464 LONG EXCURSION TO THE YORKSHIRE COAST.

that elevation might have given rise to glacial conditions of akind.

The party then proceeded by the old Hollow road, a veryancient trackway down the face of the chalk escarpment to theroad leading to Ightham.

On the way down, at the 700 ft. level, Mr. Harrison calledattention to a curious bed of Chalk, Pebbles, and Flints, cementedinto a hard breccia, which was lying on the flank of the slope.This bed was so hard that, when broken with the hammer, thefracture passes through flint and chalk pebbles alike. A ~imilar

breccia is found at Shoreham and at Trotterscliff, and Sir J.Prestwich regarded it as marking an old saturation level.

On reaching Ightl.am the party partook of a hurried tea atthe George and Dragon, and the greater number returned toLondon by an early train. The Excursion Secretary and one ortwo other ardent spirits resolved to brave the terrors of the lasttrain. They were rewarded by a very fine exhibition of Eolithicimplements, which Mr. Harrison had prepared in the village hall.Afterwards they had a charming walk towards Yaldham Manor tosee some enormous blocks of Oldbury Stone which now rest 011

the Gault, and which must have been transported by ice acting insome form or other down and up the branches of the Shodevalley from Oldbury Hill.

A vote of thanks to the Directors terminated the proceedings.

REFERENCES.Geological Survey Maps, Sheet 6.New Ordnance Survey Map, 287.1875. TOPLEY, W.-" The Geology of the Weald." Jlemoir of Geo/. Surve;·.1889. PRESTWICH, J. -" On the Occurrence of Paleolithic Flint Implements

in the Neighbourhood of Ightham, Kent, their Distribution andProbable Age." Quart. .Journ. Geo/. ')'i;e., vol. xlv. p. 270.

1891. PRESTWICH, J.-" On the Age, Formation, and Successive DriftStages of the Valley of the Darent," Qua,·t. 70urn. Geo/. Soc., vol.xlvii, p. 126.

1893. "Excursion to Basted and Ightham," Proe. Geol. Assoc., vol. xiii, p. 157.

LONG EXCURSION TO THE YORKSHIRE COAST.

JULY 23RD TO 31ST.

Director: THE PRESIDENT (R. S. HERRIES, M.A., V.P.G.S.).

Excursion Secretary: H. KIDNER.

(Report by THE DIRECTOR.)

THE party travelled down to Whitby on Saturday, July 21St, bythe II.30 a.m. train from King's Cross, arriving at 5.30 p.m.The headquarters were at the Crown Hotel, but several of the

LONG EXCURSION TO THE YORKSHIRE COAST. 465

members stayed at the West Cliff Private Hotel. The whole partynumbered thirty-eight. The object of the excursion was to see thecliffs from Robin Hood's Bay to Redcar, so as to embrace all thecoast· sections of the \'orkshire Lias, the Liassic sections of theDorset coast having been explored at Easter. The first three dayswere to the south of Whitby, the next three to the north. Thiscoast northof Whitby had not before been visited by the Association.

MONDAY, JULY 23RD.-Leaving the Crown Hotel about9 o'clock, the party crossed the Riv'er Esk by the bridge, andwalked through the old town to the East Pier. Here theDirector gave a short account of the geology of the district andparticularly of the immediate neighbourhood of Whitby. Tnecliffs in front, on which stand the Abbey and Church. arecomposed of a base of Gpper Lias (zone of A1IImonitescommunis)with Oolite (Dogger and Lower Estuarine Beds) above, while theWest Cliff, on which the new town is built, consists of sandstonesand shales of Lower Estuarine age, the Lias and Dogger havingbeen thrown down by a fault which runs along the course of theriver. Farther west the Oolite Beds are cut out almost entirelybya thick deposit of Boulder Clay and Sands of glacial origin,which fill the bay as far as the village of Sandsend, where theUpper Lias Beds art: again seen forming Sandsend Ness.Looking in the other direction, the curiously shaped, long, lowpromontory of Saltwick t\ab was pointed out, and the party thendes<;ended to the scar and walked in the direction of Saltwick.The Director explained that the t~rnl "sc:u" was applied to theflat platforms of rock which gtnerally form the foreshore underthe cliffs in this district. In this many of the characteristicammonites and belemnites of the Alum Shale were seen, thoughthe former are often quite flat, as they generally are when notfound in nodules. About half-way to Saltwick the Dogger comesdown to the shore level, and is seen to be a hard ferruginousband about three feet thick, with a layer of pebbles at the base.These pebbles are mostly small phosphatic nodules, but wornfragments of ammonites and other shells derived from the Liasare not uncommon. At this point the Dogger seems to fill ahol\o~' in the surface of the Lias, pointing to an unconformablejunction.* The Lower Estuarine Beds above are here very full ofplant remains, and several good pieces of fern were obtained.The Dogger then rises in the cliff and four hard reddish bandsin the Lias cross chescar in succession and appear in the cliff,the lowest being rather below the neck of Saltwick Nab. At thebase of the ~ab a ch:tnge of fauna was seen, Ammonites c01!111lUcnisand its ;ullies being replaced by serpent/nus, and the horizon ismarked by an abundance of .Inoceramus dubil/s. Tli1i:; changeindicates that we are on a new l.One, that of Am. serpentinus,marking the horizon of the Jet Rock as that of Am. communis

Sllil J:ig. I in Mr. R. H. Rastall's paper, .Q.~rt. TO~11l..G,ol. Soc., vol-Ifl, p.•,O.

