Ian West,

Romsey, Hampshire
and:
and:
School of Ocean and Earth Science ,
Southampton University,

Webpage hosted by courtesy of iSolutions, Southampton University
Aerial photographs by courtesy of The Channel Coastal Observatory , National Oceanography Centre, Southampton.

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INTRODUCTION:

Access

Sidmouth is a coastal holiday resort easily reached from the A375 from Honiton. It is also easily accessible from the A3052 from Lyme Regis (further east) or by the A3052 from Exeter (further west). It is not far from other coastal geological localities such as Budleigh-Salterton, Devon or Beer, Devon. There are car parks at both the east and western end of the seafront.

On foot the cliff to the east is immediately accessible across the stream at the eastern end of the promenade. The cliff to the west is best accessed from Jacob's Ladder at Chit Rocks. A low tide is needed for good access to the western part.

Access to Ladram Bay and adjacent coast is from or through the village of Otterton. Ladram Bay has a large holiday caravan park which extends down to the coast. the coastal footpath passes through the seaward side of the camp site. Access to the coast is easy from Otterton by following local roads to the southeast. Then there is a path leading on past Monk Wall to the coastal footpath. This path then gives access to Ladram Bay and on to High Peak if required. It also gives access to a long stretch of coast to the southwest, heading for Budleigh Salterton. Ladram Bay can also be reached from Sidmouth by a walk up and over the summit of High Peak.

INTRODUCTION:

Safety

There is serious risk of rock-fall from the cliffs on either side of Sidmouth. Pieces can fall from the cliffs of Ladram Bay and elsewhere. Falls can occur in dry weather in addition to wet conditions. The site of falls, where more rocks may descend, are often marked by fresh debris on the beach (usually red broken material here). Avoid such places and certainly do not linger at such sites. Obviously visitors and visiting parties should observe the cliffs carefully and avoid the most hazardous parts, and preferably wear safety helmets. Keeping down on the beach, away from the cliffs wherever possible is advised, but this is not always feasible when studying geology. Beware of being trapped by a rising tide and refer to tide tables in advance of a visit. Low tide is essential if proceeding far to the west of Sidmouth. There can, of course, always be some risk of falling down cliffs if the edge is too closely approached. The Mercia Mudstone is very crumbly and much of the Otter Sandstone is not necessarily stable.

INTRODUCTION:

General

The red Permo-Triassic strata form the foundations of Sidmouth and the area around, including as far east as Seaton and to the west at Budleigh Salterton and beyond. They are continental deposits from the great landmass of Pangaea, dating from about 295-250 for the Permian, and from about 250 to 203 million years ago for the Trias. In general they represent continental, desert and semi-desert conditions. There are aeolian deposits, fluvial sediments and evaporites, including gypsum and halite. They are of typical "red-bed" facies, with some green reduced beds and reduction spots in places.

The cliffs adjacent to Sidmouth provide excellent exposures of Triassic part of the sequence of red beds. East of Sidmouth there are extensive exposures of the Mercia Mudstone (later Trias), with some Otter Sandstone (older Trias) exposed near the River Sid. To the west, the Otter Sandstone is present at Chit Rocks (Jacob's Ladder). Beyond a fault at the steps, the Mercia Mudstone is exposed in the cliffs. Further on, near Peak Hill, the gentle eastern dip brings the sandstone up at the base of the cliff. At the west of the bay the Otter Sandstone forms a series of sea stacks. Permian strata are further west in the Exmouth to Dawlish region. This is a good coast for geomorphology and sedimentary structures, but it is not an easy place for fossil collecting. Some vertebrate remains have been found east of Sidmouth. Upper Greensand and Clay-with-Flints is present at the highest cliff tops both east and west of Sidmouth.

INTRODUCTION:

Geological Maps

The geology of the Sidmouth area is fairly straightforward. The Otter Sandstone (beneath) and the red Mercia Mudstone (above) are the Triassic units. There is a major unconformity at the base of the Albian, with some Gault overlain by a thick sequence of Upper Greensand. Some Chalk lies above, but much of it has been eroded away. Some Pleistocene Clay with Flints and Chert is present on hill tops, lying on a dissolved surface of Chalk. There are thin sheets of colluvium, head, gravel and river-valley alluvium.

Both the old edition and the new edition of the geological map bring out the same main features. The geology of the area is not complicated, and thus the Victorian geological mappers, including Sir Henry de la Beche obtained basically correct outcrops and structures. The old map (1906 Drift, and later reprints) is on the scale of 1 inch to 1 mile. If comparision is made, it appears at first sight, like a simpler version of the 2005 edition, with less information on Drift deposits.

The new map, Sidmouth, Sheet 326 and parts of 340, is a Solid and Drift map published in 2005. This edition is on the scale of 1:50,000 and shows more detail. The general outcrop pattern is the same, but formations are renamed and new subdivisions have been introduced. More faults are shown and their continuation offshore is indicated. There is more information regarding Quaternary deposits and collovium conceals much of the Mercia Mudstone (Keuper Marls on the old map). The geology of the offshore area is shown on the new map but not on the old map. The new map is about twice the size of the old version, partly because deep cross sections are shown beneath the actual map. The stratigraphical columns are more detailed with good (metric) information on thicknesses.

With the map is an explanatory booklet: Edwards, R.A. and Gallois, R.W. 2004. Geology of the Sidmouth District; a brief explanation of the geological map, Sheets 326 and 340 Sidmouth, 30pp, including references.

The new map and explanatory booklet can be obtained from the: British Geological Survey Bookshop.

INTRODUCTION:

Cliff Sections

STRATIGRAPHY:

Introduction

.

STRATIGRAPHY:

Otter Sandstone Formation, Sherwood Sandstone Group, Trias

The Otter Sandstone Formation is exposed in the cliffs west of Sidmouth and dips gently to the east. Up to 210 m were proved in a borehole near Otterton, and the formation is 145 m thick in the Musbury Borehole (Edwards and Gallois, 2004). It consists mainly of reddish orange-brown, weakly to moderately cemented, cross-bedded, fine- and medium-grained sandstone, with subordinate units of conglomerate and mudstone that occur as discontinuous lenses and sheets. The conglomerates are mostly intraformational, mainly less than 0.5 m thick, well cemented with calcite, and are interbedded at regular intervals (1-6 m) within the sequence. The mudstones are mainly reddish brown and up to about 2 m thick. Calcareous concretions are locally common, forming subhorizontal sheets, near-vertical cylinders and nodules. Vertical concretions may have precipitated around plant roots, and complex networks of calcareously cemented plant roots are prominent at many horizons. The sheets may represent cementation around ancient water tables ( Purvis and Wright, 1991).

Sedimentary structures indicate that the lowest part of the Otter Sandstone at Budleigh Salterton (just west of the district) was deposited as wind-blown sand. Most of the Otter Sandstone was deposited in braided and meandering stream channels with highly variable flow rates in arid or semi-arid environments. Cross-bedding indicates that the rivers flowed from south to north. Fossil vertebrates, including terrestrial reptile and amphibian remains in the sandstones and channel-lag gravels and fish in the mudstones, indicate a Middle Triassic, probably Anisian age (Benton and Spencer, 1995; Spencer and Storrs, 2002).

STRATIGRAPHY:

Mercia Mudstone

The Mercia Mudstone Group is exposed in the cliffs on both sides of Sidmouth. The group is about 450 m thick at outcrop in the district. The Sidmouth Mudstone and Branscombe Mudstone formations (Gallois, 2001) consist of small-scale rhythms comprising fissile, brownish red mudstone overlain by reddish orange muddy siltstone. Each rhythm probably reflects a change from a wetter to a drier climate. Thin but laterally persistent beds of green mudstone are present, many of which are finely laminated or partially dolomitised. Green strata make up about 45 per cent of the sequence in the highest 19 m of the Branscombe Mudstone, giving rise to distinctive red and green striped beds. Thin beds of siltstone or very fine-grained sandstone occur at a few levels, and thin, fining-upwards beds of fine- to medium-grained sandstone also occur at three stratigraphicallevels in the Branscombe Mudstone. Gypsum is common throughout both formations, and is the dominant constituent of the 10 m-thick Red Rock Gypsum Member of the Branscombe Mudstone.

STRATIGRAPHY:

Cretaceous Strata

.

LOCATIONS:

East of Sidmouth

LOCATIONS:

West of Sidmouth (Jacob's Ladder and Peak Hill)

LOCATIONS: West of Sidmouth

Possible Uranium Mineralisation?

About 9.5 km to the southwest of the locality discussed here are the radioactive uranium-vanadium nodules in the Littleham Mudstone (near the Permian-Trias boundary) at Littleham Cove. Higher in the Mercia Mudstone (i.e. about 160 or 170 metres above this level) Gallois et al. (2004) have reported fossil wood impregnated with copper silver and uranium minerals. Shown in the photograph above is some black mineralisation that is slightly radioactive and is occurring just beneath a green-red, reduction front. It is not clear as to whether associated black specs are plant remains. Sidmouth, DevonWoodward and Ussher (1911) recorded plant remains, including a plant stem, at the base of the Sidmouth Mudstone Formation (lower part of Mercia Mudstone) This is where uranium mineralisation might be expected, in comparison with the "roll front" model. The minerals require further study.

