 
 Sonning, Twyford, Wargrave and Shiplake station. 
 
 A good section showing from 9 to 10 feet in thickness of 
 subangular and pebbly flint gravel overlying Chalk, was exposed 
 (1886) in the village of Sonning, in a pit 400 yards east-north- 
 east of St. Andrew's Church. 
 
 The Twyford gravel consists of subangular flints, flint pebbles, 
 quartzites, etc. 
 
 The Shiplake Station patch is coarse subangular flint gravel. 
 It contains pebbles of quartz, quartzite, etc., like the patches of 
 Plateau Gravel at Shiplake Church (see page 66), and, like them, 
 it also contains many fragments from the Lower Greensand. 
 
 * Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxxvi., p. 296. 
 
 + Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xlviii. (1892), p. 44. 
 
 X Quart, Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xlvi. (1890), p. 590 ; 4. Kennet Mouth. 
 
78 geology of reading. 
 
 -Valley Gravel of the River Pang. 
 
 The following note is by Mr. Bennett : — 
 
 From where this river enters the district gravel is seen all 
 along its course. 
 
 Near Marlston House, Frilsham, are some patches of a high 
 level Valley Gravel, and a large pit north-east of the house shows 
 9 feet of coarse gravel with very large flints in a clayey 
 matrix. 
 
 Valley Gravel is also seen in the side valley west of Marlston 
 House. 
 
 South-east of Coles Farm west of Bucklebury are two pits 
 in fine and coarse gravel. One of the pits showed 12 feet of the 
 gravel, with many pebbles in a clayey and ferruginous matrix, 
 with a band of stiff loam in one place resting on Chalk. — F. J.B. 
 
 Valley Gravel of the Rivers Kennet axd Enborne. 
 
 Mr. Bennett also contributes the following : — 
 
 In the valley of the Kennet on the western side of the district 
 alluvium and peat hide a good deal of this gravel. 
 
 The course of the river Enborne is mostly marked out by 
 gravel, there being little alluvium. The .gravel is mostly derived 
 from the high level gravel and so much resembles it, but is 
 coarser contains more sarsen stones, and shows more stratifica- 
 tion. There are some seams of sand and of loam in this gravel. 
 
 These remarks also apply to the gravel of the River Pang. 
 
 A pit at Calthrop Cottages, north of Calthrop Mill, showed 
 brown loam over gravel. South of Midgham Bridge was a 
 pit in a small patch of gravel where shell-marl was also seen. 
 
 At the junction of the river Enborne with the Kennet is 
 a considerable spread of gravel, and there are indications here 
 of a gravel terrace. 
 
 North of Wasing Park the gravel has a loamy surface, so 
 that there may be beds of loam in it. At Aldermaston the 
 gravel broadens out on the left bank of the river, whilst there 
 is but little on the right bank, and that almost confined to small 
 patches. — F.J.B. 
 
 Near Beenham a section showing 8 feet in thickness of fine 
 gravel, was exposed to the east of Gravel Pit Farm, a little north 
 of Aldermaston railway station. 
 
 There was another section, showing similar gravel in a pit 
 about three-quarters of a mile north-east of the above, adjoin- 
 ing the road on the west side. 
 
 At Theale, in a gravel pit now (1887) ploughed over half-a- 
 mile west of Holy Trinity Church, on the east side of the road, 
 a section showed 5 feet in thickness of gravel (not the total 
 thickness apparently), consisting of small subangular flints and 
 pebbles. 
 
 Gravel similar to the above was to be seen in old pits 
 on either side of the fork in the road, about five-eighths 
 
VALLEY GRAVEL AND LOAM. 79 
 
 of a mile south-west of Holy Trinity Church, where the thick- 
 ness of the gravel to the water-level is from 8 to 9 feet. 
 
 A large pit occurs about a quarter of a mile eastward of the 
 above-mentioned fork in the road ; here, a continuation of the 
 same spread of gravel has been excavated to a depth of from 
 9. to 10 feet, and used apparently for ballast for the railway. 
 
 At Burghfield, flint gravel was exposed to a depth of 3 
 feet (not bottomed) in a pit on the north side of the fork in 
 the road, one mile north-by-east of St. Mary's Church. 
 
 A similar thickness of gravel (3 feet) was shown on the sides 
 of a pond and ditch immediately north of Field Farm, a little 
 more than a quarter of a mile north-west of the above pit. 
 
 A section, showing fine whitish gravel, composed of subangular 
 flints and with many black flint pebbles, is exposed around a 
 pond about 50 yards north of Searl's Farm, nearly one mile 
 and three-quarters north-east-by-north of St. Mary's Church, 
 Burghfield. 
 
 Gravel similar to the above was exposed on the sides of a 
 saw-pit situated 350 yards north north-east of Searl's Farm ; and 
 also along a ditch about 150 yards eastward of the farm, where it 
 was shown to have a matrix of blackish sand. 
 
 In ditches around Knight's Farm, half-a-mile south-west 
 of Searl's Farm, fine flint gravel, very similar to that mentioned 
 above, was seen in section, also in ditches along the roads and 
 elsewhere eastward of Amner's Farm, nearly three-eighths of a 
 mile south-west of Knight's Farm. 
 
 Around Amner's Wood, situated half-a-mile south-eastward of 
 Amner's Farm, there is a little loam overlying the gravel, which 
 latter was well exposed in section in the ditch running eastward 
 from near Amner's Wood to the railway. 
 
 A small stream flows by Silchester and Stratfield Mortimer 
 to the Kennet, and there is a patch of gravel at Grazeley. A pit 
 close to Grazeley Court showed 8 feet of well stratified gravel 
 consisting mainly of subangular flints. There were some flint 
 pebbles. One quartz pebble rather over an inch in length was 
 noticed, but no quartzites or Lower Greensand chert could be 
 found. 
 
 Valley Gravel of the Kivers Loddon and Blackwater. 
 
 With the exception of some small patches at Stratfieldsaye, 
 there is very little gravel in the Loddon valley until that 
 river is joined by the Blackwater. From that point to the 
 Thames the sheets of Valley Gravel are extensive, and look like 
 a continuation of the gravels of the Blackwater, with which 
 moreover, they agree in character. 
 
 On the north side of the Blackwater there is an irregular strip 
 of Valley Gravel. Near Lea Farm it is worked down to water 
 which is reached at about 3 feet below the surface. The gravel 
 is composed of brown subangular flints, of flint pebbles, and of 
 fragments from the Lower Greensand. 
 
 On the south side of the river there is a much more extensive 
 
80 GEOLOGY OF READING. 
 
 sheet of gravel running from the edge of the district to the junc- 
 tion of the Blackwater and Loddon at Swallowfield, and only 
 broken by the alluvium of the Whitewater. 
 