PROC. GEOL.•\"SOc., VOL. XIX, PART 10, 1906.J 38

466 LONG EXCURSION TO THE YORKSHIRE COAST.

does the Alum Shale. The party walked round the end ofSaltwick Nab and out seawards to the reef of strong hard nodules,known as the "cheese" doggers from their resemblance to hugecheeses. They are often five or six feet in diameter, and arenoted as forming the roof of the jet-bearing strata. Hammersand chisels were soon at work splitting off flakes of thehardened shale encasing these doggers in the hope of securingthe small fish, Lep/olepis saltviciensis, but the search wasunsuccessful. Plenty of specimens of PosidollOlIl)'Q Bronni werehowever obtained, this shell being very characteristic of thelower part of the zone of Am. serpen/inus, and, coming round thesouth side of Saltwick Nab, several examples of the long flatBeu11lnites tubulari"s were found. After luncheon at the foot ofthe great amphilheatre caused by the excavation of the Salt­wick cliffs for alum, the party proceded to Black ~ab, thefortress-like rock on the south side of Saltwick Bay, whichforms an island at high tide, the base of which consists ofSerpen/inus shales. Before reaching it the Director pointed outa place where one of the red bands, now again at the shere level,was composed of a mass of belemnites, hundreds of specimensbeing crowded together in the space of a few feet.

The rising tide prevented any further progress along the shore,so the members ascended the cliff by a rather steep path, somepreferring to retrace their steps to the easier way up in themiddle of the bay. They walked along the top of the cliff, pastthe siren and lighthouse to High Whitby, whence the cliffscould be seen stretching away towards Robin Hood's Bay. HighWhitby is a very bold cliff where the coast turns southwards.It is mostly composed of Lower Estuarine Beds which comedown nearly to the shore level, and it is here that the well-knownEquist/um columnare is found in the sandstone, upright as itoriginally grew. The path down is, however, a very steep one,and no one ventured to descend, especially as the Director wouldnot undertake to guarantee the bed of Equisefum being found. Theparty returned along the cliffs to the Abbey, where they were met bythe rector, Canon Austen, who had most kindly volunteered to showthe members over the ruins. Some delay was caused by a heavythunderstorm which broke over Whitby just as the party hadarrived at the Abbey gates, but when it had stopped the membershad the advantage of listening to a most interesting discourse onthe history and architecture of the Abbey, after which CanonAusten led the way to the old Church, certainly one of the mostcurious in the way of internal fittings to be seen anywhere inEngland. After the lecture the President proposed a vote ofthanks to the rector, which was heartily responded to, and thememben then proceeded to descend the long flight of steps tothe old town, and crossing the bridge found their way to themuseum, where Mr. Thomas Newbitt, F.G.S., the honorary curator,

LONG EXCURSION TO THE YORKSHIRE COAST. 467

was waiting to show them over. The museum is of great interest,having a very fine collection of Lias fossils, among~t which aresome very good saurians and most of Simpson's numerous types.I n thanking !\Ir. Newbitt, the President congratulated him on theexcellent order in which the collections under his charge were kept.

TUESDAY, ]I.:LY 24TH.-The party left the West Cliff Stationby train at 9 o'clock for Robin Hood's Bay, arriving at 9.20. Atthe top of the steep road leading down to the quaint little town,the Director pointed out the features of the bay. To the south'was the great clift· of Peak, some 600 feet high, where thewell-known fault brought the Capricornus-zone of the Lower Liasagainst the Lower Estuarine Beds of the Oolite. The cliffs northof the fault were composed of Lower Lias of the jamesoni andOxynolus zones, except where they were interrupted in two placesby masses of Boulder Clay. Along the foreshore the scars wereseen spreading out in a graceful horseshoe-like curve, thosenearest the cliff belonging to the OXyllotus and those farther outto the Bucklandi lOnes, while immediately in front of the townthey were the Armalus beds of the jamesolli-zone. The bedshere, as the Director explained, form a dome or anticline, thelowest beds seen anywhere along the Yorkshire coast (except atRedcar) being here exposed. Between the Peak and the hill onwhich the party were standing, the rich valley known as Fyling­dales was spread out, the bottom of which was mostly composedof Boulder Clay flanked by Upper Lias, which was well markedby the great r.lum pits of Peak and Stoupe Brow.