LOCATIONS: West of Sidmouth

The Discovery of Labyrinthodonts under High Peak Hill

The following comments about the discovery of vertebrate remains in the upper part of the Otter Sandstone under High Peak Hill, west of Sidmouth were given by Woodward and Ussher (1911):

The outcrop of the Upper Sandstones at the base of the cliff naturally depends upon the scour of the shingle beach. They were found to dip beneath sandy marls at somewhat less than half a mile west of the Chit Rocks. The Sandstones crop out on the cliff, on the slope of High Peak hill (513 feet) at between 200 and 300 yards from the fault at Conger Pool. They are overlain by red sandy marls, mottled greenish, and containing buff, grey, and greenish bands of laminated sandstone, often with ripple-marked surfaces, and with occasional pseudomorphs after rock salt. Between High Peak and Peak Hills the cliff is known as Windgate or Windygate. It is much obscured by slips and debris, and furrowed by rain channels, but by a path to the summit the basement beds of the Keuper Marls may be examined at intervals in vertical section.

In 1875 Dr. Johnston-Lavis [Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, 1876, vol. 32, p. 274] discovered the remains of Labyrinthodon lavisi Seeley, [the Labyrinthodonts were large amphibians with conical teeth with a characteristic convoluted structure] below the western slope of High Peak hill at Picket Rock Cove, in fallen blocks and debris from several beds in the cliff" situated about 10 feet from the top of the sandstone." In this talus Dr. Carter subsequently obtained bone structures of Labyrinthodont affinities, and a fragment of jaw-bone, with teeth. In 1882 Mr. A. T. Metcalfe visited the spot and also found osseous structures. He locates the talus on the beach, in which these remains were found, as directly under" a stile on the brink of the cliff, whence a stratum in the sandstones, somewhat lighter in colour than the rest, may be seen dipping to the east. This stratum is very near the junction with the Upper Marls." Mr. Metcalfe was of opinion that the talus with Osseous structures had fallen from this lighter coloured bed, but adds that the late P. O. Hutchinson had assigned a lower horizon. The diagram mentioned by Mr. Metcalfe is no doubt a replica of a careful coloured section by Mr. Hutchinson, of the Sidmouth coast, dated Oct. 8, 1878, that has been recently presented to the British Association Trias Committee. In this section the Labyrinthodont bed is placed at 100 feet above the talus on the beach, and about 50 feet below the base of the Keuper Marls. Two white bands are shown in the uppermost beds of the Sandstone, and above them, at the base of the Marls, a band containing plant-remains. In talus from this band, at Windygate, Hutchinson obtained a plant stem in May, 1878. Dr. Johnston-Lavis described the ossiferous zone as " nearly hard enough in some places for building purposes, containing here and there masses of marl varying in size from that of a pea to that of a hen's egg." " In these beds," he adds, " ripple marks are very plentiful."

For 40 or 50 feet above the plant-bed at Windygate, Hutchinson's section shows lines of geodes in the marls, containing calcspar [calcite] crystals, and in one of the lower bands crystals of celestine [celestite](sulphate of strontium) had formed on them. Above these he placed the band in which pseudomorphs after rock salt had been found. These latter, however, occur also higher up in thin bands which often display ripple marks."

Fragments of bone have also been found by the Rev. S.H. Cook (1876) in a faulted block of Otter Sandstone, just to the west of the main Otter Sandstone outcrop at Jacob's Ladder (Chit Rock).

LOCATIONS: West of Sidmouth

Rhynchosaurs, Reptiles of the Triassic Otter Sandstone

The remains of Rhynchosaur reptiles have been found in the Otter Sandstone in the Sidmouth to Budleigh Salterton area. At the very bottom of the Otter Sandstone Mr Whitaker found remains of Hyperodapedon. See Whitaker (1869) and (Johnston-Lavis, 1876) . Shown above is a speculative reconstruction of the head of Hyperodapedon (based on a skull inRomer (1955)). East Devon was just a small part of the huge desert and semi-desert of Pangaea during Triassic times, about 250 million to 209 million years ago.

Hyperodapedon (Johnston-Lavis, 1876) is a genus of rhynchosaur, a beaked, archosaur-like reptile. It is also known from the Trias of Elgin, Scotland, the Trias of the Parana Basin, Brazil, the Trias of India etc. It was probably a common land creature of Pangaea at this time (about 230 million years ago).

The records mentioned above are very old and of historic interest. For modern technical information on Rhynchosaurs from the Trias of the Devon Coast see: Hone and Benton (2008), and references therein.

LOCATION:

Ladram Bay - Introduction

Ladram Bay provides excellent exposures of the Otter Sandstone Formation, the uppermost unit of the Sherwood Sandstone Group. The bay and its surrounding region is a beautiful stretch of coast, with only one site of permanent building development and that is on the cliff top at the centre of Ladram Bay. The natural cliff scene is very impressive with magnificent sea stacks of red Otter Sandstone.

Much of the coast near here can be difficult to access, especially at high tide, but Ladram Bay is easy because there is a direct ramp down to the beach. However, it is not normally possible to walk on ths shore beyond the limits of the beach in a northwest or southeast direction. From Ladram Bay there is a good coastal path over High Peak to the northwest and there is a long coastal path on the cliff southwest towards Budleigh Salterton.

LOCATION:

Ladram Bay - Otter Sandstone - Cross Stratification

LOCATION:

Ladram Bay - Clay Lenses

Lenses of red mudstone, originally clay, are common in the Otter Sandstone Formation, Sherwood Sandstone Group at Ladram Bay and adjacent areas, Devon. In a sense they represent early temporary appearances of Mercia Mudstone facies. They are very obvious just below the change to Mercia Mudstone

At first sight these mud deposits resemble the fills or plugs of channels and appear to be a type of abandonment facies (they are labelled as "clay plugs" on some photographs but there should be correction to "clay lens"). However, greenish-grey reduced horizons within the red mudstone reveal the details of the bedding. If the clay fill had taken place in quiet water in an abandoned channel, thus forming a true clay plug, then the laminae should be horizontal in relation to bedding. However, this is not the case. The greenish laminae are concave upward and slope up and thin towards the margins of the features. Thus the clay fills are the result of deposition during the influence of some current activity.

Convolutions are present in some cases. This may be the result of liquefaction of the water-saturated clay. Such contortion could occur as a result of earthquake shocks or it may have some relationship to compaction processes. It is not understood at present.

Ladram Bay - Geomorphology - Cliff Erosion and Beach Features

LOCATION:

Sandy Cove, Hern Rock and Other Stacks

The coast path ascends from Ladram Bay up towards High Peak Hill. There are some viewpoints from the cliff edge on the way. Sandy Cove and Hern Rock (or Hern Point Rock), a sea stack, can be seen from one or two of these. Sandy Cove is not normally accessible except by boat. In the upper photograph, notice the smaller stack beyond and on the far side of the next cove (to the southeast). That is the stack with clay plugs shown which is shown in the lower photograph taken from the cliff top very close to it.

The Otter Sandstone Formation of the Sherwood Sandstone Group is conspicuously cross-bedded at Hern Rock as elsewhere. In the upper part of the stack some clay plugs can be seen. These are shallow depression of some type filled with clay that is now of a dark red colour. The red colour of the oxidised sediments was probably not the original colour. The semi-arid fluvial sediments were probably originally brown (Sahara Desert colour) and stained by ferric hydroxides (limonite or goethite) but now after burial at moderate temperatures the ferric hydroxide has been converted largely into hematite (ferric oxide). This is a normal process and has been seen to commence in the sediments under a Californian desert. They become redder downwards and can be changed towards a more hematite-rich composition in just a few million years.

The greater development of clay plugs towards the top of the stack may be because the junction of the Otter Sandstone and overlying Mercia Mudstone is not very far above the level of the top of the stack. The cliff-top footpath passes over this boundary shortly before the gate into the forest of High Peak Hill is reached.

LOCATION:

Cliffs Between Ladram Bay and the Mouth of the River Otter

The South West Coast Path extends for about 3 km. to the southwest from Ladram Bay to the mouth of the River Otter, opposite to Budleigh Salterton. This path can be reached quite easily from Otterton (Piscombe Lane, Stantyway Farm, Monks Wall area). Study the Ordnance Survey map and you can see that a circular walk is quite easy and is only about 6 or 7 km.

Another direction from which the path can be reached is from near Budleigh Salterton. Note that it cannot be reached directly from the Budleigh Salterton beach at the mouth of the Otter because the river, although narrow, is deep and dangerous to cross, and has strong currents. However, not far away, northeast of Budleigh Salterton, there is a bridge over the River Otter near Kersbrook and South Farm and the footpath can be joined here.

The Coast Path on the peninsula of Otter Sandstone (Sherwood Sandstone, Trias) south of Otterton gives good cliff-top views. However there is no access to the seaward shore on any of the stretch between Ladram Bay and the southern tip near Danger Point. The lack of shore-access is because of vertical cliffs that are not cut by stream valleys, so there is no way down. To study this coast properly a boat would be needed. On the cliff top there are some viewpoints and headlands from which the cliffs can be seen (as in photographs here).

The Otter Sandstone in this stretch of coast can be examined to some extent with binoculars or a telephoto camera lens, but the situation is not ideal. This is unfortunate because this stretch of cliffs exposes the main lower and central part of the Otter Sandstone, whereas Ladram Bay (easily accessible) mostly has the upper part exposed. From the cliff top it is not easy to see if this rather lower part of the Otter Sandstone is much different. Clay lenses seem rare compared to the section in Ladram Bay, but it is not clear whether they really are less common or whether that they are just not easily seen (I only recognised one). It is quite likely that because the rather higher Ladram Bay section contains more clay lenses because it is closer to the Mercia Mudstone sequence above.

LOCATION:

Mouth of the River Otter, East Side -
Accessible Otter Sandstone Exposure

(See also:
Budleigh Salterton Webpage for continuation from the mouth of the River Otter southwestward.)

LOCATION:

Mouth of the River Otter, East Side -
Rhizoconcretions in the Otter Sandstone

A small exposure of the basal part of the Otter Sandstone can be easily reached by a path down at the eastern shore of the River Otter near its mouth. You cannot get round from this small riverside exposure to the large Otterton Ledge to the south, and there no further good exposure up the river. It is not normally possible to cross the river to Budleigh Salterton.