 The surface of the ground rises from the river southwards, and 
 the highest part of the Valley Gravel forms a terrace some 40 to 
 50 feet above the level of the Alluvium, and running from 
 Glaston Hill House to Wixenford and across Kiseley Common. 
 
 A section in the road by the schools near Glaston Hill House 
 showed 4 feet of this gravel, with rough stratification and re- 
 sembling in composition that of Lea Farm on the other side of 
 the river. 
 
 Below the junction of the rivers Blackwater and Loddon there 
 is a large sheet of gravel running from near Swallowfield to 
 Schoolgreen, Shinfield. 
 
 Near the river the gravel is at the same level as the alluvium, 
 but it rises gradually, and the highest parts of the sheet are 
 about 20 feet above that level. 
 
 There was a section in a large pit a furlong south "of Sussex 
 Lodge, Swallowfield. It showed 12 feet of gravel stratified with 
 seams of sand and with ferruginous staining here and there. It 
 consists of subangular flints and flint pebbles, with occasional 
 Lower Greensand fragments. The stones are mostly small, 
 seldom as much as 5 inches in diameter. There was water at the 
 bottom of the pit. 
 
 At the large gravel-pit to the north of Schoolgreen, Shin- 
 field, and a quarter of a mile south-east of the church, the 
 following section was exposed in 1887 : — 
 
 Feet. 
 1 to ] 
 Fine well-stratified gravel 9 
 
 Soil - - 1 to 11 
 
 The gravel was of a light-brown colour, but ferruginous 
 in places, and here and there stained black with manganese. 
 Occasional lenticular bands and seams of brown sand and loam 
 also occurred, one measuring 6 inches in thickness. There were 
 not many stones larger than 4 inches in size, and a very few 
 measuring as much as that. 
 
 In places the gravel is cemented into a hard ferruginous con- 
 glomerate. It is composed of brown subangular flints mostly 
 broken into fragments. There are some flint pebbles but no 
 large proportion. Lower Greensand fragments are common, 
 many pieces being over 2 inches in length. 
 
 In another patch of Valley Gravel a little north of Shinfield 
 Grange there was a pit 5 feet deep in a similar deposit. A 
 band of ferruginous conglomerate about 9 inches thick ran 
 for some distance about a foot below the surface of the ground. 
 
 On the opposite side of the river Loddon there is a well 
 marked terrace running from Arborfield to near King Street, and 
 on it are several patches of Valley Gravel. 
 
 At Arborfield a patch of this gravel lies about 20 feet above 
 the river. It is worked to a depth of 9 feet on the north of 
 the lane which runs across the patch. 
 
VALLEY GRAVEL AND LOAM. . 81 
 
 Arborfield Hall stands on another patch, and there is a pit 
 showing 6 feet of gravel to the north of the Hall. 
 
 The next patch of gravel to the north rises 30 feet above the 
 river. 
 
 There was a pit in the gravel of the patch at Carter's Hill, and 
 several workings in the fields near Sindlesham. 
 
 All these sections show a gravel, more or less well stratified, 
 consisting of subangular flints, flint pebbles and Lower Green- 
 sand fragments. Almost all the stones are much broken and 
 water- worn ; even the flint pebbles have often been broken and 
 subsequently rolled. 
 
 From near King Street to near Twyford there is a fairly exten- 
 sive sheet of Valley Gravel on the right side of the river and 
 some small patches on the opposite side. 
 
 There were pits near Arbor Cottage, at Merryhill Green, and at 
 Hurst Grove. In all the gravel was stratified and consisted 
 of subangular flints, of flint pebbles, and of Lower Green- 
 sand fragments. No quartz or quartzite pebbles could be found. 
 
 Loam. 
 
 Several patches of Loam have been mapped in the Valley of 
 the Thames between Pangbourne and Wargrave. 
 
 Along the southern bank of the River Thames between 
 Norcot Scours and the Fisheries at St. Mary's Island, south 
 of Chazey Farm, from 2 to 5 feet in thickness of brown loam 
 was exposed in section over gravel. 
 
 Loam of a similar thickness, and also over gravel, is exposed 
 along the southern bank of the Thames opposite Caversham 
 Mill at Lower Caversham. 
 
 A large irregular-shaped mass of brownish and yellowish 
 loam occurs in the valley north of the village of Sonning, at 
 a slight elevation above the surrounding alluvium or meadow 
 land. Along the banks of the stream, three-quarters of a mile 
 north-north-west of Sonning Bridge, it was shown to be 5 feet 
 or more in thickness. 
 
 Loam 4 feet in thickness is exposed along the northern bank 
 of the Thames at the bend in the river westward of Holme 
 Park. 
 
 A good section, showing from 4 to 5 feet 8 inches in thickness, 
 of loam overlying subangular flint gravel, is exposed along the 
 northern bank of the River Thames extending from near the 
 French Horn Inn to a short distance beyond the timber tow- 
 path bridge at Sonning. 
 
 About five-eighths of a mile north- north-east of the tow-path 
 bridge above mentioned, a section along the northern side 
 of the river — opposite Sonning Meadow — shows 6 feet in thick- 
 ness of brown loam. 
 
 There are two patches of loam in the low-lying ground 
 south of Sulham between the rivers Pang and Kennet. There 
 are also some patches in the Valley of the Loddon, between 
 Loddon Bridge and Shinfield. 
 
82 GEOLOGY 01' READING. 
 
 CHAPTER XI.— RECENT. 
 
 Mr. Whitaker has remarked that " The alluvium, or modern 
 river deposit, of the Thames, consists mostly of silt. That 
 of the Kennet is more peaty : that of the brook running through 
 Bucklebury and Bradfield consists, to the east of the latter place, 
 of peat and peaty clay above silt ; and along one of the small 
 watercourses running through this alluvium ,the bottom is 
 covered with spherical calcareous concretions, from half-an- 
 inch to an inch in diameter."* 
 
 On the southern bank of the river Thames opposite Maple- 
 durham, just south of the lock, a section extending to about 
 300 yards showed from 5 to 7 feet in thickness of brown loam. 
 
 On the same side, but north-westward of the lock, a section 
 extending for a considerable distance showed a thickness of 
 5 feet of brown loam. 
 
 The following notes oh the Alluvium, Peat and Marl or Tufa 
 of the Kennet and Enborne Valleys are by Mr. Bennett. 
 
 Peat was once extensively worked round Midgham, so much 
 so that very little, if any, of the thick beds can be left now. The 
 peat in the Kennet Valley was dug and burnt, the ashes being 
 used as manure, and this practice was carried on for over 150 
 years and only ceased about the middle of last century, so that 
 we can only wonder if any should be left. The present osier 
 beds mark the places where the peat was dug. Associated with 
 the peat is a deposit of shelly marl, and this may be seen at 
 Chamberhouse Farm and a little east of that place. South-east 
 of Bank Farm a section where the peat was still dug for burning 
 into ashes for manure was open in 1887 ; the section showed 
 about 8 feet of peat and one part of the section also showed 
 about an equal thickness of the shell marl, interbedded with 
 the peat. 
 