A descent was then made to the shore, and the Director tookthe party across the OX)'lIotus scars on to the BucR/andi bedsopposite Mill Beck. There was not time to do much collecting,but some of the characteristic fossils of the Oxynotus-zone werefuund, including Am. raricoslatus, Am. oblusus, and Bel. acutus.Some large boulders of Shap granite and other igneous rockswere noticed on the shore, and the Rev. C. T. Pratt, who formedone of the party, gave some account of the sources of origin ofthese large boulders. The party then turned northwards, passingBay Town, and proceeding along the Armatus and jamesont'scars towards the North Cheek. )'Iost of the characteristic fossilsof these beds were seen and collected, such as Am. trivialis,Grypluea cymbium (var. obliquata), Pecten aquivalvis, P/ica/ztlaspinosa, Plwladomya decorala, and Pinna ft/£U11I. Passing on tothe overlying Capn'comus shales the sandy beds of the same zonewere next seen at Castle Chamber, just beyond the North Cheek.The Director explained that the Geological Survey place theirdivision between the Middle and Lower Lias at this horizon onlithological grounds, thus dividing the zone, whereas Tate andBlake include not only the shales of the .Capricortlus-7.0ne but thewhole of the Jamesoni beds in the Middle Lias. This was onpalreontological grounds, and seemed to the Director to be the

468 LONG EXCURSION TO THE 'iORKSHIRf: COAST.

more correct view, hut not of course so convenient for mapping.For the purposes of this report, however, he would speak of theCapricorllus and Jamesoni beds as Lower Lias. These sandybeds of the Capricornus-zone are marked by a series of oysterbeds foroled of maSSt~ of Grypluza cymbium (var. d~pressa). Thereare also near the top one or two beds of the large Denta/iumgigall/~lIt1l, which here occurs in great profusion and again in a.few layers in the zone above (.l1fargari/alus), after which it diesout altogether.

The beds at Castle Chamber form a sort of miniature escarp­ment on the scar, some ten or twelve feet high, and the samething occurs at Dobson's Nab, the next point, where the sandyseries of the Mar,ifarita/us-zone runs out. Both these pointspresented some little difficulty to the party and required somenegotiating. It is not at all a nice place with an on-shore windand a rough sea. Luckily, however, the sea was quite calm andan ample margin had been allowed for the tide, so that thesedifficulties were reduced to a minimum. A halt was now madefor luncheon, after which the walk was continued round the littlebay south of Normanby Stye Batts where the ironstone beds ofthe Spinatus-zone are so much in evidence. This bay is verypicturesque, the cliffs being very lofty and steep, capped by theAlum Shale with the Jet Rock below, the old workings of thelatter being seen near the top of the cliff. Several of the iron­stone doggers were broken up and a fair number of fossils.obtained, including Am. spinatus, Fcc/eft a(juivaivis, Pleuromyacoslala, etc. The next beds seen were the An/mIa/us beds orGrey Shales, in which the zonal ammonite and Bel. cylindricuswere found. Passing over these the next beds are those of theSerpelltillus-zone or Jet Rock, now come down to the shore, andhere the scars begin to be obscured by large blocks fallen fromthe Oolitic rocks which form the upper part of the cliff, acondition of things which extends as far as High Whitby, so thatthe path up the cliff known as "Sawdons Road," which leads tOoHawsker Bottoms, comes very opportunely at this point. Up­this rather narrow path the party went, seeing on the way agood section of the Lower E~tuarine Beds with a coal bedof quill; respectable thickness. From Hawsker Bottoms the­return to Whitby was made on foot by the cliffs, themembers one aJ;ld all scorning the alternative route by train fromHawsker station. A welcome halt was made for tea at the oldalum pit at Saltwick, and another at a fossil stall near the Church,where a considerable number of fossils changed hands at veryreasonable prices. The Association were fortunate in having withthem on this and on several of the subsequent days, Dr. Gothan,of Berlin, who had come to Whitby specially to study the jetworking, and gladly accepted the President's invitation to join inthe expeditions.

LONG EXCl;RSIO:-I TO THE YORKSHIRE COAST. 469

WEDNESDAY, JULY Z5TH.-The memhers :lgain left the WestCliff station by the 9 o'clock train, alighting at Ravenscar at 939.Ravenscar is the name which has been given within the last fewyears to the district formerly known as Peak, on the south sideof Robin Hood's Bay. The estate has been developed forbuilding, and a series of roads made, but the houses have notsprung up very rapidly, probably owing to the bleak character ofthe place, which is about 600 ft. above the sea, though it ispleasant enough in the summer. The Director first led the partya little way back to a point where there was a view over the bay,and directed special attention to the great Peak alum quarry,through which the train had corne when climbing the hill toRavenscar station. A conspicuous band about 3 ft. thick is seenresting immediately on the Blue Lias clays (Communis·zone).This was explained to be the Dogger, and it was approximatelyat the same level as the point where they were standing, viz.about 600 ft. above the sea. The quarry was on the west side of thej1;reat fault which runs in a north and south direction, and comesout on the shore at the Peak. The Director asked the membersto bear this in mind when they saw the Dogger on the other sideof the fault, about 30 ft. thick, with some 150 ft. of beds belowit, which are quite unrepresented in the Peak alum quarry. Return­ing towards the station the members were rewarded by a magni­ficent view over the whole coast to the south as far as FlamboroughHead, it being a particularly clear day. Scarborough Castle, FileyPoint, and Flamborough Head were very clt:ar, and the sun wasshining on the white chalk cliffs of Speeton. A little south ofthe station a somewhat rough path was taken down the cliff tothe place a few hundred yards south of Blea Wyke point wherethe Dogger rises from the sea. A few of th~ party preferred theexcellent path which leads down to Blea Wyke itself, but thisinvolved a double journey over the rough boulders between thepoint and the spot where the party were assembled. The cliffsbetween here and Hayburn Wyke, known as the StaintondaleCliffs, are very high and picturesque, not perpendicular, butwith sometimes one and sometimes two terraces or undercliffsprettily covered with bracken, heather, and shrubs of variouskinds. The top of the cliff is sandstone of Upper Estuarine age,below which is a considerable thickness of Grey or ScarboroughLimestone, from which several fossils were collected at anexposure by the side of the path. Then follow in succession theMiddle Estuarine, the Millepbre Oolite, and the Lower Estuarineand Ellerbeck Bed, with the Dogger at the hottom. Aboutto ft. from the top of the Dogger the very fossiliferous bedknown as the" Nerin:ea bed" was found, and many beautifulfossils (Nerincea, CeritltiulIl, Natica, A/aria, Trigollia, Astarte,etc.) were obtained, both from the bed in place, and from fallenblocks passed on the way to Blea Wyke. The members