This locality is interesting for rhizoconcretions, carbonate concretions around former roots in the Otter Sandstone. They are very well-developed here in a bed just above beach level. They are also present in the outer cliffs near Brandy Point, and at Danger Point as shown in photographs above. See the webpage on Budleigh Salterton for more on Otter Sandstone rhizoconcretions. A photograph above shows Quaternary rhizoconcretions from Cyprus, is shown for comparison. These relatively modern examples are very similar.

A desert environment in Qatar with xerophyte plants is shown above. The Triassic environment during deposition of part of the Otter Sandstone may have looked rather like this. However, angiosperm plants (i.e. like the xerophytes shown here) had not yet evolved, and it is not known just what type of vegetation produced these roots.

Another interesting feature of the Otter Sandstone near the mouth of the river is the presence of a dark grey breccia with clasts of quartz. It also contains reworked fragments of rhizoconcretions, showing that the carbonate was precipitated around the roots at an early stage, penecontemporaneously.

A GREAT HURRICANE HITS SIDMOUTH

In November 1824, the "Great Gale" struck Sidmouth. This was the greatest storm in the region since Daniel Defoe's 1703 storm, and may have been a one-in-250 year storm. It was clearly recognised as something resembling the hurricanes of the Carribean, Florida and Gulf of Mexico (i.e like Hurricane Katrina). A naval officer said that the wind was stronger than the West Indian hurricanes (Committee on Scientific Memoranda, 1903). There was significant attack on the cliffs and some very bad coastal flooding at Sidmouth from the combined effect of the waves and the high storm surge (probably about 3 or more metres above high spring tide level). Here are some eyewitness accounts of Sidmouth under storm attack:

"A violent storm all night, quite a Hurricane! I never heard any-thing at all like it! The whole House shook, and our beds were rocked under us, as if they had felt the shock of an Earthquake! . . . (Nov. 24.) A most aweful scene presented itself to us this morning! Such a storm has not been Witnessed in the memory of man! . . . The sea poured in last night, and has very nearly destroyed the whole of the houses in front of it! The water came up as high as Harris'. The grocers, and people were taken out of their beds at night and conveyed in Boats to a place of Shelter: Everyone has lost something, and some poor people Every thing: never was there such a scene of devastation! All the Cottages under the Cliff were washed away: The Beach Walk is entirely destroyed, and covered with Shingle. Wallis' library is nearly knocked to pieces: and old Chit Rock, that gave its character to the Coast Scenery, is thrown down and nothing but its base remains. The rising of the sea was so sudden, that it almost appears to have been the effect of an earthquake! No language can describe the sad and desolate appearance which the Beach now presents, and the poor sufferers walking about, drenched in water, hardly knowing where to go or what to do, is enough to break one's heart...
I never was more frightened in my, life than during the night. I almost expected the House to have fallen down. . . . It was impossible to sleep. . . . I can hardly attempt to describe my feelings. . . . The noise of the wind was like incessant Thunder, but there was something in it still more aweful and supernatural. It seemed to rage so perfectly without controul-so wild and free that nothing I ever heard before could be at all compared to it."
(Extract from an on-the-spot report from a Sidmouth resident, recorded in a diary and reproduced by Committee on Scientific Memoranda (1903)).

A fairly detailed account was given by P.O. Hutchinson in his History of Sidmouth, part of which was reproduced in Committee on Scientific Memoranda (1903). Here is an extract:

"The Chet-rock stood near the south end of the reef. It was about 40 ft high, much beloved by the fishermen as on steering in it was the first mark they made. Annually one of them was crowned as its king. At low tide he and his court marched out and scrambled to its top where they waved their caps, cheered, and drank to the King of Chet (including the King of England) in smuggled brandy. Along the reef extended a labyrinth of stakes and nets called the 'Ram's horn'. At 8 a.m. on Tuesday, 22nd November the glass stood at 29.49. It was new moon, and the tide high at 11.45 a.m. The afternoon was fine and calm but freshened towards evening and the glass sank to 28.25. Mr. Stone, grocer Market place had a party, but it began to rain and blow from S.W. so that he offered them shake-downs. But they bundled on old shawls etc and left. There was only rainwater in the street then. So many slates were blown off he could not sleep and at 4 a.m. found his ground-floor full of water to the knees. He began clearing the shop but the enemy reached his armpits and washed papers off the mantelpiece. J. Pile, ironmonger (now Selleks) in Fore St. saw it full of water and a door wash past. A bag of nails was rusted into a solid mass. Mrs. Mogridge 7 York Terrace found boats etc battering her wall, and bored through a partition into No. 6 for escape. Lodgers at Mr. Pursey's (Canister House) were much distressed. A sick lady had to be taken from a warm bed into a wet boat. The York was much injured. Mr. Hall draper (now Fields) saw sailors, row across the Market-place and rescue ladies from (Pepperells) opposite. The cottagers under Clifton-place escaped to the top 10 min before the houses were washed away. Wallis Library (now the Bedford Hotel) had its Billiard-table broken against the fire-place, and a piano washed into the sitting room. The children were lowered into a drifting boat at the back by blankets - one by mistake into the water, of which he informed them in loud tones. May (gardener) saw it flow up to High St. (now Veales) where it was met by a land-flood and a boat rowed up Old and round into New Fore St. The landlord of the London Hotel saw a specially big wave about 5 a.m. burst in the door of the chemist (now Penberthys) sweep round the shop and reappear laden with bottles & pill-boxes. Edmondson of Bond St. had opened a shop for costly silks in Marine-place and the ball's were found all over the town next day. Mr. Yeates at dawn dragged himself by the railings to the beach, and to his dismay Chet-rock was no longer to be seen. The familiar old mass had been knocked over in the night. Fragments lay about on the reef for two years after. A subscription of 3000 pounds was raised for the sufferers of which Honiton gave the noble sum of 600 pounds.

I only arrived in January 1825 but the most beautiful watering-place of England looked still like a bombarded city. A cart was backed against Marlborough place and men were shovelling pebbles out of the windows into it. A naval officer said the wind was stronger than West Indian hurricanes. The effects long remained. The shrinkage of population (as shown by Registrar's return) and of popularity were due partly to the growth of Torquay, but more to this catastrophe. Depression weighed on our trade for 40 years till it slowly began to revive about 1865. Mr. Hubert Cornish's view of the Rock is inaccurate. It was more like Great-picket."

Some further details of events here have been given elsewhere:

".. the great storm at Sidmouth, and of the conduct of the excellent Mrs. Partington on that occasion. In the winter of 1824, there set in a great flood upon that town -- the tide rose to an incredible height - the waves rushed in upon the houses, and everything was threatened with destruction. In the midst of this sublime and terrible storm, Dame Partington, who lived upon the beach, was seen at the door of her house with mop and pattens, trundling her mop, squeezing out the sea-water, and vigorously pushing away the Atlantic Ocean..."

( The Project Gutenberg eBook, Sydney Smith, by George W. E. Russell). (The futility of the Sidmouth resident trying to mop back the sea was used by writer Sydney Smith as an example of the futility of trying to stop the reform of Parliament.)

See also: Sidmouth Storm of 1824 in: Devon-L Archives. By Robert J. Newton. The extract below is taken from the book "A Story of Sidmouth", by Anna Sutton [1973] (ISBN 0 85033 113 7).

"At 4 o'clock in the morning of 23rd November, 1824, a storm of such violence occurred that the family of Bolt, occupying one of the cottages on the shore, had to seek shelter in the house above. Very shortly after, the cottages were swept away.
As the day dawned, an appalling sight presented itself. The gardens in front of the houses were laid bare and covered with shingle. .." [continues]

Fisherman's cottages under the cliff at the west side of Sidmouth near Chit Rock which were washed away at the time of the 1824 storm and are shown in an etching of 1815 reproduced by Devon Library and Information Services - Local Study Service. It was out of these cottages that the occupiers escaped up the cliff with their pig.

A hundred years later, in 1924, severe weather washed away much of the shingle from the protective shingle beach and breached the sea wall. Thus, the town was flooded again in that year (Sidmouth Museum, 2000), probably at the same date as Chiswell, on the Isle of Portland, was flooded (see Chesil Beach storm webpage).

In many respects Sidmouth resembles West Bay or Bridport Harbour. This is also a low naturally-reclaimed estuary separated from the sea by a shingle beach and occasionally flooded in the past. At both places there has been historic removal of shingle material from the beach. At both there has been replenishment of the beach in recent years by adding shingle. Inevitably, the one-in-250 year hurricane will eventually return. It remains to be seen whether the Sidmouth sea-wall is high enough to prevent flooding from a several metre storm surge coming up the English Channel. In addition there is the problem of rising sea level. This effect, though, is steady and progressive and is more damaging in the long term. It is the sudden occurrence of a major hurricane that is a continuing risk in both short and long term. It might not happen for a hundred and fifty years, or it could appear next November. Fortunately many buildings in Sidmouth are on higher ground above possible sea-flood level. Given good luck, when the hurricane happens the sea-wall might by then be a very high and rock-faced embankment.

ERRATICS AND SARSENS

Salcombe Hill

Silicified breccia and sandstone at Salcombe Hill, Devon, have attracted attention because they seem to be sarsen stones at or near their location of origin. Here is some description and comment summarised by Woodward and Ussher (1899).

