EXCURSION TO BEDFORD.

SATURDAY, MAY 27TH, 1905.

Director: H. B. WOODWARD, F.R.S., F.G.S.

Excursion Secretary: H. KIDNER, F.G.S .

R eport oy THE DIRECTOR.

THE members arrived at Bedford at 1I. 15 a.m., and were joinedby Mr. R. Hill, President of the Bedford Literary and ScientificInstitution, Mr. J. Hamson and others, so that the party con­sisted of about twenty-five. They were driven first of all throughthe town, and about a mile northwards to Mr. Charles Franklin'spits by the waterworks.

In an excavation close to the Pumping-station the GreatOolite Limestone, th e lowest formation exposed in the neighbour.hood, was seen to a depth of about 12 ft., overlain by 9 ft. ofGreat Oolite Clay, by the thin band of Cornbrash (locally termed" Pendle "), and by the clays at the base of the Kellaways Beds.The clays served to protect the rock-beds from weath ering, andboth Great Oolite and Corn brash were of a dark bluish-greycolour with rusty joint-faces. In the highest of the series ofexcavations the loams and sands of the Kellaways Beds withhuge "doggers" of calcareous sandstone were well exposed.Thus in a thickness of about 50 ft. there were repre sent atives offormations that in the Cotteswold Hills attain about 300 ft. TheGreat Oolite of Bedford was a poor formation compared withthat at Bath and Minchinh ampton, and the same might be saidof the Great Oolite Clay when compared with the Forest Marble,while the Corn brash was reduced to a foot or two. Nevertheless,the strata were of considerable interest, and the Kellaways Bedswere as well develop ed perhaps as in any part of the country.The Great Oolite was here burned for lime, and the overlyingclays and loams were used for brick-making. The Great Oolitewas also locally of great importance as a water-bearin g formation.Interbanded as it was with marly layers, and being little morethan 25ft. thick, it seemed incapable of yielding a large supplyfrom the direct rainfall on its outcrop. Nevertheless from theadjacent Pumping-station, as much as a million gallons of waterhad been daily obtained. That this supply was connected withthe great body of water which flowed down the Ouse Valleycould not be doubted. From Sharnbrook to Bedford, a distanceof seven miles in a straight line, the Ouse flows in a serpentinecourse over a foundation of Great Oolite; the broad valley beingoccupied by Alluvium, and also by river gravel, much of whichrests directly on the Oolite. Where the Oolite rises above the

EXCURSION TO BEDFORD. 143

banks of the river, springs issue from it; but generally speakingacross the valley the water-level in the porous strata is practicallythe river-level. When the river is low, springs issue into it fromlower levels than usual along its borders; and when in flood theriver naturally raises the level of water in the bordering porousstrata. A great quantity of water is thus moving down the valley­whether in the open stream or still more sluggishly in thestrata.

Bedford has derived its water-supply from a well sunk about17ft. below the ordinary river-level, with headings, in the GreatOolite Limestone. The site is adjacent to the river, and the rest­level in the well coincides with the river-level. Yet that there isno immediate connection between the river and the well is shownby the fact that the water in the well and headings, always con­siderably lowered by pumping, is but slowly replaced; and intimes of drought it has not always been possible to get thenecessary quantity of about one million gallons a day, withouttaking water direct from the river. These facts indicate that thewater in the well must travel some distance through fissures inthe Great Oolite Limestone, and that it probably comes fromareas higher up the valley where broad tracts of gravel rest on thelimestone, and where the underground stores of water are in allprobability connected more or less directly with the water in theriver. A new well with heading had recently been made to thesouth of the Pumping-station, and a considerable increa se in thesupply of water had been reported. This well appeared to besituated on the south side of a fault, having a downthrow on thesouth of 8 or 10 ft.; and this dislocation was stated to be withina few feet of the well." It is not improbable that there is adouble or trough fault which lets down a strip of limestone in thearea north of the Bedford and Bromham high-road. Furtherattention was called to this.