470 LONG EXCURSION TO THE YORKSHIRE COAST.

scrambled along over the boulders, the successive nodule orpebble beds being pointed out, as well as the" Terebratula bed" atthe top of the Yellow Sands, the uppermost division of the BleaWyke or Passage Beds, which only occur at this place. Besides theTerebratula trilineata, which occurs in great profusion, theYellow Sands contain numerous belemnites and large, somewhatflattened ammonites, with smooth outer whorls and strongly ribbedcentres. At the foot of the Yellow Sands the party came out onthe flat platform of rock forming the base of Blea Wyke point (PlateVIII, Fig. I). This is the" Serpula Bed," being the upper part ofthe Grey Sands, or lower division of the Blea Wyke Beds. Manyspecimens of the Serpula, which gives its name to the beds,were found, as well as more ammonites similar to those inthe Yellow Sands. Coming round the point into the little bayknown as BIea Wyke, the lower division of the Grey Sands formsa second and lower platform, and is known as the "LingulaBed," from its containing nodules full of Lingula Beanii accom­panied by Discina reflexa, both of which were obtained.

After luncheon the walk was continued as rapidly as the rock­strewn shore would allow, the exposures of the Jure1lsis-zone ofthe Lias being noted. These beds are immediately under theBIea Wyke Beds, and like them are only seen in this section. Theyare generally called the "Striatulus Beds," from the ammonitewhich is most communly found in them. There being a strongdip to the south, the beds soon rise up into the cliff (Plate VIII,Fig. 2) and are succeeded in turn by the zones of A 1IJ. communis andserpentinus, the shales of the latter zone occupying the base ofthe cliff at the fault. Here the Director put one hand on thebeds of the Serpentinus-zone and the other on those of theJamesoni, and taking the party a little way up the path whichcomes down almost on the line of the fault, he pointed out thathigher up the Lower Estuarine Beds and Dogger were faultedagainst the Capricornus beds of the Lower Lias (Plate IX, Fig. I).The change of dip of the former to the west towards the fault wasnoticed. The line of the fault was also well seen on the reef runningout to sea, known as Peak Steel, the Lower Lias Oxynotus bedsbeing faulted against those of the zone of Am. margaritatus,belonging to the Middle Lias, The fault here divides into twobranches, so that the Margan'tatus beds form a kind of wedge,being themselves faulted on the other side against beds of thezones of Am. annulalus and spinatus, with a strike nearly at rightangles. The Director enlarged on the questions arising from thefact of the existence of the considerable series of BIea Wyke andStriatulus Beds on one side of the fault which were absent on theother, though the fault is itself of a much later age, affecting allthe overlying oolitic beds, Various theories may be found set outin the paper read by the Director in advance of the excursion(supra p. 419). The walk was continued round Robin Hood's

L'ROC. GEOL. ~\SSOC., \·OL. XIX, P'\RT [0. PLATE VIII.

F](;. 1.·-BLEA \VYKE.

(Compare lliagram, SlljJl'tI. p. 421.)J)holo by Godjrey Uiagley.

FIG. 2.-I'E,\K (LOOKIN(; TO\\.\RDS BI.E.·' W\KE).

(SholVing :lui'll/sis beds under Hlea \Yyke hed, and Doggcl.)/J}lOtu by Gmljrt)' Ihngl~.I'.

1'1-.\'1'1'; IX.

FIG. I.-TilE PEAl-; 1-'.\\11..,..

(The while patch is the talus from a quarry in I.\)\ler j'''[lIarine IkJ~: the I,edsOil the left are Lower Estuarine :lnd Dogger, lho:-:e 011 the I igfll die (~ltri"('lll/{\

beds of the I.oll'er Li"s.)Photo by Gut/ire)' lJiIJ[;!./cy,

F1G. 2.-CLJFF~ SOlTTH OF KETTLE:-iESS.

(Showing Alum Shale and Jt:t Rock).Phule) by Godfrc)' Hingle)'.

