Kellys_Berks_Bucks&Oxon_1915_0811.jpg

d ir e c to r y

.]

OXFORDSHIRE.

15

for bricks. Gryphceadilatata is a characteristic fossil. and Emmir Green the vestiges of the Reading Beds 1the
E v e r y w h e r e tue Oxford Clay forms a cold s
tiffland,difficult lowest Eocene stratum which is known to 'the west of
tocultivateand usually in pasture,
London!
uar
and 111
in W
thIGe latter
1
,. co
. ver more than a sq
'lju
x ii,e “mi
' "le
t,
, .lllti
^Qf t|ie succeeding Eocene division called the
sal
een i
n the brickyard.^similar
Similar
-«*"
» S Æ , ? si ia
tso t
ro be
S sS
l^the'brickyard
„fl by quarrymen to any stone which is larg
ely com­
ffllin il
/an T
Mi
nl
llo
t .*i
found
on
Tunrv
le Common,’ aMaidengrove
posed of fossil shells, corals, &c., bound together by a outliers are
Nettlebed, Woodeot Common, &c. These are
calcareo-siliceousor other cement. We can tracesuch beds Common,
mostly sandy, but at Nettlebed there is about 40 feet of
from Sandford-on-the-Thames passing east of Cowley to g
reenish-white sandy clay, very valuable formaking drain­
Headington, Elsfield, Stanton St. John, and thence to pi
pes, &c.
Wheatley ;from this point the Corallian sands and lime­
stonedie out and appear to be replaced by beds of clay : P l e i s t o c e n e F o r m a t i o n — T h e D r i f t . — The south-west
[the“ Ampthill Clay”]. At Headington Hill, nearOxford, of Oxfordshire istolerably free from those irregularsurface
there are largequarries in this Coralline Oolite, and the masses of clay and sand, which interfere greatly in the
stone has been much used in that city; it is not very northern and eastern divisions with the work of the
durable, however, and requires to be laidexactly as inthe geologicalsurveyor. In gravel pitswe seethatthissurface
quarry, so that the bedding planes are not exposed; Wad- “ drift,” as itistermed, ismainlycomposedoffragments of
ham College is perhaps the best example of a building con­ Liassicand Oolitic rocks, broken up and mixed together,
structed of this stone. The lower division,or Calcareous probably by the action ofglaciersduring the lastcoldepoch
Grit, is about 70 feet thick, and the upper part, or Coral or Glacial Period. Through this glacial débris, which
Rag proper, about 50 feet; the latter is largelyformed of partly filled up the ancient valleys, the present rivers have
corals, the genera Thecosmilia and Isa sir ea being very often cut their way, and the present river gravels are
numerous.
usually composed ofre-assorted drift pebbles.
(5) Kimeridge Clay .— This isa very stiffunctuous shaly R e c e n t F o r m a t i o n . — Alluvial Deposits.— The rivers
clay,with occasional bands oflimestone nodules. It iswell have also deposited much mud, or alluvium, on eitherside
seenin the brick-pits near Headington, and itsthickness in oftheir banks, forming the rich green water-meadows of
Oxfordshireisabout 100 feet;itforms thevales of pasture theThames and theCherwell. These comparatively modern
land between Sandford, Toot Baldon, Cuddesdon, and riveraccumulations are from a mile to a mile and a half
Waterperry. Crystals ofselenite, called “fossil water" by broad in the neighbourhood ofOxford. The Windrush has
theworkmen, are offrequent occurrence. Ostrea deltoidea alsoformed similarbeds,averaging three-quarters ofa mile
isaverycommon fossil. At Cumnor Hurst, near Oxford, wide, from Witney toitsjunction with the Isis.
the bones of a large extinct species of reptile, called the
E c o n o m i c G e o l o g y . — Oxfordshire i
snot rich inminerals.
Iguanodon, were found in 1879 in a sandy layer near the
The iron ore (brown hæmatite) from the Middle Lias yields
topoftheKimeridge clay.
about 28 per cent, ofmetalliciron. The following figures
(6) Portland Stone and Sand.— The lower part of this are official, being extracted from Mines and Quarries (a
formation isformed ofbrownishsands whichcontain masses Government publication, issuedannually)forthe year 1909.
of grit of strange forms, such as those seen on the old
more especially in the caseof clay, gravel and sand—
London road in going from Oxford up Shotover Hill. itmust be remembered thatthey only ’include the produce
These Portland beds make no great show in Oxfordshire, ofpits, &c., which exceed 20 feet in depth) :—
althoughthey are from 50 to 90 feetthick, being frequently
concealed by the overlap of the Cretaceous series. The Chalk, 2,944 tons; value £ 1 2 1 .
Portland Stone is a white limestone, which is worked at Chertand Flint, 262 tons, value ¿24.