 The marl forms a feature, rising above the peat as a rule and 
 sometimes forming mounds in it. 
 
 South of Banks Farm a fair sized patch of the marl has been 
 mapped, and in this part of the sheet it seemed to be confined to 
 a spot east and west of the farm. A polished flint implement was 
 found in the peat there. 
 
 In the valley of the Enborne, during the making of a bridge 
 near Hyde End bones of ox, horse, and roe deer were found. 
 They are now in the Blackmore Museum, Salisbury. — F. J. B. 
 
 Along the southern side of the Kennet, on the eastward side of 
 the Reading and Basingstoke Railway, a section — just south of 
 the seven weirs — showed 4 feet in thickness of brown loam 
 overlying gravel, which latter was exposed to 4 feet. 
 
 At Plummery Ditch, Reading, bones of mammalia have been 
 dug out. " Some of these occurred in a peaty deposit, along 
 
 * " The Geology of Parts of Oxon. and Berks.," Mem. Geol. Sur., Sheet 13, 
 1861, p. 57. 
 
RECENT. 83 
 
 with fresh -water shells, below the river sands, and above a bed 
 of gravel. Some came from the lowest gravel." * 
 
 The following quotation relating to Reading is of interest: the 
 first sentence probably refers to Valley Gravel : — 
 
 " In the gravel, bones of ox, horse, and elephant have been 
 sparingly met with, whilst in one pit upon the Redlands estate 
 the trunk of a pine tree was found. . . . During excavations 
 made in 1872, 1873, and 1874, in connection with the town 
 drainage, and again recently by the Gas Company, immense 
 quantities of bones have been taken from the bed of the Kennet, 
 and from the silt and shell-marl underlying the peat in the 
 meadow adjoining the river. Many tons of bones of various 
 ages . . . have been upturned — some few are human ; others 
 belong to the horse, hog, wild boar [ ? same] beaver, wolf, dog, 
 fox, red and fallow deer, Bos primigenius, Bos longifrons, and 
 Bos taurus [ ? same] and goat. These are associated with pottery 
 of recent, and of Roman, Saxon, British and mediaeval date, 
 numerous implements worked of bone, such as awls, shuttles, 
 winders, and salmon gaffs, also a yoke made of the antler of the 
 stag, and some twenty or more species of fresh water shells, all 
 of existing species."f 
 
 Many animal and plant remains, and some other objects of 
 geological interest, have been obtained from excavations on the 
 site of the Roman city at Silchester. J 
 
 Sarsen Stones. 
 
 Sarsen stones or Greywethers which have been derived from 
 Eocene strata, are not uncommon in the Chalk district and their 
 occurrence in many of the gravels has been already noted. They 
 are found all over the country in use as corner-posts, and blocks 
 of sarsen stone may be seen in many buildings. 
 
 Sarsen stones are believed to have been used by the Romans 
 as mile stones between Streatley and Aldworth. § 
 
 The Nymph, or Imp, stone on Silchester Common is a small 
 block of Greywether sandstone about a foot square.|| 
 
 During the construction of the roads at 'Earley Rise in 
 1887, a Sarsen stone was found about 2 feet beneath the 
 surface, on the sloping ground at a spot about 8 chains south of 
 the railway and 28 chains N.W. of the church. The stone was a 
 whitish saccharoid sandstone of a triangular shape and measured 
 2 ft. 10 in. x 1 ft. 10 in. X 1 ft. 6 in. It presented a waterworn 
 appearance, the edges being all much rounded, and rested on 
 London Clay. 
 
 * Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. iv., No. 8, p. 523 (1876). 
 
 t H. M. Wallis (of Eeading), 1881, Proc. Holmesdale Nat. Hist. Club for 
 1879 and 1880, p. 56. 
 
 t See Archceologia, vols, lii.-lviii., 1890-1902. 
 
 § T. Rupert Jonas. History of Sarsens. Geol. Mag., Dec. 4, vol. viii. (1901). 
 p. 117. 
 
 || Prestwich. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. x. (1854) p. 124, note. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 List of Principal Works on the Geology of the District. 
 
 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PU ISLICATIONS. 
 
 J. — Maps. 
 Sheet 7. By W. Whitaker, T. R. Polwhele, and others. 1861. Drift 
 
 Edition. By W. Whitaker and C. E. Hawkins. 1872. 
 Sheet 8. By T. E. Polwhele, and others. 1862. Drift Edition. By 
 
 W. Whitaker, F. J. Bennett, and C. E. Hawkins. 1887. 
 Sheet 12. By W. T. Aveline, H. W. Beistow, and K. Trench. 1860. 
 Sheet 13. By W. T. Aveline, W. Whitaker, and others. J 860. 
 Sheet 268. New Series. By F. J. Bennett and J. H. Blake. Editions 
 
 with and without Drift. 1898. 
 
 2. — Memoirs. 
 The Geology of parts of Berkshire and Hampshire (Sheet ] 2). By H. W. 
 
 Bristow and W. Whitaker. 1862. 
 The Geology of parts of Middlesex Berkshire, <fec. By W. Whitaker. 
 
 1864. 
 The Geology of the London Basin. By W. Whitaker. Mem. Geol. Survey, 
 
 vol. iv. 1872. 
 The Geology of London. By W. Whitaker. 2 vols. 1889. 
 The Water Supply of Berkshire. By J. H. Blake, with contributions by 
 
 W. Whitaker. 1902. 
 
 OTHER WORKS. 
 
 1700. Brewer, Dr. J. Part of two letters concerning beds of Oyster- 
 shells near Reading. 
 
 Phil. Trans., vol. xxii., No. 261, p. 284. 
 
 1813. Lysons, Rev. D. and S. Magna Britannia, vol. i., part 2. Berkshire 
 
 (with a Geological description by Dr. Beke, and Note of 
 
 Fossils, &c, pp. 187-193). 4to, Lond. 
 
 Plenderleath, Dr. D. On the teeth of Fishes and Shells found in 
 
 the vicinity of Reading. Phil. Mag., vol. xli., p. 44. 
 
 1817. Buckland, Rev. Prof. W. Description of a series of Specimens from 
 
 the Plastic Clay near Reading, Berks, &c. 
 
 Trans. Geol. Soc, vol. iv., p. 277. 
 
 1819. Smith, W. Geological Map of Berkshire. 
 
 1820. Smith, W. Geological Map of Oxfordshire. 
 1837. Anon. Fossil Remains [Elephant near Reading]. 
 
 Mining Review, No. 9, p. 163. 
 Roee, J. Geological Structure of the Neighbourhood of Reading. 
 
 Trans. Geol. Soc, Series 2, vol. v., p. 127. 
 1847. Prestwich, J. On the probable age of the London Clay. 
 