LONG EXCl:RSIO:-l TO THE YORKSHIRE COAST. 471

Bay to Bay l:own, but there was very little time left for examiningthe Jamc:som blocks near Peak, or the Oxynofus scars, while thoseof the Buck/andi,zone were already covered by the rising tide.Tea was obtained at the Yictoria Hotel at Robin Hood's Bay, andthe party returned to "'hitby by the 4.57 train, arriving at 5. 16.

THURSDAY, ]L:LY 26TH.-The members left the West Cliffstation by the 9.43 train for Sandsend, arriving at 9,5°. Therailway follows tht: coast, and between \\"hitby and Sandsendpasses over Boulder Clay. :\t Sandsend the Lias again appearsand juts out in the cliff known as Sand~cnd Ness, which can onlybe rounded on the shore when the tide is very low. Permis~ion

had therefore been obtained frpm the North Eastern RailwayCompany to walk along the line through the old alum quarriesas far as the next little ba)', known as Deepgrove Wyke. Thealum quarries showed a good section of the COll1munis-zoneof the Upper Lias with the Dogger, here about three or four feetthick, above, capped with Lower Estuarine Beds. The Dogger isfossiliferous, but not so much as it is a little farther north. The)vorking of alum from the Lias shales has long since beenabandoned as a profitabl~ undertaking, but cement is still manu­factured under the name of :'Ilulgrave Cement from lines of largeseptaria-like nodules in the upper part of the Alum Shale. At ])eep­grove the party descended to the shore by a somewhat precipitousapology for a path, and found themsel.es on a scar of the Serpen­tillus-wne. From here to Kettleness there is almost a continuousline of artificial caves at the base of the cliff, or a little way above,marking the course of the" Jet Rock"(PlatcsIX, Fig. 2,and X, Fig. I).These ca.es are the old workings made by the seekers after the j~t

in the days when" Whitby Jet" was a well-known and profitablearticle of commerce. The trade is not as prosperous as it once was,and though there is still probably as much jet in these cliffs as evercame out of them, it is hardly worth while nowadays for anyon''; topursue the somewhat laborious and uncertain occupation of jetminim!;. Exc~pt that it is found, as alr~ady explained, within certainwell defined limits, its mode of occurrence is quite casual andfollows no rule. A man may hew a great quantity of shale withoutresult, or he may at any time be rewarded by a find of jet, largcor small. _\ discussion took plan: on the origin of jet, which hasbeen variously ascribed to fossilised wood, or to hardened bitumenfilling up hollows, often those left by decayed wood, in which casesit would simulate the outward form of the wood. }'fessrs. Tateand Blake support~d the latter theory, and it is certain that thereis a considerable amount of bituminou'i matter in the rocks, whichwhen fractured often smell strongly of th:lt mineral. Moreover,the chambers of ammonites and the phragmoconcs of bele.mnitesare often full of it in a liquid form, and it is only where the bitumenis present, th:lt the jet is found. Dr. Gothan, however, who waspresent and had made a special study of the subject, had no

472 LONG EXCURSION' TO THE YORKSHIRE COAST.

hesitation in adopting the older theory that jet was actually fossilwood. He explained that he had found that certain recent woodswhich had remained a long time under water in some brickfields,on being taken up and allowed to dry with the clay, would shrink,~nd become very hard and compact like jet." This was what' hadhappened in the case of the fragments of wood which were nowfound -at this horizon of the Lias in the form of jet. He was inagreement with Dr. Seward, of Cambridge, in attributing a vege­table origin to the jet. From Deepgrove Wyke the walk was con­tinued along the shore to Overdale Wyke, where the Grey ShalesOr Annulatus beds come up and form the scar. Here specimenswere obtained of the zonal ammonite. Rounding the point theSerpentinus-zone is again at the sea level, and so continues roundthe wide bay nearly as far as Kettleness, where the Grey Shalesagain occupy the foreshore. Along the whole way from Deepgroveto Kettleness ample opportunities are afforded of obtaining thecharacteristic fossils of the Jet Rock, both from the scar andfrom fallen blocks and nodules, and several good specimens wereobtained of Am. serpmtinus, Am. exaratus, Am. gracilis, etc.Some of the fallen blocks are from the Communis-zone, andthese, too, yield many fossils. At one point of the bay there basbeen a considerable slip from above, and a large amount ofDogger material has come down. This is very fossiliferous,though the fossils are in the form of casts. Anyone, however,who chose to take moulds from the external casts which may be..::oIlected here, might form a fairly complete collection of Doggerfossils. Terebratula trilineata is specially abundant, and the factthat it is associated here with the fossils which at Blea Wyke{)ccur some 20 ft. higher up, shows that not much reliance can beplaced on its presence as marking a special horizon. At KettlenessPoint (Plate X, Figs. I and 2) the Grey Shales ascend into the cliff,and the Ironstone series or zone of Am. spinatus occupies thescar. A succession of ironstone bands alternating with shales ishere seen as at Hawsker, but the ironstone is thicker. Fossils areabundant, especially Am. spinatus and Puten (Equivalvis. Thereare several algre like branching forms on the surface of some of theironstone beds, to two of which Prof. Tate gave a name; the largerof these Is Clwrdophyllites cicatricosus, and the smaller Nulliporitesfurcillalus. Dr. Gothan, when asked, did not care to commit him­self as to whether they were of orgauic origin or not. RoundingKettleness Point the beautiful Bay of Runswick (Plate X, Fig. 2)comes into view, with the village on the north side and thepromontory of Old Nab forming the opposite point, somewhatcomparable to, though smaUer than, Robin Hood's Bay.