"Attention was first drawn by Buckland to the occurrence of "pebbles of fat quartz" on the uplands; also to the presence of rounded pebbles of chalk flint, and near Sidmouth of "large blocks of a siliceous breccia, composed of chalk flints united by a strong siliceous cement, and differing from the Hertfordshhe pudding-stone only in the circumstance of the imbedded flints being mostly angular, instead of rounded as in the stone of Hertfordshire." He therefOl'e inferred "that there was a time when the chalk covered all those spaces on which the angular chalk flints are at this time found"; and that there is also reason to think that the plastic clay formation was nearly coextensive with the chalk."

Large blocks of this siliceous breccia may be seen on Salcombe Hill, and beach pebbles formed of it are polished and sold as " Sidmouth pebbles." The occurrence of beds of Tertiary age was discussed by Godwin-Austen (1822 and 1826 - Transactions of the Geological Society), who commented on the occurrence of siliceous breccia near Sidmouth:

"This breccia affords proof of a long post-Cretaceous period of tranquil deposition, and of a subsequent one of destruction, of both of which it is the sole remaining indication. "Besides the breccia, there are large slabs composed partly of similar materials, and in part (taking the blocks according to their thickness) of a compact, fine-grained sandstone, some blocks containing only an occasional flint, but some none at all, in which cases they are mineralogical greywether sandstones; and may probably be the equivalents of those siliceous masses, warranting, a presumption at least, that Tertiary deposits once extended wherever this breccia now occurs; for the blocks are so angular that they cannot be supposed to have been conveyed from a distance."

There was a report on these sarsen stones at Salcombe Hill, regarding a field excursion led by Woodward and Ussher (1899).

"April 1st 1899. - Leaving Seaton soon after 9 a.m., the members were driven along the new Beer road and across the plateau of Chalk and Upper Greensand, by Stovar Long Lane to Holy Head ,419 ft.), and past Hangman's Stone (479 ft.), to the top of Salcombe Hill (557 ft.). Here, alighting from the vehicles [horse-drawn carriages], they took the track leading by South Down Farm towards the brow of the cliffs. Attention was arrested by some large blocks of siliceous breccia, and these were presumed to be relics of former Eocene deposits which once spread across the area, and to which further reference was subsequently made. Long ago Mr. Godwin-Austen remarked on the resemblance of these blocks to greywethers ... The included fragments were angular, but, as Mr. Clement Reid had shown, the materials forming the Bagshot gravels were more and more angular as they were traced westwards.." [continues]

See also Bristow on sarsens at north of the Bovey Basin, Devon.

ERRATICS AND SARSENS

Boulders, Salcombe Fishing Grounds, English Channel

Hunt (1880, 1881, 1883, 1885) found a considerable number of foreign blocks in the Salcombe fishing grounds, some 30 to 50 km south of the Devon coast. Of 40 blocks described, there is granite, microgranulite, serpentine, syenite, gabbro, diorite, basalt, "diabase" (dolerite), trachyte, gneiss, quartz grit, conglomerate, sandstone and chalk flints and other rock types. They are discussed further by Prestwich (1892). The serpentine is precisely like the Cornish varieties. Surprisingly the other igneous rocks could not with certainty be ascribed to the English or French coasts. The gneiss resembled Hebridean gneiss from Scotland.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Although this webpage is joint, it should noted that Dr. Ramues Gallois is the geological expert on this area, and Ian West is merely a geological visitor (although mainly responsible for writing the webpages). Ian is particularly grateful to Ramues for information and advice and guidance in the field. The photograph of the silificied tree fern Tempskya is thanks to the finder of this unusual pebble - Rita Morgan. Ian West is very grateful to her for photographs and information on the discovery.

TOPICS

Mammoths of Sidmouth

Teeth of Mammoth (Elephas primigenius) have been found in the bed of the River Sid half a mile from its mouth Woodward and Ussher (1911). Two teeth of Mammoth were found in clay under Sidmouth Beach by Hutchinson who presented them to Exeter Museum. Tusks, bones and teeth of elephant and rhinoceras occur in all the South Devon valleys from the Exe to Lyme Regis. This is not surprising since these animals were the common inhabitants of Devon, until only about 10,000 years ago, when man and/or climatic changes led to the present, abnormally impoverished mammalian fauna of the region.

Also of interest is the submerged forest, that was found after heavy gales on the foreshore at Sidmouth, opposite the Fort field on the west of the river mouth Woodward and Ussher (1911). Stumps of trees were found at 2.4 metres (8 feet) below high water mark. It is not known whether these represent the remains of the common Neolithic submerged forest which is found around much of the south coast of England. If so, this, of course, would be much younger than the elephant remains.

Now go west to:

Budleigh Salterton?

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES

See also:
Bibliography of Petroleum Geology of the South of England, particularly with reference to the Sherwood Sandstone reservoir rock at the Wytch Farm Oilfield.

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Bateson , J.H. (compiler) 1987. Geochemical and geophysical investigations of Permian (Littleham Mudstone) sediments of part of Devon. British Geological Survey Mineral Reconnaissance Programme Report, No. 89.

Bateson, J.H. and Johnson, C.C. 1992. Reduction and related phenomena in the New Red Sandstone of south-west England. British Geological Survey Technical Report, WP/92/1.
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Benton , M. J, and Spencer, P.S. 1995. Fossil reptiles of Great Britain. Geological Conservation Review Series, No. 10. (London: Chapman and Hall.)
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Bowman , M.B.J., McClure, N.M. and Wilkinson, D.W. 1993. Wytch Farm oilfield: deterministic reservoir description of the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone. In: Parker, J.R. (ed), Petroleum Geology of Northwest Europe: Proceedings of the 4th Conference. The Geological Society, London, 1513-1518.
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British Geological Survey . 2005. England and Wales, Sheet 326, Sidmouth, Solid and Drift. 1:50,000 Series, British Geological Survey, NERC. Original geological survey at 1:63,360 scale on One-Inch Maps 21 and 22 by De La Beche, CB, F.R.S. Resurved on the One-Inch Old Series Maps by H.B. Woodward, W.A.E. Ussher and C. Reid, 1873-6 and the geology transferred to the New Series Maps with additions by A.J. Jukes-Browne, in 1894-5. Published with drift, 1906. Reconstituted from the one-inch scale without geological revision and reprinted onto the 7th Series One Inch base at 1:50,000 in 1974. Surveyed at 1:10,000 scale by R.A. Edwards, R.W. Gallois, R.J.O. Hamblin, R.A. Ellison, A. J. Newell and A.C. Popple between 1987 and 2000. P.J. Strange, Regional Geologist, Seismic interpretation by S. Holloway. Marine Geology by C.D.R. Evans and N.P.J. Smith. Published 2005. David A Falvey, Ph.D. Executive Director, British Geological Survey.
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Cook, S.H. 1876. [Bone fragments in the Otter Sandstone near Chit Rock]. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, vol. 32, p. 277.
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De la Beche , H.T. 1822. Remarks on the geology of the south coast of England from Bridport Harbour, Dorset to Babbacombe Bay, Devon. Transactions of the Geological Society, London, series 2, vol. 1, pp. 40-47.
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Dorset County Council. 2000. Nomination of the Dorset and East Devon Coast for Inclusion in the World Heritage List. 149 pp. By Dorset County Council, Devon County Council and Dorset Coast Forum, June 2000, with the help of various contributors. Published by Dorset County Council on behalf of Dorset County Council, Devon County Council and Dorset Coast Forum. Publication of this nomination has been supported by English Nature and the Countryside Agency, and has been advised by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and the British Geological Survey.
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Dranfield , P., Begg, S.H. and Carter, R.R. 1987. Wytch Farm Oilfield: reservoir characterisation of the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone for input into reservoir simulation studies. In: Brooks, J. and Glennie, K. (eds), Petroleum Geology of North West Europe, Graham & Trotman, London, 494-503.
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Durrance , E.M. and Laming, D.J.C. (Editors) 1982 (reprinted 1985, paperback, and 1993). The Geology of Devon. University of Exeter Press. 346 pp. ISBN 0 85989 247 6. "Preface: Geological Field Work: It has often been remarked that geology is a subject best studied by actually looking at rocks, minerals and fossils, and their structures and relationships, in the field. Therefore, although this book mainly deals with descriptions from an interpretative viewpoint, at the end of each appropriate chapter a number of localities are listed which will serve to illustrate the main points dealt with in the text. The localities are mainly arranged in subject groupings, although some geographical subdivision is also present. Excursions to specific areas of Devon, to include visits to a number of sites of different character, may thus be constructed with the aid of the appropriate Ordnance Survey and Geological Survey maps, according to individual requirements.
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Edwards R. A., Warrington, G., Scrivener, R. C., Jones, N. S., Haslam, H. W., and Ault, L. 1997. The Exeter Group, south Devon, England: a contribution to the early post-Variscan stratigraphy of northwest Europe. Geological Magazine, Vol. 134, 177-197.

Edwards, R.A. and Gallois, R.W. 2004. Geology of the Sidmouth District: a brief explanation of the geological map. Sheet Explanation of the British Geological Survey. 1:50,000 Sheets 326 and 340 Sidmouth (England and Wales). NERC 2004. Keyworth Nottingham: British Geological Survey. 30pp. Obtainable from BGS, British Geological Survey Bookshop, online.