 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. iii., pp. 354. 
 On the main points of Structure and the probable 
 Age of The Bagshot Sands. 
 T „,, „ Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. iii., p. 378. 
 1850. Prestwich, J. The Basement Bed of the London Clay. 
 
 t mi -nr , #««»'*• Journ. Geol. Soc, vol vi., p. 252. 
 1854. Prestwich, J. The Woolwich and Reading Series. 
 
 /-n , ™ . Q uart - Jovrn. Geol. Soc, vol. x., p. 75. 
 
 On the Thickness of the London Clay, etc. 
 
 _ T _. , . Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. x., p. 401. 
 
 1857. Prestwich, J. Correlation of Eocene of England, France, and 
 
 Belgium. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xiii., p. 89 
 
 1861. Whitaker, W. On a Reconstructed Bed on the top of the Chalk 
 
 and underlying the Woolwich and Reading Beds. 
 
 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xvii., p. 527. 
 
APPENDIX. 85 
 
 1862. Whitaker, W. On the Western End of the London Basin. 
 
 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xviii., p. 258. 
 1871. Phillips, Prof. . I. Geology of Oxford and the Valley of the Thames. 
 
 8vo. Oxford. 
 1873. Jones, Prof. T. E. The Geology of the Kennet Valley. 
 
 Trans. Newbury Field Club, 1870-71, p. 21. 
 
 1875. Jones, T. Eupert and C. Cooper-King. On some newly exposed 
 
 sections of the Woolwich and Beading Beds at Beading, 
 Berks. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xxxi., p. 451. 
 
 1876. Hudleston, W. H. Excursion to Beading. 
 
 Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. iv., p. 519. 
 1879. Gardner, J. Starkie. The extent of the gap between the Chalk 
 and Eocene in England. 
 
 Pop. Science Rev., N.S., vol. iii., p. 55. 
 
 BritisTi Eocenes and their Deposition. 
 
 Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. vi., p. 83. 
 Jones, T. Eupert and [B. B. Woodward]. Excursion to Newbury. 
 
 Proc Geol. Assoc, vol. vi., p. 185. 
 
 1881. Stevens, J. Bemains found at the Beading Gas Works. 
 
 Journ. British Arch. Assoc, vol. xxxvii., p. 264. 
 Herries, W. H. On the Bagshot Beds. 
 
 Geol. Mag. N.S., Dec. II., vol. viii., p. 171. 
 
 1882. Gardner, J. S. On a Bevision of the British Eocenes. 
 
 Geol. Mag., Dec, II., vol ix., p. 466 
 
 1883. Irving, A. On the Bagshot Sands as a Source of Water Supply. 
 
 Geol. Mag., Dec. II., vol. x., p. 404. 
 Monckton, H. W. The Bagshot Beds of the London Basin. 
 
 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xxxix., p. 348. 
 Whitaker, W. List of Works on the Geology and Palaeontology of 
 Oxfordshire, of Berkshire, and of Buckinghamshire. 
 
 Report Brit. Assoc for 1882, p. 327. 
 
 1884. Shrubsole, O. A. On certain less familiar forms of Palaeolithic 
 
 Flint Implements from the Gravel at Beading. 
 
 Journ. Anthrop. Inst., vol. xiv., p. 192, Plate xi. 
 
 1885. Irving, A. Water Supply from the Bagshot and other Strata 
 
 (No. 2). Geol. Mag., Dec. III., vol. ii., p. 17. 
 
 Irving, A. Bagshot Strata from Aldershot to Wokingham. 
 
 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xli., p. 492. 
 Blake, J. H. and Joseph Stevens. Excursion to Beading 
 
 Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. ix., p. 209. 
 
 1886. Irving, A. The Unconformity between the Bagshot Beds and the 
 
 London Clay. Geol. Mag., Dec. III., vol. iii., p. 402. 
 
 Monckton, H. W. and B. S. Herries. The Bagshot Beds of the 
 
 London Basin-. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xlii., p. 402. 
 
 1887. Harris, G. F. A Bevision of our Lower Eoeenes. 
 
 Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. x., p. 40. 
 Irving, A. A.n Outlier of Upper Bagshot Sands on London Clay. 
 
 Geol. Mag., Dec. III., vol. iv., p. 111. 
 
 The Physical History of the Bagshot Beds of the 
 
 London Basin. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, xliii., p. 374. 
 
 1888. Blake, J. H. Excursion to Beading. 
 
 Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. x., p. 493. 
 Gardner, J. S., H. Keeping and H. W. Monckton. The tipper 
 Eocene comprising the Barton and Upper Bagshot 
 Formations. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xliv., 578 
 
 Irving, A. Supplementary Notes on the Stratigraphy of the Bag- 
 shot Beds of the London Basin. 
 
 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xlivy p. 164. 
 Prestwich, J. Correlation of the Eocene Strata in England, 
 Belgium, and France. 
 
 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xliv., p. 88. 
 
 6150. 6 
 
86 APPENDIX. 
 
 1889. Lyons, H. G. Notes on the Bagshot Beds and their Stratigraphy. 
 
 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xlv., p. 633. 
 
 Monckton, H. W. and B. S. Heeeies. On some Bagshot Pebble 
 
 Beds and Pebble Gravel. Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xi., p. 13. 
 
 1890. Ieving, A. Excursion to Wokingham and Wellington College. 
 
 Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xi., p. clvi. 
 Peestwich, J. On the relation of the Westleton Beds, etc. Three 
 Parts. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xlvi., pp. 84, 120 
 and 155. 
 Shrubsole, O. A. Valley Gravels about Beading. 
 
 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xlvi., p. 582. 
 
 1891. Ieving, A. Becent contributions to the Stratigraphy of the later 
 
 Eocenes of the London Basin. Wellington College. 
 
 Irving, A. Physical Studies of an Ancient Estuary. 
 
 Geol. Mag., Dec. III., vol. viii., p. 357. 
 Monckton, H. W. and B. S. Herries. On some Hill Gravels 
 
 north of the Thames. Proc Geol. Assoc, vol. xii., p. 108. 
 
 1892. Ieving, A. Bagshot Beds of Bagshot Heath. (A Rejoinder). 
 
 Privately Printed. 
 Monckton, H. W- On the Gravels south of the Thames from 
 Guildford to Newbury. 
 
 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xlviii., p. 29. 
 
 The Bagshot Beds of Bagshot Heath. 
 
 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xlviii., p. 48. 
 White, H. J. O. Westleton Beds near Henley. 
 
 ' Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xii., p. 379. 
 
 1893. Monckton, H. W. On the occurrence of Boulders and Pebbles 
 
 from the Glacial Drift in Gravels south of the Thames. 
 
 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xlix., p. 308. 
 
 1895. White, H. J. O. Westleton and Glacial Gravels in Oxon and 
 
 Berks. Proc Geol. Assoc, vol. xiv., p. 11. 
 