The party walked round the bay, passing again over the GreyShales and Jet Rock, then the Spilla/us beds, and then the Grey

... Ueber die Bntstehung von gagat ulld damlt Zus>mmenhangendes," by Dr. W.Gothan. Na!Nnl'i.."uchajllich_ r'fiJClt_clt.,ijl, Jan. 7th, l!i06l

PROC. GEOL. Assoc., VOL. XIX, PART IO. PLATE X.

FIG. I.-KETTLENESS FROM THE SOUTH.(Showing old Jet workings.)

1'11010 by GodJ~ey Bingley.

FrG. 2.-RuNSWrCK BAY AND KETTLENESS FROM THE NOl<TH.(Showing old Alum workings with Ironstone at Base of cliff.)

PllOlv by GoelJrey Bingley_

LONG EXCURSION TO THE YORKSHIRE COAST. 473

Shales once more, these beds alternating on the scars in acurious manner without any apparent faulting. The middle ofthe bay is composed of glacial drift, and some blocks of Shapgranite were noticed on the beach at Runswick. The partyclimbed to the top of the cliff by the somewhat primitive wayswhich lead through the village and had tea at the Runswick BayHotel. Thence they walked to Hinderwell station and returnedto Whitby by the 6.28 train, arriving at 6.49.

FRIDAY, JULY 27TH.-Starting from the West Cliff station at9.43, the party should have arrived at Skinningrove at 10.29.

They were about an hour late, however, owing to the enginebeing unable to draw the train up the steep incline betweenSandsend and Kettleness. As the train came to a standstill inthe middle of a long tunnel, for which no lights are supplied, andthen began to back down the incline, the experience was a some­what alarming one. A carriage had to be left at Sandsend, andwith the load thus lightened the engine at its second attemptproved equal to the task. Skinningrove is situated in theCleveland mining district, and the walk of nearly a mile from thestation to the shore lay between mines on the one side and blastfurnaces on the other, and a constant succession of trucks wereseen passing, carrying the ore from the mines to the furnaces.The village lies in a pretty bay facing nearly north, with thehuge cliff of Boulby or Rockcliff on the east, and the moregraceful, though less loft)', Huntcliff on the west. The cliffsin the middle of the bay are composed of the usual glacialdrift, though this is in places replaced by still more recent slagtipped over from the furnaces on the top, The walk was east·wards past Hummersea cliffs, under the old Loftus alum works,round Boulby cliff, -to Staithes. The Hummersea cliff is com­posed of the Capricornus beds below, with the Margarifatus andSpinatus beds above. After this the cliff rises rapidly to aheight of over 600 ft., forming Boulby cliff, the highest pointbeing 666 ft. which is almost, if not quite, the highest cliffin England, though one of the members stated that he believedthat height was exceeded by a cliff in Cornwall. The upper partof the cliff was the Oolite (Lower Estuarine Series), and the basewas the Jamesoni beds of the Lower Lias. At the Loftus alumworks the Dogger and passage beds were we)) developed, thoughnot to such an extent as at Blea Wyke. The Alum Shale and thezOnes below, both of the Upper and Middle Lias, as well as theCapn'(orllus-zone, were all present in full force. The Jameson;beds-are particularly fossiliferous, and their appearance is markedon the scar by a line of nodules containing Am. fimbriatus,whidt may be taken as the base of the Capncornus-zone. Afterthat they rise in the cliff to a height of about 25ft., and yieldAm.Jamesoni, Am. tn'vialis, Pillna jolium, Pho/adrmrya duorata,etc. Part of a large saurian was seen in the scar. There is a

474 LONG EXCURSION TO THE YORKSHIRE COAST.

remarkable slip of old date on the west side of Boulby cliff,nearly the whole face of the cliff having slid down for a distanceof about 100 yards, so that the beds are seen on the scar in avertical position with a strike parallel to the line of the cliff. Theironstone series is particularly well shown, and the thickness ofthe various seams is easily measured. About two miles beforereaching Staithes the cliffs again resume their normal height, andthe .Iamesoni beds come down again to the sea level and pass outto sea. At Colburn Nab, just west of Staithes, there is a verygood section of the sandy series of the Capn'cornus-zone, whichhas yielded many starfish to collectors. Several specimens, moreor less fragmentary, of Ophioderma were found in the fallenblocks near here, and Mr. A. C. Young was fortunate enough tofind one of the Asteroid variety, which are much rarer. Thepicturesque and other qualities of the curious little fishing townof Staithes were duly appreciated, and after partaking of tea atthe Black Lion Hotel the party left for Whitby by the 6.22 traindue at 6.49. After dinner the members all assembled at theCrown Hotel, and the usual votes of thanks were passed to thosewho had contributed to the success of the excursion.

