1869.] MACKINTOSH—LANCASHIRE AND CUMBERLAND DRIFTS. 411
c. Eagberg "Rockery." —In the Eagberg cliffs, north of Uncle
Tom's Cabin, both the laminated sand and pebble-beds have here
and there become consolidated into rock as hard as some kinds of
millstone-grit*. Owing to the formation of rain-ruts on each side
and the washing away of the looser matter underneath, fragments
of the sandstone or conglomerate become undermined and fall down.
In their descent they either reach the beach or become entangled in
the facing or talus of fallen clay. In the latter case they project
from a temporary matrix of soft or loose matter, in which they are
believed by the country people to have grown. The harder laminae
of sand and layers of pebbles project beyond the softer parts, giving
rise to fantastic shapes. In their merely fallen state they are, I
believe, of comparatively little value; but when they are reached by
spring tides, and smoothly rounded by the waves, they are highly
prized as ornaments to enclosures in front of houses &c. They sometimes
resemble certain styles of architecture, the gothic arch and
window included, and often mimic the table and smith's anvil. They
are believed to become harder by exposure to the sun. About
half a mile (some say a greater distance) from the present cliff-line a
very large split block, called Pennystone, may be seen, at the lowest-
water mark. It is a mass of consolidated middle drift, much too
large, it is believed, for the sea to displace. It is supposed to lie in
the spot where it fell from the then-existing sea-cliff, and is looked
upon as an evidence of the removal of half a mile of Eagberg hill
by the gradually encroaching sea since the days of Edward II. Near
it there is a smaller stone called the Carlin or Witch-stone; and both
stones are referred to in the following traditional couplet:—
Penny stood, Carlin fled, Red bank ran away†.
Except during exceptionally high tides, the sea does not now encroach on the "Red bank."
d. Lower Boulder-clay and Loam.—I have traced this formation under high-water level from a point nearly half a mile south of the New Pier to more than half a mile beyond Uncle Tom's Cabin. In most places it is temporarily, in some places perhaps permanently covered with recent sand and shingle; but it exhibits larger or smaller areas which at any time may be seen swept clean of all loose materials. Near the coast, where its surface slopes a little seaward, it resembles a hard artificial concrete pavement. Further out at sea, and at a lower level, its character is varied. The following notes
- It is interesting in connexion with this fact to notice that Mr. G. Maw has
observed hard blocks of consolidated sand and gravel occurring at a certain level though not in a connected band, in the drift intervening between the chalk and (Upper) Boulder-clay of the high ground of Suffolk (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. Jan. 23, 1867). This consolidated sand and gravel is probably of the same age with that at Blackpool.
† For this information I am indebted to the Rev. Mr. Thornber, of Blackpool, a well-informed antiquarian. Red bank signifies the drift-cliff reddened by the facing of Upper Boulder-clay, which is continually falling down and obscuring both the middle sand and gravel and Lower Boulder-clay.
VOL. XXV.—PART I. 2 F