 1896. Blake, J. H. and H. W. Monckton. Excursion to Reading. 
 
 Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xiv., p. 411. 
 Salter, A. E. Pebbly Gravel— Goring Gap to Norfolk Coast. 
 
 Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xiv., p. 389. 
 
 1897. White, H. J. O. Origin of High-level Gravel with Triassic Debris 
 
 adjoining the valley of the Upper Thames. 
 
 Proc Geol. Assoc, vol. xv., p. 157. 
 
 1898. Blake, J. H. Excursion to Heading. 
 
 Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xv., p. 304. 
 Salter, A. E. Pebbly and other Gravels in Southern England. 
 
 Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xv., p. 264. 
 Sheubsole, O. A. High-level Gravels in Berks and Oxon. 
 
 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. liv., p. 585. 
 
 1899. Monckton, H. W. Cycling Excursion from Winchfield to Woking- 
 
 ham. Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xvi., p. 153. 
 
 1900. Blake, J. H. Excursion to Silchester. 
 
 Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xvi., p. 513. 
 
 1901. Monckton, H. W. Origin of the Gravel-Flats of Surrey and Berk- 
 
 shire. Geol. Mag;, Dec. IV., vol. viii., p. 510. 
 
 Teeachee. Ll. and H. J. O. White. Excursion to Twyford and 
 
 the Wargrave Outlier. Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xvii., p. 176. 
 
 1902. Jones, T. Rupert. Report. 32nd Annual Report of the Weling- 
 
 ton College Natural Science Society for 1901, p. 58. The 
 Report is accompanied by a plate entitled "Flint Im- 
 plements (Eolithic) found on Finchampstead Ridges." 
 Shrubsolk, O. A. and W. Whitakee. Excursion to Reading. 
 
 Proc Geol. Assoc, vol. xvii., p. 381. 
 White, H. J. O. On a peculiarity in the course of certain streams 
 in the London and Hampshire Basins. 
 
 Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xvii., p. 399. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abbot's Wood, 64. 
 
 Abingdon, 63. 
 
 Acer, 41. 
 
 Aldermaston, 5, 78. 
 
 Aldworth, 13, 14, 18, 60, 61, 83. 
 
 Alexandra Road, 77. 
 
 All Saints Church, 74. 
 
 Alluvium, 78, 82. 
 
 Ambarrow, 59. 
 
 Amner's Farm, 79. 
 
 Anemia subcretacea, Sap., 41. 
 
 Applepie Hill, 14. 
 
 Aralia, 41. 
 
 Arbor Cottage, 81. 
 
 Arborfield, 80. 
 
 Cross, 56, 74. 
 
 Hall, 81. 
 
 Ashampstead, 19, 60, 61. 
 Ashford Hill, 54. 
 Aspleniwni, 40. 
 Assize Courts, 76. 
 Aveline, W. T., 32. 
 Axe and Compass, 68. 
 
 Bagshot Beds, 42, 44, 54, 71, 73, 74. 
 Bank Farm, 82. 
 Bannisters, 74. 
 Bardolph's Wood, 64. 
 Barkham, 53, 57. 
 
 Church, 57. 
 
 Common, 75. 
 
 Barracks, Beading, 30, 76. 
 
 Barrois, Prof. O, 11, 12. 
 
 Basement Bed, London Clay, 20, 21, 
 
 31, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46. 
 Basildon, 7, 9, 76. 
 Basingstoke, 33. 
 
 and Newbury Railway, 28, 70. 
 
 Bath Road, 30, 70. 
 Battle Farm, 76. 
 Bear Grove, 44. 
 Bearwood, 6, 40, 57, 75. 
 Beenham, 78. 
 
 Kiln, 68. 
 
 Bennett, F. J., 13, 18, 20, 21, 32, 43, 
 
 53, 60, 67, 68, 71, 78, 82. 
 Bennett's Hill Copse, 45. 
 Bere Park Farm, 67. 
 -Binfield Heath, 17, 66. 
 
 Brickyard, 17. 
 
 Birchland Wood, 19. 
 Blackmore Museum, 82. 
 Blacknest Farm, 54, 71. 
 Blackwater R., 6, 54, 57, 64, 79, 80. 
 Blade Bone Public House, 54. 
 Blagrave Street, 76. 
 
 Blagrave's Farm, 65. 
 Blenheim Barn, 67. 
 Bob's Mount, Reading, 46, 47, 72. 
 Bonney, Prof. T. G., 64, 66. 
 Borson, 71. 
 
 Bottom-house Farm, 19. 
 Boulder Clay, 63. 
 Bourne, 33. 
 Bower Farm, 18. 
 Bowsey Hill, 22, 44, 61. 
 Bracklesham Beds, 58, 59. 
 Bradfield, 5, 19, 20, 32, 33, 68. 82. 
 
 Church, 68. 
 
 Common, 56. 
 
 Brewer, Dr. James, 36. 
 
 W. H., 14. 
 
 Brickleton Farm, 55, 71. 
 Brimpton, 53, 54. 
 
 Church, 71. 
 
 Common, 71. 
 
 Broca Lane Farm, 55. 
 
 Buckland, Dr. W., 13, 28, 37, 38, 63. 
 
 Bucklebury, 21, 32, 53, 78, 82. 
 
 Common, 68, 70. 
 
 Burghfield, 5, 33, 44, 45, 53, 79. 
 
 Church, 45. 
 
 Common, 5, 71. 
 
 Hill, 42. 
 
 Burnt Hill, 20, 43, 67, 68. 
 
 Common, 19, 68. 
 
 BushnelFs Green, 32. 
 Buttonshaw Farm, 60. 
 Kiln, 60. 
 
 Calcot Kiln, 24. 
 
 Park, 24 r 25. 
 
 California, 59. 
 Calthorp Cottage, 78. 
 
 Mill, 78. 
 
 Cane End, 64, 65. 
 Carter's Hill, 81. 
 Castle Hill, 28, 35. 
 
 Kiln, 27, 30. 
 
 Ward, 23. 
 
 Catsgrove, see Katesgrove. 
 Caversham, 5, 12, 64, 65, 66. 
 
 Grove, 16, 66. 
 
 Hill, 66. 
 
 Mill, 81. 
 
 Park 16. 
 
 Chalk, 14-21, 23-26, 28, 30, 32, 36, 
 38, 39, 61, 69, 72, 76-78,83. 
 
 Lower, 7. 
 
 Middle, 7, 8, 10. 
 
 Rock, 8-10, 13. 
 
 Upper, 7-9, 13. 
 
88 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Ghamberhouse Farm, 82. 
 Chamberlain's Farm, 44. 
 Chapel Hill, 69. 
 
 3low, 54. 
 
 Charvil Hill Pit, 73, 75. 
 Chazey Farm, 12, 81. 
 —Heath, 65. 
 
 Wood, 65. 
 