SATURDAY, JULY 28TH. - The members journeyed toSkinningrove as before, except that this time there was nobreakdown in the tunnel. Having arrived at the shore the partywalked westwards round Huntcliff to Saltburn. The geology. ofHuntcliff is very much the same as that of Boulby, except thatthe highest beds exposed in the cliff are the Spina/us-zone. Asat Boulby, the .Iamesoni beds rise from the shore and form thebase of the cliff, and come down again before Saltburn isreached. There is the same line of Am. fimbria/us nodulesmarking the base of the Caprt'cornus-zone. From the pointthere is a fine view to the west of the long stretch of sands andlow glacial cliffs which extend from Saltburn past Redcar to themouth of the Tees, some five or six miles, and of the Durhamcoast beyond. The Director mentioned that a raised beach hadbeen described at Saltburn, but he thought that, in view of itsoccurrence on the slopes of the glacial cliffs and the absence ofsuch beaches on other parts of the Yorkshire Coast, the questionof its true age and origin required further investigation. FromSaltburn the members proceeded by the 2.20 train to Redcar,arriving at 2.33. Here they found the Bucklandi and Angula/usscars,which are uncovered at low water, fairly well exposed, andin the former some very large water-worn ammonites were seenwhich are probably the zonal ammonite, or one of its near allies.Am. angula/us was also found, and the well known Pleur%mariaanglica, Grypluea arcua/a, Cardinia Lis/en', and other character­istic fossils.

The Director mentioned that these Angula/us beds were thelowest exposed on the Yorkshire Coast. They formed the

LONG EXCURSION TO THE YORKSHIRE COAST. 475

centre of an anticline, the Bucklandi beds being again occasionallyexposed farther east. To the west he pointed out the Coathamscars, which jut out in a reef, and consist of beds from theMargan'tatus-zone down to the Jameson:", with a dip to the north­west. The members obtained tea at Redcar, and returned toWhitby by the 4.58 train, arriving at 6.49.

The excursion proper then came to an end, the party havingwalked in the six days the whole length of coast from BleaWyke to Saltburn, a distance of about 28 miles, with the excep­tion of the three mile stretch from Whitby to Sandsend (whichseveral of the members traversed unofficially), and the piece fromRunswick round Old Nab to Staithes, also about three miles.

As several of the party were going on to the BritishAssociation Meeting at York on August 1st, and as othersevinced a desire to prolong their stay at Whitby, the Directorundertook to conduct two more excursions, this time goinginland, partly for the sake of variety, and partly because theexigencies of the tide made it desirable.

MONDAY, JULY 30TH.-Those members who remained,numbering about IS, left the town station by the 9.10 train forLevisham, arriving at 9.59. The railway follows the valley of theEsk as far as Grosmont, and then, leaving the main stream, itfollows the Murk Esk and its tributary, the Eller Beck. Abouthalf-way between Goathland and Levisham it crosses the water­shed at a place called Fen Bogs, and follows the Pickering Reckdown the beautiful gorge of Newtondale, which debouches intothe broad Vale of Pickering at that town. The section of railwayfrom Goathland to Pickering is one of the most picturesque inEngland. Though the watershed is crossed, the railway runs allthe time in a steep-sided valley, which is in origin a true gorge,having been largely formed, if Professor Kendall be right, by thepouring out of the waters, which had been held up by ice andmoraines in the Upper Esk, through the handiest channel into thegreat lake which then filled the Vale of Pickering. On arrivingat Levisham the Director led the way up on to the platform ofKelloway Rock, which forms a sort of level terrace on each sideof the valley, the bottom of which is formed of Upper EstuarineBeds. About a mile and a half from the station the partystopped at the view tower known as Skelton Tower, situatedabout 150 feet above the railway at a bend of the valley, fromwhich a splendid view up and down Newtondale was obtained.The slope down to the railway is very steep and well wooded;the slope up from the terrace on which the tower stands is moregentle, and consists of bare moor covered with heather. Thisslope is Oxford Clay with Lower Calcareous Grit at the top.Just below the tower a few members followed the Director downthe somewhat precipitous slope to examine the Cornbrash whichcrops out some 15 ft. below. This is an irregular limestone band

476 I.ONG EXCURSION TO THE YORKSHIRE COAST.

about 3 ft. thick, and very full of fossils. Ammonites macroce­pltalus, £cltinobrisslls scuta/tis, and several other species wereobtained. The Kelloway Rock Quarry, a little way farther on,was then visited, and the party were lucky in finding a specimenof one of the starfishes peculiar to Newtondale, either ASlropeetenorion, or A. daviformis. These, as is well known from specimensin museums, always occur as hollow casts in the sandstone. Awalk of two miles led to Saltersg;lte Inn, just off the main valley,where welcome rest and refreshment were found, the day beingvery hot. Retracin~ their steps, the members climbed the hill ofLower Calcareous Grit, and looked down into the curious inlierof Kelloway Rock known as the Hole of Horcum. From thetop of the hilI a fine view was obtained, to the south, of the Woldsand Howardian Hills on the other side of the Vale of Pickering.The party descended into the Hole and followed the Levishambeck down till it passed off the Kelloway Rock and Oxford Clayon to the Lower Calcareous Grit, when they left the valley andstruck off across the fields, composed of the overlying LowerLimestones, to Levisham village. Between here and the stationIi quarry was passed in the Lower Limestone, and some fossilswere found, though they were difficult to extract from the matrix.The return was made from Levisham by the 5.14 train reachingWhitby at 6.5.