After driving through the village of Clapham the partystopped at a gravel pit on the road to Oakley, a short distance tothe east of the Midland Railway. Here a small anticline in theGreat Oolite Limestone, and overlying Great Oolite Clay, wasexposed in the midst of the gravel. An account of this sectionhad been published by the Director. The trend of the fold wasN.N.'V., and S.S.E., and therefore contrary to that of the minorfolds which affect the Oolitic rocks of the district, and serve tocounteract the general dip of these strata between Sharnbrookand Bedford. The gravel was largely composed of pebbles ofOolitic limestone, with also quartz, quartzite, jasper and flint.From the upper layers the limestone-pebbles had been dissolved,so that a brown stony loam with only siliceous stones filled" pipes" in the white gravel beneath.

The party now proceeded to Oakley Bridge, where Mr. R. Hill• See Bedfordshire T imes, also Bedfordshire Standard, of May 26th, 1905.

144 EXCURSION TO BEDFORD.

drew att ention to a flood-mark 6 ft. above the floor of thebridge; date, November, 1823. After crossing th e Ouse thepart y were driven through Bromham, where they dismissed th evehicles. In the road-cutting south-west of Brornham Park th eGreat Ool ite Limestone was seen to dip northwards at an angle of5 or 6 degrees, a distur bance possibly connect ed with the faultnear the Wat erworks. Th e Swan I nn at Bridge End, Bromham,was next visited, aft er which the party were cond ucted to th elimestone-quarry ab out half a mile distant on the road toStagsden. H ere a succession similar to that seen in Mr.F ranklin's pit, from the Great Oolite Limestone to the Corn­brash and Kellaways Clay, was opened up. as/rea StJ'wer/Jy iwas abundant in the Great Oolite, which comprised nearlyr a ft, of shelly blue-heart ed limestones with clay-parti ngs, thelayers of stone being wedge -bedded, and some of th em minutelycurrent-bedded.

The Great Oolit e Clay above was a dark and occasionallycoloured clay, with iron ston e nodules at the base.

The Cornbrash, more attenuated than by th e 'Waterworks,occurred in nodular masses, and yielded Os/reajla/J-//uides, Limapeclinijcmnis, and W aldheimia la;;enalis, ident ified by Mr. E . T.Newton. A point of considerab le interest in th is pit was th eway in which the beds of Great Oolite Lim estone became moreand more weath ered towards the outcrop, passing into rubble,then into crum bly marl, and finally into a brown calcareous loam,which was washed down the slopes. El sewhere th e joints in th eGreat Oolite Limestone were much weathered, and the fissuresand even minor cracks were filled with clay. In the Great OoliteClay above there were open cracks extending 2 or 3 ft. down toth e limestone, and thus in dry weather access was formed for rain ,which subsequently carried clay into the fissured limestone below.

There were indications also of slight unconformity between th eGreat Oolite Clay and Limestone, the former being seen to over­lap the higher layers of limestone.

The memb ers now turn ed their steps toward s Bedford, cross ­ing the old bridge at Bromham, where att ention was called to themeandering of the river. It was remarked that rivers in theirold age get sluggish, and have a tendency to wander from side toside, widening because th ey cannot deepen their channels. Whenonce the tendency to meander has been developed the processcontinues, the curves become more and more pronounced, andthey are gradually shifted down the course of th e river. Indealing with this subject Messrs. T. C. Chamberl in and R. D.Salisbury refer to the possible influence of the earth's rotation ininitiating the serpentine curves."

Thence the party walked on to the large gra vel-pit in theDeep Spinney at Biddenham, on the high road to Bedford .

• Se e I I Geology- Processes and their Results" J905. pp . 180-184.

EXCURSION TO BEDFORD. 145

Here about 18 ft. of gravel was exposed, the upper part decalcifiedand" piped" like the gravel near Oakley, while a good deal ofthe carbonate of lime had been re-deposited as a coating orcement in the white gravels.

It was at this locality that James Wyatt found the firstpalreolithic flint implements that were obtained in this countryafter their great antiquity had been established. Lyell.:" writing in1861, remarked, "I am laid up for a day or two after anexcursion to Bedford with Prestwich and Evans, to see a sectionwhere a Mr. Wyatt, editor of the Bedford provincial newspaper,has just found two fine hatchets of the true Amiens and Hoxnetype. They occurred in working a gravel pit at Beddingham"(Biddenham).