Edwards, R. A., and Scrivener, R. C. 1999. Geology of the Country around Exeter. Memoir of the British Geological Survey, Sheet 325 (England and Wales).
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Egdon Resources Plc. 2006. Portland Gas Storage Project Update, 28th June 2006. Available online.
Egdon Resources Plc (AIM : EDR), the onshore UK focused energy company, today provides an update on its gas storage project on the Isle of Portland in Dorset. Portland Gas Limited (Portland Gas), a wholly owned subsidiary of Egdon Resources Plc, is pleased to report that drilling operations for the Portland-1 borehole have been completed and the BDF Rig 28 is expected to be released within the next 24 hours. A total drilled depth of 2929 metres was reached in the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone on 21st June 2006. The Portland-1 borehole on the Isle of Portland, Dorset was drilled to confirm that a halite sequence with a low insoluble content (called S7 by Portland Gas), within a Triassic salt sequence (Saliferous Beds) of the Wessex Basin, was suitable for the creation of caverns to store natural gas. Initial technical analyses of the data acquired from the borehole, by Portland Gas consultant DEEP. Underground Engineering GmbH (DEEP) of Germany, indicates that individual caverns of approximately 250,000 cubic metres could be created within the S7 sequence at the Isle of Portland location. This is the same volume used in the pre-feasibility work for the project prior to the drilling of the Portland-1 borehole. The Saliferous Beds were encountered with a thickness of 470 metres (41 metres thicker than forecast). The top of the target S7 interval was penetrated at a depth of 2365 metres and was found to have a thickness of 135 metres (43 metres thinner than forecast). DEEP will coordinate the completion of further laboratory work on core samples over the S7 sequence and computer simulation of the proposed cavern leaching programme. Final confirmation of project feasibility is expected in August 2006... [continues]
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Fisher , M.J. 1985. Palynology of sedimentary cycles in the Mercia Mudstone and Penarth Group (Triassic) of southwest and central England. Pollen et Spores, 27, 95-112.
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Forster , A. 1998. The engineering geology of the Sidmouth district, 1:50000 geological sheet 326/340. British Geological Survey Technical Report, WN/98/1.
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Gallois , R.W. 2001. The lithostratigraphy of the Mercia Mudstone Group (mid to late Triassic) of the South Devon coast. Geoscience in south-west England, Proceedings of the Ussher Society, Vol. 10, 195-204. By Ramues Gallois.

Gallois, R W. 2001. Field excursion to examine the geology and landforms of the Charmouth to Lyme Regis area, 3rd January 2001. Geoscience in south-west England, Proceedings of the Ussher Society, Vol. 10, 243-246.

Gallois, R.W. 2003. The distribution of halite (rock salt) in the Mercia Mudstone Group (mid to late Triassic) in south-west England. Geoscience in south-west England, Proceedings of the Ussher Society, Vol. 10, 243-246.

Gallois, R.W. 2004. The lithostratigraphy of the Upper Greensand (Albian, Cretaceous) of south-west England. Geoscience in south-west England, Proceedings of the Ussher Society, Vol. 11.

Gallois, R.W. 2004. Large-scale dissolution features in the Upper Greensand (Cretaceous) in south-west England. Geoscience in south-west England, Proceedings of the Ussher Society, Vol. 11.

Gallois, R.W. 2007. The stratigraphy of the Mercia Mudstone Group succession (mid to late Triassic) proved in the Wiscombe Park Boreholes, Devon. Geoscience in southwest England, 11, 280-286.
The type sections of the Sidmouth Mudstone, Dunscombe Mudstone and Branscombe Mudstone formations of the Mercia Mudstone Group are the almost complete sections exposed in the cliffs between Sidmouth and Axmouth on the Devon coast. The partially cored Wiscombe Park No. 1 and No. 2 mineral-exploration boreholes, drilled by British Gypsum Ltd in 1972, were sited about 5.8 and 4.7 km north of the cliff sections respectively. The first of these penetrated the whole of the Sidmouth MudstOne and Dunscombe Mudstone formations and the lower part of the Branscombe Mudstone Formation. The lithological succession proved in the cored parts of the bore holes can be correlated with that exposed in the cliffs. Geophysical logs made through the full length of the boreholes enable the complete succession proved there to be correlated with that exposed in the cliffs. The calibrated geophysical logs have been used to correlate the succession at outcrop with those proved in uncored but geophysically logged hydrocarbon-exploration boreholes throughout the Wessex Basin. The Sidmouth Mudstone and Branscombe Mudstone successions proved in the Wiscombe Park boreholes are similar in thickness and lithology to those elsewhere in the Wessex Basin. In contrast, the Dunscombe Mudstone succession in the boreholes expands from 35 m in thickness to over 500 m by the addition of thick beds of halite in parts of the basin.

Gallois, R.W. and Porter, R.J. 2006. The stratigraphy and sedimentology of the Dunscombe Mudstone Formation (late Triassic) of south-west England. Geoscience in South-West England, 11, 67.

Gallois, R.W., Pirrie, D., Power, M.R. and Shail, R.K. 2004. Copper mineralised wood from the Mercia Mudstone Group, south-east Devon. Geoscience in South-West England, 11, 67.
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Godwin-Austen , R.A.C. 1840. On the geology of the south-east of Devonshire. Transactions of the Geological Society, London, series 2, vol. 6, pp.433-489.
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Hamblin , R.J.0., Crosby, A., Balson, P.S., Jones, S. M., Chadwick, R.A., Penn, I.E., and Arthur, M.J. 1992. United Kingdom Offshore Regional Report: the Geology of the English Channel. British Geological Survey, H.M.S.O., London.
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Henson , M.R. 1971. The Permo-Triassic Rocks of South Devon. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of Exeter.

Henson, M.R. 1972. The form of the Permo-Triassic basin south east Devon. Proceedings of the Ussher Society, 2, 447-457.

Henson, M.R. 1973. Clay minerals of the Lower New Red Sandstone of south Devon. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 84, 429-445.
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Holloway , S., Milodowski, A.E., Strong, G.E. and Warrington, G. 1989. The Sherwood Sandstone Group (Triassic) of the Wessex Basin, southern England. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, London, 100 (3), 383-94. Data from released wells indicate that the subdivision of the Sherwood Sandstone Group into the Budleigh Salterton Pebble Beds and the Otter Sandstone Formation is equally applicable in both the outcrop and subcrop of the Group in the Wessex Basin. The Sherwood Sandstone Group was deposited largely from braided streams but an inland sabkha may have occupied the depocentre during deposition of the lower parts of the Otter Sandstone Formation. The Budleigh Salterton Pebble Beds may have been removed from parts of the Wessex Basin by erosion prior to deposition of the Otter Sandstone Formation.
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Hone , D.W.E. and Benton, M.J. 2008. A new genus of rhynchosaur from the middle Triassic of south-west England. Palaeontology, vol. 51, Issue 1, pp. 95-115. By David W. E. Hone and Michael J. Benton, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK. and Bayerische Staatssammlung fur Palaontologie und Geologie, Richard-Wagner-Strasse 10, D-80333 Munchen, Germany. The Palaeontological Association.
Abstract: We present a description of new cranial and postcranial material representing a new genus of rhynchosaur (Diapsida, Archosauromorpha) from the Otter Sandstone Formation (Mid Triassic) of Devon, south-west England. The taxon had been named Rhynchosaurus spenceri Benton, 1990, but cladistic analysis of the clade, and one autapomorphy, show that it does not belong to Rhynchosaurus, and a new generic name is required. We propose the name Fodonyx for this genus. A cladistic analysis of the Rhynchosauria confirms the main discoveries of previous analyses, and that Fodonyx is sister group to the Hyperodapedontinae, the clade of Late Triassic rhynchosaurs. The new cladistic analysis, for which many more characters were coded for Fodonyx than before (a rise from 39 to 75 per cent), counter-intuitively produced less well-resolved results: the new codings of previously uncoded characters introduced conflict so that Fodonyx turns out to be less like the Late Triassic rhynchosaur clade than had been assumed before.
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Hounslow , M.W. McIntosh, G., Edwards, R.A. and Warrington, G. The magnetostratigraphy of the Permo-Triassic of south Devon. .....
The Budleigh Salterton Pebble Beds and the Otter Sandstone Formation of the Sherwood Sandstone Group were sampled for magnetostratigraphy at 94 horizons between Budleigh Salterton and Sidmouth. The palaeomagnetic signal is predominantly carried by haematite, with some additional signal from goethite. The Budleigh Salterton Pebble Beds are entirely reversely magnetised. The Otter Sandstone has a complex pattern of polarity changes. The lowest beds, west of the River Otter, have predominantly normal polarity. The lower c.100m of the formation exposed east of the River Otter is predominantly reversely magnetised but has two short normal polarity intervals; the upper c.70m of the formation has dominantly normal polarity but includes six reversed intervals. The lowest 15m of the Mercia Mudstone Group was also studied and displays normal polarity, except at the very base. Combined bio- and magnetostratigraphic evidence indicates that the Otter Sandstone Formation is Mid Triassic in age, ranging from early Anisian in the lowest beds to late Anisian to possibly early or mid Ladinian in the upper c.70m. The Sherwood Sandstone Group-Mercia Mudstone Group boundary therefore probably lies within the Ladinian Stage (upper Middle Triassic). The Budleigh Salterton Pebble Beds may, on the basis of these results and bio- and magnetostratigraphic evidence from the underlying Aylesbeare Group and older formations, lie within the Olenekian Stage and are possibly latest Early Triassic in age.

Hounslow, M.W., McIntosh, G. and Jenkins, G. 2001. Magnetostratigraphy of the Middle Triassic: Sherwood Sandstone Group, South Devon, UK, EGS Nice
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Hunt, A.R., 1880, 1881, 1883, 1885. On the submarine geology of the English Channel off the coast of south Devon. Transactions of the Devon Association.
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Hutchinson, P.O. The Geology of Sidmouth and South-Eastern Devon. Sidmouth.
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Irving , A. 1888. The Red-Rock Series of the Devon coast section. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, vol. 44, pp. 149-163. By the Rev. Dr. A. Irving.
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Jarvis , I., and Woodroof, P. B. 1984. Stratigraphy of the Cenomanian and basal Turonian (Upper Cretaceous) between Branscombe and Seaton, SE Devon, England. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, Vol. 95, 193-215.
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Jeans , C.V. 1978. The origin of the Triassic clay assemblages of Europe with special reference to the Keuper Marl and Rhaetic of parts of England. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series A, 289, 549-639.
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Johnston-Lavis , H.J. 1876. On the Triassic strata which are exposed in the cliff-sections near Sidmouth, and a note on the occurrence of an ossiferous zone containing the bones of a Labyrinthodon. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, vol. 32, pp. 274-277.