TUESDAY, JULY 3IsT.-The day broke with a tremendousthunderstorm, which fortunately cleared off before the time forstarting, which was ro.. lo from the town station, the destinationbeing Egton Bridge, which was reached at 10.35. The partyfirst examined a very good section of the Cleveland Dyke, 'Whichhere crosses the Esk. On the north side of the river it is workedfor road metal, and on either side of the dyke may be seen thewell~baked Lias shales, which were recognised from the presence0f Inoceramus dubius to be 'of the zone of Alii. serpenlinus. Theparty then walked up the course of the river through the beautifulArnecliff woods to Glaisdale End at the mouth, like a bottle-neck,ef the singularly beautiful Glaisdale. This is an extremely fertilelittle valley about four miles long, well filled with boulderclay, which accounts for the excellence of the soil. The!Odes are of Upper Lias, with Lower Estuarine beds and Dogger'beve. At Postgate Hill the Dogger was formerly workedfor ir6nstonej and the old tips of stone brought out of themine still retnain. This is a well-known locality for DoggerfonUs, and the members spent a long time here breakingtip the blocks and filling their bags with the fossils. Most-ofrhese are in the fOrm of casts, but the sheIl is in several casespreserved, and the ornamentation of the shells is always~l1tirully shown in the external casts. After tea in a neighbour­j~g cottltge the party returned to Glaisdale station, where thejri'tturesque ., Beggars' Bridge," <wer the Esk was duly admired,

EXCURSION TO THE RAYLEIGH HILLS, ES3EX. 477

and returned to Whitby by the 6.7 train, arriving at 6.35, ahd sothe excursion ended, which, if rruuked by nothing else, wasnotable for the splendid weather, which was uniformly fine butfor the two thunderstorms mentioned, and neither of these inter­fered with the outdoor work.

REFERENCES.Geological Survey Maps (Drift), Sheets IO~. S.W. (- ~ew Series 34); 104

S.E. (=0 New Series 35) ; 95 I\.W. (- New Series 44).

1882.

1888.

1892•

1860.

187~·

1875.

1875.

1876.1891.

1891.

1905·

1906.

GEOLOGICAL SliRVEY MEMOIRS:Fox STRANGWAYS, Coo and BAR RO\\', G.-" The GeoloR'}' of the

Country between Whitby and ~c3rborough"(!\fap 95 N.W.).BARROW, G.-" The Geology of Korth Cleve13nd "(Maps 104 S.W.

and S.E.),Fox STRANGWAYS, C.-" The Jurassic Rocks of Britain, vol. i.,

Yorkshire,"

OTHER PUBLICATIONS.WRIGHT, T.-'· On the sub-division of the Inferior Oolite in tlie

South of England compared with the equivalent beds of thatformation on the Yorkshire Coast." Quart. :10UTII. G~ul. Soc.,.\'01. xvi, p. l.

HUI:I.ESTO:-l, W. H.-" The Yorkshire Oolites: Part I." P,·oc. G~ol.

ASJoc.• vol iii. p. 283.HUIlI.ESTO:-l. W. H .-" Excursion to East Yorkshire." PTOC. G~ol.

Assoc., vol. iv, p. 326.PHII.I.II'S, J.-" Geology of the Yorkshire C03st." 3rd edition by

R. Etheridge. 1st edition, 1819; 2nd, 1835.TATE. R., 3nd BI.AKE, J. F.-" The Yorkshire Lias." Van Voor!t.BI.AKE. J. F.-" The Geology of the Country.between Redcar and

Bridlinj:(ton." PTOC. G~ol. Assoc., vol. xii, p. 115.BI.AKE, J. F.• LAMI'Lt;GH, G.lV.. and COLE, Rev. E. M.-" Excursion

to the East Coast of Yorkshire." Proc. G~o/. ASJoc., vol. xii,P· 207·

RASTAI.L. R. H.-" The Blea Wyke Beds and the Dogger in North­East Yorkshire." QuaTt. :10Urll. G~o/. Soc., vol. lxi, p. 441,

HERRIES, R. S.-'· The Geology of the Yorkshire Coast betweenReJear and Robin Hood's Bay." Proc. G~ol. Arsoc., vol. xix, p. 410.

EXCURSION TO THE RAYLEIGH HILLS, ESSEX(HADLEIGH, THUNDERSLEY, AND DAWES

HEATH).SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER ISTH, 1906.

Director: A. E. SALTER, D.Sc., F.G.S.Excursion Secretary: T. W. READER.

R,port hy THE DIRECTOR.

THE party, which numbered about thirty and included severalmembers of the Essex Field Club, left Fenchurch Street at 2.6p.m" and on arrivi(lg at Leigp-on,Sea asceRded the steep slope