As pointed out by Mr. J. Hamson, the pit in which Mr.Wyatt discovered the implements was the old gravel-pit a littleto the north-west on the other side of the high road. Theimplements were found in the base of the gravel at a depth ofabout r e Tt., just above the limestone-rock. Wyatt procuredalso many land and freshwater mollusca, and remains ofElephas antiquus, E. primigenius (Mammoth), Equus, Bos,Cereus, Rhinoceros, and Hippopotamus. Portions of an elephant'stusk were brought before the party by a workman. From timeto time implements are now obtained at Biddenham Pit, but theyare more often found at Kempstone, on the southern side of theriver, and those purchased from the workmen may have comefrom one or other locality. Derived fossils, such as Saurian bonesand Jurassic fossils, are not uncommon.

Attention was now directed to a "cave" which had beenfound while working the gravel early in the month of April. Itwas about 5 ft. in height, length, and breadth; there was noartificial entrance, and no evidence of any human workmanship.The cavity had been boarded up, and through the courtesy of theproprietor, Mr. G. T. Jarvis, the members had the opportunity ofseeing it uncovered.

It was evidently similar in character to cavities described bySir John Evans in the valley gravel of the Little River Ousein Norfolk; these had been proved to arise through the sinkingof material into a "pipe" in the Chalk.j- In the present case itseemed most probable that material had" caved in " or tumbledinto a fissure in the Great Oolite Limestone below.

Not far away, in another part of the pit, the limestone wasexposed beneath the gravel to a depth of 10 ft. or more in alarge circular hole, the beds occurring in solid layers with notmany joints and with clayey and marly partings not whollyimpervious. No water was visible at the bottom. The positionof this limestone was rather above the level where it might have

* U Life, Letters. and Journals," vol, ii, p. 34of.t Geol, Mag., 1868, p. 443.

146 E XCURSION TO BEDFORD.

been expected, and tended to confirm the view that there wasan east and west fault to the north of the pit-perhaps thetrough fault to which reference was previously made.

Since the date of this visit Mr. G. T. Jarvis (writing Jun e 3rd)states that he propo sed to sink below the cave and open upa well, but after excavating the loose gravel and clay for 4 or 5 ft.down to the rock, he encountered a fissure 10 to 12 in. wide inthe limestone.

The party were now conducted through the pictu resque villageof Biddenham to Bedford. Here Mr. A. E. Hawk ins, who hadjoin ed the party at Bidd enham Gravel-pit, kindly invitedthe members to see the Museum belonging to the BedfordModern School. This contained a good general collection offossils, also many local specimens from the Jurassic Rocks andMammalian remain s from the Valley Gravels, which were ofspecial interest. By invitati on of Mr. W. Davis, the fine collec­tion of local flint implements in the Bedford Literary andScientific Institute was afterwards examined. After tea at th eHarpur Restaurant several members visited the Bunyan MeetingHouse, and were much interested in seeing the relics of th eimmortal writer there preserved. The party returned to Lond onby the 7.36 p.m. train.

R E FERE NCE S.

Geological Survey Map, I inch, New Series, Sh eet 203.1861. PRESTWICH.- " Discoveries of Flint I mplements." Quart . J ourn.

Geol. Soc., xvii , 366.1861-2. W YATT, J AMES.-u F inding of Fl int Implemen ts at Bedford."

Ctologist, iv, 242, and Quart. J ourn. Gee].. •Soc. , xviii, 113.1888. CAMERO N, A. C. G._Cl Excur sion to Bedford and Clapham." Proc ,

Geol, Assoc., x, 504.1894-5. WOODWARD, H. B._Cl Jurassic Rocks of Britain," iv, 396, 451 ;

v,51.1903. J. H OPKINSON and J. SAUNDERS.-u Geology of Bedfordshire."

Victoria County H isto,')'.1904. WOODWARD, H. B._Cl Anticl ine in Great Oolite Series a t Clapham,

N. of Bedford:' c.« Mag. (5), i, 439.