 CMltern Hills, 63. 
 Cholmeley Eoad, 77. 
 Christ Church, 72. 
 Church Ward, 76. 
 Clack's Copse, 20. 
 Clay-galls, 26, 28. 
 Claypits Wood, 15. 
 Clay with Flints, 60, 61 
 Cleeve, 8. 
 Clover Lane, 38. 
 Cold Harbour, 61. 
 
 Farm, 16. 
 
 Coldnorton Shaw, 65. 
 Coles Farm, 78. 
 ColeyHill,25. 
 
 Kiln, 27. 
 
 Collier's Brick and Tile Works, 31. 
 Common Wood, 18, 61. 
 Comp Farm, 17. 
 Condamine, H. M. de la, 24. 
 Cotswolds, 63. 
 Counter Hill, 24. 
 Cray's Pond, 15, 16, 61. 
 Crescent Eoad, 49. 
 Crookham, 53. 
 
 Common, 54, 71. 
 
 Crosslane Farm, 72. 
 Crown Inn, 32, 55. 
 
 Dark Lane Copse, 67. 
 
 David's Hill, 28. 
 
 Dean Farm, 17. 
 
 Dods, 21. 
 
 Dowles Farm, 57. 
 
 Drift, 18, 20, 21, 33, 38, 42, 44, 46, 54, 
 
 57, 60, 61, 67. 
 Dunsden Green, 17. 
 
 Ealing Farm, 14. 
 Earley, 48, 72. 
 
 Court, 32. 
 
 Bise, 83. 
 
 Station, 73. 
 
 East Court, 58'. 
 
 Eastheath, 58. 
 
 Eckinocorys scutatus, Leske, 13. 
 
 Elm Lodge, 70, 76. 
 
 Elms, The, 66. 
 
 Emmer Green, 16, 43, 66. 
 
 Enborne, 5, 78, 82. 
 
 Englefield, 32. 
 
 Common Wood, 33. 
 
 House, 68. 
 
 Eocene Beds, 15, 61, 63, 64, 77. 
 Eolithic Implements, 74. 
 Etheridge, E,, 7. 
 
 Eversley, 5, 57, 74. 
 Cross, 57. 
 
 Farley Castle, 55, 74. 
 
 Hill, 55, 56. 
 
 Farthingworthgreen, 65. 
 
 Faults, 11, 14, 16, 17. 
 
 Field Farm, 21, 43, 79. 
 
 Finchampstead, 58, 75. 
 
 Church, 58, 59. 
 
 Bidges, 59, 74. 
 
 Firs, The, 18. 
 
 Fleet Hill Copse, 57, 74. 
 
 Farm, 57. 
 
 Flett, Dr. J. S., 74 
 
 Flints, 11, 12, 26, 62. 
 
 Flint Implements, 65, 68, 70, 73. 74. 
 
 Flint, tabular, 9. 
 
 Forbury, 76. 
 
 Formations, List of, 6. 
 
 Fossils in Chalk, 7-13 ; in London 
 Clay, 42, 44-50 ; in Eeading Beds, 
 20, 24, 27, 28, 31, 33, 35-37, 40, 41 : 
 in Upper Bagshot Beds, 59 ; in 
 Valley Gravel, 76, 77. 
 
 Foundry Brook, 5, 33. 
 
 FoxandHounds PublicHouse, 54^55. 
 
 Franklin's Copse, 21. 
 
 French Horn Inn, 81. 
 
 Frilsham, 20, 43, 67, 78. 
 
 Common, 68. 
 
 House, 20, 21. 
 
 Fuller's Earth, 37. 
 
 Gallowstree Common, 64, 65. 
 Gardner, J. Starkie, 41. 
 Gatehampton Farm, 8, 64. 
 Gibbs, E., 46. 
 Gibstrude Farm, 22, 44. 
 Glaston Hill House, 57, 80. 
 Goring, 5, 7, 8, 10, 60, 64, 76. 
 
 Heath, 64. 
 
 Station, 8. 
 
 Gravel, 73. 
 
 HU1, 65. 
 
 Gravelpit Copse, 20. 
 Gravel Pit Farm 78. 
 Grazeley, 79. 
 
 Court, 79. 
 
 Great Park Farm, 72. 
 
 Western Eailway, 13, 28, 39, 73. 
 
 Green Hill, 8. 
 Greenmore Hill, 15, 61. 
 Greywethers, 83. 
 Grovelands, 70. 
 Pit, 70. 
 
 Haines Hill, 49. 
 Hall Place Farm, 54. 
 Halls Farm, 59. 
 Hampstead Norris, 5, 60. 
 -Station, 14. 
 
 Hanger Copse, 20. 
 Hartridge Farm, 14, 19. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 89 
 
 Harts Hill, 53, 68. 
 Hartshill, Nuneaton, 63. 
 Hartlock Wood, 9. 
 Hawkins, C. E., 24. 
 Hawkridge, 21. 
 
 Farm, 21. 
 
 Heatli Wood, 19. 
 
 Heckfield, 55. 
 
 — -Heath, 73. 
 
 Herries, R. S., 27. 
 
 Hewin's Wood, 19. 
 
 Higgs, John, 15. 
 
 Highfield House, 22. 
 
 High Wood, 17. 
 
 Hill, W., 11, 12. 
 
 Hill's Pit, 70. 
 
 Hill Street, Reading, 46 47. - 
 
 Hippopotamus, 76. 
 
 Hockley Wood, 1 9. 
 
 Hodmoor Farm, 16. 
 
 Holaster planus, zone of, 9, 10. 
 
 Holme Park, 32, 81. 
 
 Farm, 39. 
 
 Holy Trinity Church, 78, 79. 
 Hooker, Sir J. D., 40. 
 Horncastle, 25. 
 Hosehill Farm, 44. 
 Hudleston, W. H, 27, 35. 
 Hughes, Prof. T. Mc.K., 46. 
 Hungry Hill, 55. 
 Huntsmoor Hill, 54. 
 Hurst, 6. 
 
 Green, 49, 50. • 
 
 Grove, 81. 
 
 Hyde End, 82. 
 
 Implements, Flint, 65, 68, 70, 73, 
 74. 
 
 Quartzite, 65. 
 Stone, 83. 
 Independent Chapel, 66, 67. 
 
 d, .-" 
 
 Im 
 
 Inhurst Brickyard, 54. 
 
 House, 71. 
 
 Ironstone, 43. 
 
 Irving, Rev. Dr. A., 57, 59. 
 
 Jennet Hill, 32. 
 
 Jesse's Pit, 30. 
 
 Jones, Prof. T. Rupert, 26, 74, 83. 
 
 Jukes-Browne, A. J., 7-12, 76. 
 
 Katesgrove or Catsgrove, 13, 28, 33, 
 
 36, 37, 46. 
 
 Kennet, River, 5, 13, 28, 32, 33, 35, 
 
 37, 67, 68, 70, 76-79, 81-83. 
 Kidmore End, 64, 65. 
 