[text follows, but without the cliff diagram]
In describing the locality and geological position of the vertebrate fossils which were obtained from the Triassic rocks near Sidmouth, perhaps it would be as well to commence with a description of the coast-sections for a short distance east and west of that town. Starting from the east, we find that the Marl [Mercia Mudstone = Keuper Marl] (which is the uppermost subdivision of the Trias of South Devon) makes its appearance at Branscomb Mouth, exposed beneath the Greensand and Chalk in the cliff-sections, and in the ramifying valley cut through by the small stream which runs out to sea at this point. It now forms the lower portion of the, cliff under Littlecomb Hill and Branscomb Hill, being overlain by the Greensand and Chalk until it is exposed inland at Weston Mouth by the action of the little stream called Weston Water, which runs out here.
It again forms the base of the cliff under Dunscomb Hill, being still overlain by the Greensand and a small patch of Chalk; again it is exposed and partly excavated by the little brook at Salcomb Mouth; thence it forms the base of the cliff under Salcomb Hill [Salcombe Hill], being now capped by the Greensand alone; it is then largely exposed on the surface in the valley of the river Sid. A few yards east of where the Sid runs into the sea, the Upper Sandstone (of Mr. Ussher) crops out, forming a cliff overhanging the Sid, and constituting the bed of the stream for half a mile from its mouth, and also the whole valley except where covered by gravel, which Mr. Ussher tells me is in some places 15 feet thick, containing a bed of peat about a foot in thickness. The gravel is chiefly composed of chert, and contains teeth of Elephant [Mammoth], numerous specimens of which have been found by Mr. P. O. Hutchinson and others.
To the west of Sidmouth, at the end of the Parade, we meet with a low projecting cliff, called Chit Rock. Mr. Ussher, who has surveyed this district, tells me he has met with no evidence of a fault having existed in the valley; and therefore we may conclude that it is the continuation of the small exposure of sandstone which is seen to exist east of the river, as in section, fig. 1 (p. 276). At the western end of the Chit Rock we find a fault which has given the Chit Rock an upthrow of at least 40 feet; but it is very possible it may be as much as 80 feet, since it has no marl [Mercia Mudstone = Keuper Marl] capping it, and in its lithological character resembles the middle of the Upper Sandstone [Otter Sandstone]. We see, on the western side of the fault, the Marl brought down within a short distance of the beach, there being a small mass of Sandstone exposed beneath it. All the Triassic beds from Branscomb [Branscombe] up to the present place dip gently to the east; but now we :find them dipping to the west; this only takes place for the distance of about half a mile; for the Sandstone which had disappeared, soon makes its appearance again, having formed a synclinal curve. During the whole of this distance it has been covered by the marl, which, as it advances westward becomes thicker, being less denuded; it has cappings of Greensand and chalk-gravel [Clay with Flints] at Peake Hill [Peak Hill] and High Peake [High Peak]. The [Otter] Sandstone continues to rise gradually to the westward; but the Marl [Mercia Mudtone] and overlying Greensand have been cut down by atmospheric denudation, forming Windy Gap, which separates High Peake and Peake Hill - High Peake being the higher of the two, but resembling Peake in every other respect. The [Otter] Sandstone gradually rises until, at a short distance to the west of High Peake, the Marl has been entirely denuded (save in a few places where through faulting it has been brought to a lower level) and it appears on the surface.
The upper marls [Mercia Mudstone] are variegated, and especially in the higher part, east of Sidmouth, contain very thin layers of a greenish-grey sand mixed with a large quantity of mica, intercalated with layers of marl, varying in thickness up to two inches, but of the same light colour; they show ripple-marks, and occasionally contain pseudomorphs of rock-salt.
The marls between Weston and Branscomb Mouths contain a large quantity of gypsum, which at one time was worked at Branscomb Mouth. A few small veins are to be seen between Salcomb and Weston Mouths. The marls also contain bands of potato-stones enclosing a cavity lined with calcite [these geodes result from partial calcitisation of former gypsum or anhydrite nodules of sabkha origin]. Mr. H. B. Woodward objects to my giving them the name of potato-stones, as they do not contain quartz crystals [they are of similar origin to the Triassic potato-stones of Somerset].
The Sandstone, especially at its upper part, where it resembles very much in lithological characters the upper beds of marl, contains a large number of pseudomorphs of rock salt, ripple-marks, and sun-cracks; but in no case have I met with rain-marks, which we might expect; neither have I met with any foot-prints. Some of the upper sandstones effervesce with hydrochloric acid. Between High Peake and Otterton Point the sandstones contain spherical masses sometimes almost like a cannon-ball, composed of iron pyrites; these are washed out of their matrix and lodge at the bottom of the little rocky pools.
The sandstones also contain curious irregular branching-shaped masses of a harder texture, which withstand the weathering and give the cliff a rugged aspect [these are rhizoconcretions - root concretions]. It is worthy of notice that, at the points where the Marl [Mercia Mudstone] reaches down to the beach, there are no reefs on the foreshore opposite, but a beautiful fine-grained red sand, except where large blocks of chert have fallen from the Greensand capping the cliffs; but wherever the Sandstone appears above the beach one sees large reefs running out to sea for nearly half a mile at low tide; it does not seem to be the sandstone itself which withstands the weathering, but these curious hard masses contained in it, since they occur in all the projecting points of the cliff formed by the sandstone strata.
Last autumn, while on a visit to Sidmouth for the second time, I had the good fortune to find the bones of a Labyrinthodont. These were brought to light at different periods during my month's stay. It may be mentioned that those described by Prof. Seeley are merely the bones which I considered capable of identification; for I met with a great number of small fragments dispersed throughout a particular series of beds situated about 10 feet from the top of the Sandstone. These bones were mostly found in fallen blocks which were derived from these beds in a little cove known as Picket Rock Cove. It may be well termed an ossiferous zone, as it does not consist of one single bed, but of from one to four; not that I mean to imply that bones are only found in this zone, since Mr. Whitaker's Hyperodapedon [Hyperodapedon is a genus of rhynchosaur, a beaked, archosaur-like reptile. It is known from the Trias of Elgin, Scotland, the Trias of the Parana Basin, Brazil, the Trias of India etc.] from the Triassic Period was found at the very bottom of the Sandstone. This zone is characterized by lithological differences, inasmuch as the matrix is composed of much coarser sandstone, containing here and there masses of marl varying in size from that of a pea to that of a hen's egg. It is nearly hard enough in some places for building purposes. In these beds ripple-marks are very plentiful. The fragments of bone which are found in this zone seem to be very slightly waterworn.
I cannot conclude without expressing my thanks to Messrs. H. B. Woodward, W. A. E. Ussher, and W. Whitaker for the kind assistance they have afforded me, and to Mr. P. O. Hutchinson, of Sidmouth, for the artistic diagrams with which he has furnished me. P.S.- Since writing the above I have received from the Rev. S. H. Cook some fragments of bone obtained by him about twenty years ago from the same zone west of Sidmouth, as well as one which he recently obtained from the small outcrop of sandstone with the ossiferous zone on the western side of the Chit-rock fault. Below the ordinary red sand on the beach one finds a stratum of black sand which has been derived from the sandstone, but is of greater specific gravity than the red sand, which accounts for its position on the beach. Mr. R. W. Cheadle has kindly made a qualitative analysis for me, with the following rough results-Silica, magnetic iron oxide [magnetite], manganese, titanium, and alumina [is this a magnetite-ilmenite "black sand"?].
[not included here - Fig. Bird's Eye View of the Cliff-section from Ladram Bay to Sidmouth. This shows, amongst other features, the distribution of the "Ossiferous Zone".]
[The paper is followed by that of H.G. Seeley (1876) on the Lower Jaw of a Labyrinthodont (discussed above). Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society]

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Jones , N.S. 1992. Sedimentology of the Permo-Triassic of the Exeter area, S.W. England. British Geological Survey Technical Report, WH/92/122R.
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Jukes-Browne , A.J., and Hill, W. 1900. The Cretaceous rocks of Britain. Vol. 1. The Gault and Upper Greensand of England. Memoir of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom, London: HMSO.
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Knox , R.W.O., Burgess, W.G., Wilson, K.S. and Bath, A.H. 1984. Diagenetic influences on reservoir properties of the Sherwood Sandstone (Triassic) in the Marchwood geothermal borehole. Clay Minerals, 19, 441-456.
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Krinsley , P. H., Friend, P. F., and Klimentidis, R. 1976 Eolian transport textures on the surfaces of sand grains of early Triassic age. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, 87, 130--132.
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Laming , D. J. C. 1954. Sedimentary processes in the formation of the New Red Sandstone of south Devonshire. PhD Thesis, University of London.

Laming, D. J. C. 1958. Fossil winds. In Polar wandering and continental drift - a symposium, Journal of the Alberta Society of Petroleum Geologists, 6, Calgary, 179-183.

Laming, D. J. C. 1965. Age of the New Red Sandstone in south Devonshire. Nature, London, 207, 624-625.