Garsington. At Hazeley the stone is about 8 feet thick.
Similarbeds occur at Cuddesden, Great, and Little Milton, Clay, 23,603 tons, value ¿1,849
andeastofThame.
Gravel and Sand, 3,823 tons, value ¿294.
(7) Purbeclc Beds, about 4 feet thick, occur above the
Limestone, 11,272 tons;value ¿1,340.
PortlandBeds atGarsington. and at Great Hazeley.
Sandstone, 1,690 tons;value ¿245.
T h e C r e t a c e o u s F o r m a t i o n . — The strata wffiose fossils
andgeneral relations show them to be more or less con­
Persons employed— (a) Underground or inside Quarries,
nectedwith our well-known rock— the Chalk (Latin, creta,
no; (b) Above-ground or outside Quarries, 14. Total,
chalk),arearranged intwo main divisions:
124.
I. T h e L o w e r C r e t a c e o u s F o r m a t i o n . — O f the Lower
For the 1913 statistics, see p. 2.
Greensand a considerable patch extends from Cuiham to
Burcott,and thence north to Nuneham Courtenay and east P r e h i s t o r i c M a n . — Implements fashioned out ofstone
toChiselhampton; it ishere covered by the overlap of the are ofnot infrequent occurrence in Oxfordshire ;they are
Gault, but reappears at Great Hazeleyand Albury. Out­
with inoldriver gravels and also inthe surface soil, or
lierscapShotover Hill. These Lower Greensanct beds are met
nancient interments orencampments. These stone tools
variegatedsandscontaining much siliceousiron ore towards i
c
l
e
a
r
l
belong to two main classes. Of the Palceolithic or
thetopand areabout 80 feetthick. Freshwater shells, as OlderyStone
Age, numerous examples have been met with
1mo and Palvdina,occur here.
atWolvercote, about i£ miles north of Oxford; at Oxford
tself ; near Caversham ; at Shiplake,and at Broadwell,
.
T h e U p p e r C r e t a c e o u s F o r m a t i o n , ( i ) — The Gault i
isapaleblue clayabout 200 feet thick. We can trace itas Bagley Wood and Marslon Ferry; these Palæolithic imple­
aleveltracton the leftbank ofthe Thames at Dorchester ments are usually from 4 inches to 9 inches in length, are
and Warborough, and past Studhampton, Chalgrove, fashioned outofflint,and are either pointed at one end, or
Kjcote, Tetsworth and Sydenham, the outcrop being from are ovate ;they occur in old gravel beds which mark the
course oftheriverThames at— itmay be— a period ofsome
a 04miles wide ;itisdug for brick and tilemaking.
five or ten thousand years back. They have all been
(a) Upper Greensand.— This stratum overlies the Gault, simply chipped into shape, and show no signsofrubbing or
>i orms a band about a mile wide from Crowmarsh and polishing.
n
ens
n toCuxham,
tnn
•m
i rgto
“ D South Weston, vChinnor
n u u r and
a n a Henx a en wn
:t
heil,ruvvAe*rPaiT. i
:.i.h dark
.1 i ici1l
nhr.’
swhitish,_wit
ayey greensand Neolithic or Newer Stone Age. Stone tools of much
later date (probably dating back to about 2000 B.C.)
ve,altogetherabout 90 to 100 feetin thickness.
often show signs of rubbing and polishing, and are as­
Chalk.— Thejunction of the Lower Chalk signed to the Neolithic Stone Age. The}' are usually
which ?Upper Greensand i
swellmai'kedby a lineofsprings, found in or upon the surface soil, or in the “ barrows”
determined the sites ofnumerous villages, as or burial mounds which mark the interments ofmembers
Pyrton, Shirburn, Lewknor, Aston Rowant, (chiefs, probably), of prehistoric tribes, and give evi­
limpstn~ 1 inil0r- The Middle Chalk isa white earthy dence of considerable skill in their manufacture. Flint
terma
,ostdestituteofflints;the Chalk Rock isthe arrow-heads have been found at Standlake and Abing­
a S W W t0a hard band at the base ofthe Upper Chalk don, and bjr General Pitt-Rivers in an old earthwork
this to «
“ the orest ot the OUHern Hills. Beyond on Callow Hill ; quite a series of snch arrow-heads also
Urn**
east* as far as the county extends, we have the occurred atSarsden House, ChippingNorton. A stonecelt
»earHenley
ri,ilere are some good sections or axe-head found at Eynsham is in the collection of Sir
John Evans ;he describes itas a short thick specimen, 4^
inches long, which isalso the length of a similar specimen
age^ 1?'RY ^EIU0D-— A fewfragments ofstrataof E o c e n e from Abingdon ;they are both polished, and the latter has
everthe l n ®cattered as isolated patches or “ outliers” a facet on the edge, having been reground to sharpen it.
a"efnrm i downs, proving that strata of Lower Eocene Another celt made ofgreenstone is recorded from Stand­
D’covered these hillsallover. At BinfieldHeath lake. A celtis said to have been found with some Roman