 Kiln Copse, 32. 
 
 Farm, 67. 
 
 King, Captain C. Cooper, 26. 
 Kingsclere Villas, 72. 
 King Street, 56, 80, 81. 
 King's Wood, 20. 
 Kitchin, Dr. F. L., 7. 
 Knight's Farm, 79. 
 Laurel (Laurus), 41. 
 
 Lea Farm, 79, 80. 
 
 Leaf Beds, 26, 28, 33, 40. 
 
 Lewi sham, 24. 
 
 Lickey Hills, 63. 
 
 Little Heath, 16. 
 
 Loam, 81. 
 
 Loddon, River, 5, 6, 32, 64, 70, 72, 73, 
 
 75 79 80 81 
 London' Clay, 16, 19-23, 25, 31, 32, 
 
 38, 39, 42-50, 53, 56-58, 68, 72, 83. 
 
 Basement Bed, 47-49. 
 
 Road, 77. 
 
 Bridge, 73, 81. 
 
 Long Copse, 18. 
 
 Moor Lake, 57. 
 
 Lower Bagshot Beds, 53, 55-59, 70, 
 
 71, 73-75. 
 Lower Bowden Farm, 67. 
 
 Caversham, 81. 
 
 Chalk, 7. ' 
 
 Greensand fragments, 64, 66, 67, 
 
 70-75, 77, 79-81. 
 Lucas's Hospital, 58. 
 Luckshall Farm Kiln, 20, 43. 
 Lye Wood, 19. 
 
 Mammalian remains, 76, 77, 82, 83. 
 Manstone Farm, 19. 
 Maple, 41. 
 
 Mapledurham, 5, 12, 16, 82. 
 Mapleton's Farm, 20. 
 Mare Ridge, 68. 
 Marion, A. F., 41. 
 Marl, 82. 
 
 Marlston House, 78. 
 Marsupites, zone of, 12. 
 Maslirfs Wood, 21. 
 Mays Green, 17. 
 Melbourn Rock, 7, 8. 
 Merryhill Green, 81. 
 Micraster coranguinum^, zone of, 9 
 11, 12. 
 
 cortestvdinarium, zone of, 9 11. 
 
 Middle Chalk, 7, 8, 10. 
 Midgham, 82. 
 
 Bridge, 78. 
 
 Green, 54. 
 
 Kiln, 53. 
 
 Midland Bunter Pebbles, 64. 
 Mock Beggars', 48 
 Mortimer, 5, 50, 54. 
 
 Common, 71, 72. 
 
 West End Kiln, 55. 
 
 Moulsford, 8. 
 
 Newbury, 30. 
 
 New Red Conglomerate Pebbles, 6?. 
 
 Newdams, 23. 
 
 Newton, E. T., 31, 40. 
 
 Newtown, 67, 71. 
 
 Nine Mile Ride, 57. 
 
 Norcot Farm, 31. 
 
 Kiln, 31, 44, 69. 
 
 Scaurs, 81. 
 
90 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 North Court, 59. 
 Nutbean Farm, 56. 
 Nymph Stone, 83. 
 
 Oakfield, 40. 
 Oakhouse Wood, 18. 
 Oakley House, 16. 
 Oolite fossils, 77. 
 Ostrea bellovacina, 27. 
 Oyster Bed, 30, 31. 
 Oxford, 63. 
 
 Pack Horse Inn, 64. 
 Pack-saddle Inn, 16. 
 Padworth, 53-55. 
 
 Church, 71. 
 
 Pang, River, 5, 32, 68, 78, 81. 
 Pangbourne, 5, 7, 10, 11, 67, 76, 81. 
 Park Farm, 67. 
 
 Place, 12. 
 
 Peat 82 
 
 Pebble Gravel, 60, 61. 
 
 Phillips, Prof. John, 63. 
 
 Pibworth Farm, 14, 18. 
 
 Plateau Gravel, 25, 31, 53, 63, 66-70, 
 
 72-74, 77. 
 
 —North of the Thames, 64. 
 
 Plot, Eobert, 37. 
 
 Plough Inn, 66. 
 
 Plummery Ditch, 82. 
 
 Pollard, Dr. W., 36. 
 
 Portland Place, 77. 
 
 Pottery, Ancient, 83. 
 
 Poulton, E. B., 77. 
 
 Poulton and Sons, Messrs., 33, 41. 
 
 Prestwich, Sir J., 19, 23, 28-30, 39, 
 
 40, 46, 61,62,83. 
 Prospect Hill Park, 31, 44. 
 Purley, 68. 
 Hall, 69. 
 
 Ramsdell Clay, 55. 
 
 Reading, 13, 15, 23-25, 28-30, 32, 33, 
 
 36-38, 41, 46-48, 68, 70, 72, 73, 76, 82, 
 
 83. 
 
 -and Basingstoke Railway, 82. 
 
 Barracks, 69, 70. 
 
 -Beds, 13, 15-43, 46, 49, 60, 61, 
 
 66-70, 73, 76 ; Analysis of, 36. 
 
 Leaf Bed, 40. 
 
 Observer Office, 76. 
 
 Road, 18. 
 
 School, 77. 
 
 Twyford Road, 73. 
 
 Red Hill, 19. 
 Redlands, House, 48, 83. 
 
 Road, Reading, 47, 
 
 Reeks, T., 36. 
 Rhodes, J., 11, 40. 
 Rhynchonella Owieri, d'Orb, 7. 
 
 zone of, 7, 8.' 
 
 plicatilis, var. octoplicata 13. 
 
 Ridge Farm, 59. 
 
 Riseley Common, 80. 
 
 Rivers, 5, 6. . 
 
 Rofe, John, 37, 38. 
 
 Roman Town, Silchester, 55, 71. 
 
 Rose Hill, 16, 17, 64. 
 
 Kiln, 33, 66. 
 
 Rowland Castle, 24. 
 Royal Albert Hotel, 76. 
 Rudler, F. W., 36. 
 Ruscombe, 21, 32, 40, 75. 
 Rusdens, 21, 43. 
 Rushall's Farm, 20. 
 
 St. Andrew's Church, 77. 
 St. Mary's Church, 72, 79. 
 
 College, Woolhampton, 54. 
 
 Island Fisheries, 81. 
 
 St. Michael's Church, .38, 69. 
 
 St. Paul's Church, 56. 
 
 St. Peter's Church, Caversham, 65, 
 
 66. 
 
 Earley, 48. 
 
 Hill, 65. 
 
 St. Saviour's, 28. 
 
 Salisbury, 82. 
 
 Salix, 41. 
 
 Sandpit Lane, 17, 55. 
 
 Saporta, Comte de, 40. 
 
 Sarsen Stones, 64, 68, 69, 74, 78, 83. 
 
 Schoolgreen, Shinfield, 80. 
 
 Searl's Farm, 79. 
 