Laming, D. J. C. 1966. Imbrications, palaeocurrents and other sedimentary features in the Lower New Red Sandstone, Devonshire, England. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 36, 940-959.
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McKie , T., Aggett, J. and Hogg, A.J.C. 1998. Reservoir architecture of the upper Sherwood Sandstone, Wytch Farm field, southern England. In: Underhill, J.R. (Ed.) Development Evolution and Petroleum geology of the Wessex Basin. Geological Society Special Publication, 133, 399-406.
The Sherwood Sandstone Group reservoir in the Wytch Farm field comprises a c. 150 m thick succession of arkosic sandstones deposited in a variety of fluvial, lacustrine and aeolian depositional systems. These systems show at least three orders of facies variability, which are interpreted to be the depositional response to climatic changes. These comprise a first-order evolutionary trend over the entire Sherwood Sandstone Group from perennial braidplain to ephemeral sheetflood systems to ephemeral lacustrine conditions. This trend culminated in deposition of the Mercia Mudstone Group, and reflects a long-term waning of sand supply and increasing ‘flashiness’ of the fluvial system. This trend is further subdivided into second-order cycles defined by five areally widespread floodplain and lacustrine deposits containing minimal development of fluvial sandstones. These represent widespread, episodic reductions in fluvial sediment supply and rising base level during more ‘humid’ climatic conditions. These horizons form the basis for the reservoir layering scheme. Each floodplain episode is increasingly more mud-rich upwards through the Sherwood section, and the sand-rich fluvial packages between become systematically more ephemeral in character. Third-order cycles are defined by thin (less than 2 m), but already widespread floodplain and lacustrine horizons which are most readily identifiable in the upper half of the Sherwood section. The sandstones between these cycles are composed of aeolian and sheetflood deposits, but are incised by coarse-grained multistorey-multilateral channel deposits. The incisions are interpreted to be the result of fluvial erosion during dry climatic conditions when lake levels fell and the alluvial plain was devegetated. These incised fluvial deposits form the principal producing intervals in the upper part of the reservoir, particularly in the eastern part of the field. Higher frequency stratigraphic cycles are locally expressed by variations in ephemeral lake levels, palaeosol development and episodic development of wind-blown sand patches. At outcrop, the stratigraphically equivalent Otter Sandstone Formation (c. 100 km to the west) shows comparable evolutionary patterns, albeit with a subtly different facies make-up. The recognition of a hierarchy of climatically driven cycles within the reservoir permits high-resolution correlation and the recognition of subtle, but important, changes in sandbody geometry and connectivity within successive cycles.
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Metcalfe, On further discoveries of vertebrate remains in the Triassic strata of the south coast of Devonshire, between Budleigh Salterton and Sidmouth. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, vol. 40, pp. 257-262.
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Milodowski , A.E., Strong, G.E., Wilson, K.W., Allen, D.J. Holloway, S. and Bath, A.H. 1986. Diagenetic influences on the aquifer properties of the Sherwood Sandstone in the Wessex Basin. Investigation of the geothermal potential of the UK. British Geological Survey, Keyworth.
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Newell, A. J. 2001. Bounding surfaces in a mixed aeolian-fluvial system. Marine and Petroleum Geology, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 339-347.
The Dawlish Sandstone Formation is a Late Permian succession of mixed aeolian and fluvial deposits in the Wessex Basin (SW England). It is used to illustrate two contrasting types of fluvial/aeolian bounding surface (planar and incised). Planar bounding surfaces separate tabular bodies of fluvial conglomerate and aeolian dune sandstone. They were produced primarily by wind scour to groundwater table, with the later emplacement of conglomerates resulting in local fluvial erosion of cemented aeolian dune sandstones. Incised bounding surfaces were produced by fluvial downcutting. The erosive relief was infilled with mixed aeolian/fluvial deposits. The Dawlish Sandstone Formation may provide the first outcrop example of these incised valley fills, which have recently been identified as a major component of the subsurface Rotliegend in the Southern North Sea Basin. The potential variability of aeolian/fluvial sedimentary architecture has important implications for well-to-well correlation and reservoir modelling.
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Parthasarathi Ghosh , Soumen Sarkara and Pradip Maulika, 2006. Sedimentology of a muddy alluvial deposit: Triassic Denwa Formation, India. Sedimentary Geology, 191, Issues 1-2, pp. 3-36. Available online in full at Science Direct.
Abstract: Triassic Upper Denwa Formation (380 m) in the Satpura Gondwana basin, central India is a mudstone-dominated fluvial succession that comprises isolated ribbon-shaped (2-5 m thick) channel-fill bodies encased within fine-grained extra-channel deposits. Eight architectural elements are recognized, of which five belong to channel-fill deposits and the remaining three to extra-channel deposits. Majority of channel-fill deposits are characterized by sandy or muddy inclined heterolithic strata (IHS) that record limited lateral accretion of point bars or benches (constrained by cohesive banks) in mixed- to suspended-load sinuous channels. A few ribbon bodies are mud rich and attest to nearly stagnant conditions in partly abandoned channels. A few single- or multistorey ribbon bodies that are dominantly sandy and lack inclined strata represent deposits of straight, laterally stable channel. The smallest ribbon bodies (1 m thick) of calcirudite/calcarenite possibly represent deposits of secondary channels in the interfluves. Coexistence of channel-fill bodies of different dimension, lithology and internal organization in restricted stratigraphic intervals suggests an anabranching system having channels with different fill histories.
The extra-channel deposits mainly comprise red mudstone (1-5 m thick) that indicates pervasive oxidation of overbank sediments in well-aerated and well-drained setting. Sporadically developed calcic vertisols suggest a hot, semi-arid climate during the Upper Denwa period. Sandy to heterolithic sheets (70 cm to 2 m thick) with sharp, planar basal surfaces are replete with features suggestive of unconfined sheet flow. Also at places there are indications of subaqueous emplacement of sands. These bodies with paleocurrent oblique to that of the channel-fills are interpreted as crevasse splay deposits. Tabular heterolithic bodies (3-5 m thick) are characterized by undulating basal surface, complex organization of sandstone lenses interwoven with heteroliths and red mudstone (in decimeter-scale) with desiccation cracks. Such tabular bodies are attributed to repetitive, sheet-like and poorly channelized splaying.
Very thick (10 to 20 m) mudstones intervals are inexplicable in terms of overbank flooding only. Poorly developed pedogenic features in sandy to muddy heterolithic sheets and certain mudstone intervals and well-developed cumulative paleosols in surrounding mudstone highlights the contrast between rapidly emplaced splay deposits and slowly accumulated floodplain deposits.
The Denwa channels are comparable with modern, low-gradient and low-energy anabranching river system in which the sediment load is dominantly fine-grained. The semi-arid climate possibly facilitated enhanced supply of fines to the Upper Denwa system. However, sediment partitioning and distribution in a particular channel was controlled by flow diversion to and from other channels in that anabranching system. Low flow strength with periodic flood events, high bank strength and a rate of sediment supply that slightly exceeded that of onward transport probably were important factors for the development of the Upper Denwa anabranching system.
[end of abstract] [This interesting paper does not refer to Devon, but deals with a Triassic semi-arid red bed facies in India. It includes channels sandstones, inclined heterolithic facies, and red mudstones (some of which have green reduction spots). It describes and interprets architectural elements, and because of this may be of use in comparison to Triassic red beds of Devon. Bear in mind, though, that it is from a higher palaeolatitude 930 to 40 degrees) and south of the equator, not north. The paper is also useful as a route to recent Triassic red bed literature.]
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Pengelly , W. 1862-65. The Red Sandstones and Conglomerates of Devonshire. Transactions of the Plymouth Institute.
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Perkins , J.W. 1971. Geology Explained in South and East Devon. David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 192pp. By John W. Perkins. Clearly written with very good, well-labelled, sketch illustrations by the author.
Extract from the Introduction:
"The basic ingredients of the county's rolling landscape are the high moorland centre, the surrounding low lands bevelled to various heights and deeply trenched by rivers, and the sinuous coastline with its penetrating estuaries and grand cliffs. Written for all who love South Devon, either as a tourist area or a place to live in, this book aims to deepen their understanding and enjoyment. It may also help to popularise geology in a wider sense, and should remind us that we are tenants of a heritage millions of years old, and one that we must do our best to conserve. It has been assumed throughout that the reader will constantly have a compass, a one-inch geological map and a one inch Ordnance Survey map at hand."
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Porter , R. J. 2006. Ichnology and sedimentology of Triassic continental sequences: onshore and offshore UK. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Bristol, U.K.

Porter, R.J. and Gallois, R.W. In press. Identifying fluvio-lacustrine intervals in thick playa-lake successions: an integrated sedimentology and ichnology of arenaceous members in the mid-late Triassic Mercia Mudstone Group of southwest England, UK. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology and Palaeoecology.
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Romer , A.S. 1945 (second edition), 1955 (reprinted). Vertebrate Paleontology. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, 687pp.
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Ruffell , A. 1991. Palaeoenvironmental analysis of the the late Triassic succession of the Wessex Basin and correlation with surrounding areas. Proceedings of the Ussher Society, 7, 402-407.