 Septaria, 43. 
 
 Sharman, G., 31,' 40. 
 
 Shaw Kiln, 30. 
 
 Sheepgrove Farm, 55. 
 
 Sheffield Bottom, 32. 
 
 Shepperlands Farm, 57. 
 
 Shinfield, 72, 80, 81. 
 
 Grange, 80. 
 
 Shiplake, 5, 6, 11, 12, 60, 64, 66. 
 
 Church, 77. 
 
 Kiln, 18. 
 
 Row, 18, 66. 
 
 Station, 77. 
 
 Shrubshole, O. A., 41, r 65, 66, 70, 74, 
 
 75, 77. 
 Silchester, 5, 53, 54, 71-73, 79, 83. 
 
 Arms, 55. 
 
 Common, 55, 71, 83. 
 
 Plateau, 74. 
 
 Sims Farm, 55. 
 Sindlesham, 81. 
 
 Church, 58. 
 
 Slade Gate, 67. 
 Sloane, Dr., 36. 
 Sonning, 5, 32, 39, 46, 49, 73, 77, 81. 
 
 -Bridge, 81. 
 
 Church, 73. 
 
 Meadow, 81. 
 
 South, 68. 
 
 Southcot, 25. 
 
 South Eastern Railway, 59, 72, 77. 
 
 Southern Hill, 32, 33, 46, 72, 73. 
 
 South Western Railway, 56. 
 
 Spencerwood Common, 72. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 91 
 
 Springfield. House, 66. 
 Stanford, 32. 
 
 Dingley, 5, 13, 14, 20, 32. 
 
 Stanlake Park, 32. 
 Stapnall's Farms, 64. 
 Stokes, Mrs., 76. 
 Stratfieldj 5. 
 
 Mortimer, 5, 40, 72, 79. 
 
 Stratfieldsaye, 5, 79. 
 
 Park, 6. 
 
 Streatley, 5, 7, 8, 18, 61, 76, 83. 
 
 Farm, 8. 
 
 Stroud's Farm, 19, 20. 
 Stukeley, Dr. William, 37. 
 Sulham, 23, 81. 
 
 Church, 69. 
 
 Wood, 23. 
 
 Sulhampstead, 54. 
 
 Abbots, 45. 
 
 Park, 32. 
 
 Sussex Lodge, Swallowfield, 80. 
 Swallowfield, 5, 80. 
 
 Park, 6. 
 
 Swallow-holes, 16, 22, 32. 
 
 Tabular Flint, 9. 
 Tadley, 54. 
 
 Common, 71. 
 
 Kiln, 71. 
 
 Tagg Lane, 17, 22. 
 Tanner's Farm, 65. 
 Terebratulina gracilis, var. lata, 7. 
 
 zone of, 7, 8. 
 
 Tertiary Beds, 13, 14, 16, 60. 
 Thames Eiver, 5, 6, 9, 15, 37, 60, 63, 
 
 64, 66-68, 71-73, 75, 76, 79, 81, 82. 
 
 Valley, 7, 9-11, 63, 81. 
 
 Thatcham, 5. 
 
 Theale, 5, 24, 78. 
 
 , Station, 23. 
 
 Tidmarsh, 5, 67. 
 
 Tilehurst, 23, 25, 30, 44, 68, 69, 72. 
 
 Common, 69. 
 
 Keading Outlier, 23. 
 
 Tokers Green, 16. 
 
 Lane, 65. 
 
 Toot's Farm, 65. 
 
 Toutley Hall, 56. 
 
 Traveller's Inn, 71. 
 
 Treacher, LI., 13, 31, 40, 42, 49, 50, 
 
 65, 66, 73. 
 Trench, R, 57. 
 Triassic pebbles, 61, 64. 
 Tufa, 82. 
 
 Turret House, 70. 
 Twyford, 5, 32, 75, 77, 81. 
 
 London Road, 21. 
 
 ' Vicarage, 40. 
 
 Waterworks, 22. 
 
 Ufton Park Wood, 55. 
 Unitarian Chapel, 77. 
 Upper Bagshot Beds, 59, 74. 
 Upper Basildon, 19, 67. 
 
 Bowden Farm, 21, 67. 
 
 Chalk, 7-9, 13, 60. 
 
 Upper Woolhampton, 54. 
 
 Valley deposits, 32. 
 
 gravel, 76 81, 83; of Eivers 
 
 Kennet and Enborne, 78; of Bivers 
 Loddon and Blackwater, 79 ; of 
 Eiver Pang,78; of EiverThanies,76. 
 
 Viburnum, 41. 
 
 Wallis, H. M., 83. 
 
 Waltham, 13. 
 
 Wargrave, 5, 6, 12, 22, 44, 61, 77, 81. 
 
 Warren Lodge, 57. 
 
 Pit, 21. 
 
 Warwickshire, 63. 
 Wasing, 54. 
 
 Park, 78. 
 
 Eectory, 71. 
 
 Waterloo Bxickyard, 33, 36, 40. 
 
 Webb's Farm, 57. 
 
 Wellington College Station, 59. 
 
 Monument, 55. 
 
 Westwood Kiln, 31. 
 
 Wheeler's Green, 73. 
 
 Whistley Green, 32. 
 
 Whitaker, W., 7, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24-27, 
 
 30, 33, 36,37,39, 43-46,48,49, 60, 62, 
 
 82. 
 Whitchurch, 5, 10, 12, 15, 64, 76. 
 
 Gate, 64. 
 
 White Hill, 10. 
 
 White, H. J. Osborne, 6, 13,61-64, 75. 
 
 Joseph, 76. 
 
 Whitehouse Farm, 72. 
 Whiteknights, Lake, 48. 
 
 Park, 32. 
 
 Whitewater, 6, 80. 
 Whiteley, 5. 
 
 Hill, 32, 46. 
 
 Manor Farm, 32, 33. 
 
 Whittles Farm, 16. 
 
 Wick Hill, 58, 59. 
 
 Willow, 41. 
 
 Windsor Forest, 7. 
 
 Winkfield, 7. 
 
 Wixenford, 57. 
 
 Wokingham, 5, 6, 40, 42, 56-58, 75. 
 
 Eoad, Earley, 48. 
 
 Reading, 38. 
 
 Station, 50, 56. 
 
 Waterworks, 42. 
 
 Woodley Hill, Earley, 72. 
 Woodrow's Farm, 13, 18. 
 Woolhampton, 40, 42, 54. 
 Woolwich Green, 45. 
 
 Yattendon, 14, 19, 20, 43, 68. 
 
 Zone of Holaster planus, 9, 10. 
 
 Marsupites, 12. 
 
 Micraster coranguinum, 9, 11, 
 
 12. 
 
 — M. cortestudmarium, 9-11. 
 
 Rhynchonella Guvieri, 7, 8 
 
 Terebratulina, 7, 8. 
 
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