Ruffell, A. and Shelton, R. 1999. The control of sedimentary facies by climate during phases of crustal extension: examples from the Triassic of onshore and offshore England and Northern Ireland. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 156, 779-789. Abstract: Crustal extension controls the tectonic accommodation space available for sediments in rift settings and may be defined by the structural and depositional geometry of sedimentary successions observed on seismic data and the rate of subsidence through time as represented by the accommodation of sediment. The characteristic features of each are dependant on three variables: the time taken for deposition; the interplay between tectonics and eustasy and the lithology (thus facies) of the succession observed. The Sherwood Sandstone Group has been considered to represent a syn-rift phase of fluvial deposition throughout Europe, with the overlying Mercia Mudstone Group interpreted as the succeeding phase of deposition in an evaporitic seaway during post-rift thermal subsidence. More recently, however, there has been the recognition that it is the Mercia Mudstone Group which is seen to thicken markedly into faults imaged on seismic data rather than the Sherwood Sandstone Group. This work demonstrates the Mercia Mudstone Group to be a syn-rift phase of deposition, with the fine grained nature of the sedimentary record at this time controlled by the prevailing arid climate. Such conditions were not conducive to the large-scale and rapid movement of sediments from the hinterlands raised by relative footwall uplift, thus the sediments are fine grained. The minor thickening of the Sherwood Sandstone Group into faults is interpreted to be a combination of minor extension in the early Triassic superimposed on thermal subsidence inherited from the important regional phase of extension in the early Permian. Analysis of the timing of fault growth indicates a larger proportion of fault-controlled, synsedimentary movement occurred during the mid-to-Late Triassic (Mercia Mst Gp) rather than the early Triassic (Sherwood Sst Gp).
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Schmid , S., Worden, R. and Fisher, Q. 2003. The time has changed: middle Triassic climate changes revealed by carbon isotopes. Geophysical Research Abstracts, vol. 5, 00325. European Geophysical Society. Abstract: The Middle Triassic stratigraphy in Europe can be subdivided into a marine sectionof the Germanic and Paris Basin and a continental red-bed succession of Western Europe (Irish Basin, Wessex Basin). The link between the marine and continental is uncertain due to a lack of biostratigraphic information but recent palaeomagnetic studies have given a better understanding of the two environments (Hounslow et. al, 2001). In this study we have produced geochemical evidence which emphasize the implications of the palaeomagnetic data. We show that the marine and continental strata can be correlated using carbon isotopes. Throughout Europe the Middle Triassic is characterized by limestone deposits of the Muschelkalk Formation that contain evidence of a hiatus in sedimentation due to sea-level fall in the Middle Muschelkalk with the consequent deposition of evaporites. The Sherwood Sandstone Group (SSG) characterizes the Middle Triassic of Western Europe. The SSG is dominated by fluvial deposits with intercalated floodplain deposits, sand-flats and playas, which are penetrated by dolocretes and calcretes. The abundance of fluvial channels and sand flats are dependent on the fluvial activity and the water table height. In both depositional environments water plays a major role in the type of sediment. The volume of water is controlled by the prevalent climate. Climate signals are stored in carbon isotopes in both the marine Muschelkalk and the continental SSG. Carbon isotopes from the SSG from the Corrib Field, Slyne Basin, west of Ireland and from the Muschelkalk of the Germanic Basin have thus been interpreted in terms of climate change linked to stratigraphy. The continental sediments show a distinct positive carbon isotope excursion (taken from dolocretes),which is interpreted to present a more arid climate. In contrast the marine limestones exhibit a negative carbon isotopes excursion from a sea level low stand for the same time interval. The plot of both carbon isotopes curves against depth (using the Anisian-Ladinian boundary as a correlation marker) with a correction of sediment thickness show the same general climatic conditions for the Middle Triassic in Europe. Carbon isotope data from the Muschelkalk of the Germanic Basin and the SSG of the Slyne Basin reveal that the Middle Triassic was a time that witnessed a change from a humid to an arid climate with less fluvial activity in the continental parts and evaporite deposition in the marine part of Europe.
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Sidmouth Museum. 2000. Sidmouth: A History. 115pp. First edition: 1987, reprinted 1988, revised edition 2000.
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Somervail , A. 1903. On the base of the Keuper in south Devon. Geological Magazine, pp. 460-462; also Geological Magazine, 1904, p. 283; also Reports of the British Association for the Advancement of Science for 1903.

Somervail, A. 1903. The Red Rocks of the South Devon Coast. Transactions of the Devon Association, vol. 35, ppp. 617-630.
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Spencer , P.S. and Isaac, K.P. 1983. Triassic vertebrates from the Otter Sandstone Formation of Devon, England. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, London, Vol. 94, 267-269.
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Thomas, H.H. 1909. A contribution to the Petrography of the New Red Sandstone in the West of England. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, London, vol. 65, pp. 229-245. By Herbert Henry Thomas, M.A., B.Sc., F.G.S. (Read March 10th, 1909).
The following example text from p.242 brings out the major conclusions, including the interesting aspect of a distant source of staurolite:

From a study of the distribution and quantity of certain mineral species, it is possible in most instances to gather some idea of the relative amounts of material derived from various sources. This is more especially true in the case of the Lower Breccias and Sandstones and the Pebble-Bed. The material forming the marls, however, as might be expected from its finely comminuted nature, appears to have been supplied from an directions, and by a greater variety of rocks than those yielding detritus towards the formation of the other New Red sediments.
With regard to the source of the various mineral species it is most difficult to speak, except in certain cases; but, so far as can be judged, all the minerals detected in the New Red deposits, with the exception of staurolite, could be supplied by the older rocks of the West of England. The greater abundance of such minerals as blue tourmaline, topaz, rutile, and brookite appears to indicate that the rocks in which they occur were largely derived from the granite masses of Devon aud Cornwall, but more especially points to their attendant metamorphic rocks aud veinstones.
The garnets of the New Red deposits are clearly in no way dependent on the distribution of staurolite, but, on the contrary, are of most frequent occurrence in the northern part of the district where staurolite is less abundant. The fact that garnet, in the Pebble-Bed, makes its appearance together with an increased proportion of blue tourmaline, points to its derivation, at any rate in part, from the metamorphic rocks surrounding the West of Englnnd granites. Its absence from certain horizons might be accounted for, either by the direction of the sediment-bearing currents, or by the extremely local occurrence of garnets in the metamorphic aureoles of this district. It is only where subordinate calcareous bands of the Devonian and Carboniferous rocks and diabase-intrusions come within the influence of the granites that this mineral has been produced. It is not suggested that all the garnets in the New Red rocks were supplied by these metamorphic areas; but, should it be so, it would appear from the distribution of this mineral that all the New Red rocks of North Devon and West Somerset were formed in part of material carried from the west and southwest.
The Lower Breccias have always been considered as deposits derived from sources near at hand, for, as pointed out by De La Beche, Godwin-Austen, Conybeare and Phillips, and Mr. R. H. Worth, among the rock-fragments found in them are numerous examples of well-known rock-types present in Devon. The minerals and grains forming the finer material of these deposits point towards the same conclusion; but, in addition, especially in South Devon, they suggest strongly the influence of certain rock-masses non existent within the south-western area as now known. There is, also, nothing in the finer material to prove that the granite-masses themselves were undergoing denudation at the time when the Lower Breccias were being deposited.." [continues]
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Ussher , W.A.E. 1876. On the Triassic Rocks of Somerset and Devon. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, vol. 32, pp. 367-394.
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Warrington, G. and Ivimey-Cook, H.C., 1992. Triassic. In: Cope, J.C.W., Ingham, J.K. and Rawson, P.F. (eds). 1992. Atlas of Palaeogeography and Lithofacies. Geological Society, London, Memoirs, 13, 97-104.

Warrington, G. and Scrivener, R.C. 1980. The Lyme Regis (1901) Borehole succession and its relationship to the sequence of the east Devon coast. Proceedings of the Ussher Society, 5, 24-32.

Warrington, G., Audley-Charles, M.G., Elliot, R.E., Evans, W.B., Ivimey-Cook, H.C., Kent, P.E., Robinson, P.L., Shotton, F.W. and Taylor, F.M. 1980. A correlation of Triassic rocks in the British Isles. Special Reports of the Geological Society of London, 13.
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Whitaker, W. 1869. On the succession of beds in the "New Red" on the south coast of Devon, and on the locality of a new specimen of Hyperodapedon. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, London,vol. 25, pp. 152-157. By William Whitaker, B.A. (Lond), F.G.S., of the Geological Survey of England.
[Example extract:]
The following account of the successive beds that are shown in the "New Red" cliffs of South Devon, is from notes taken during a holiday-walk along that coast last September, and it has been drawn up at the request of Prof. Huxley, in order to mark the stratigraphical place of the Hyperodapedon jaw from near Budleigh Salterton. I believe that the only paper which treats of the order of these beds is a full report of two lectures by Mr. Pengelly, F.R.S. To this I refer the reader for a more detailed account of the composition of the various "red rocks." Owing to the dip, lower and lower beds rise to the surface southwestward, so that an almost continuous section is given. The occurrence of the uppermost part of the "New Red" near the eastern boundary of the county, and its passage upwards into the Lias, have been noticed by Sir H. ;De la Beche, and more fully by Mr. Pengelly; but the cliffs here: are so much hidden by fallen masses, that little is to be seen below the "White Lias" until we pass to the west of the great landslip of 1839 at Dowlands. The cliff is then clearer, and shows a set of evenly-bedded greenish clays, with black shales, stone-beds, and layers of hard marl (Rhaetic Beds). Here Mr. Pengelly found the well-known bone-bed. Lower down some of the layers of clay have a reddish colour; and there is a passage downwards into "New Red" marl.. [continues]
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Woodward , H.B. and Ussher, W.A.E. 1899. Excursion to Seaton, Sidmouth, and Exeter. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, London, vol. 16, pp. 133-153. By Horace B. Woodward, F.R.S., F.G.S. and W.A.E. Ussher, F.G.S.
[Example extract - pp. 133-134]
"Twenty-eight years ago, Prof. James Buckman and Mr. J. Logan Lobley conducted an excursion of the Geologists' Association to the Yeovil district, and spent a short time on their fourth and last day along the cliffs east of Seaton. It seems strange, however, that forty years should have elapsed since the foundation of this Association before any expedition was made to the South Devon coast between Seaton and Exmouth, with its iringes of Blackdown Beds and its famous pebble-bed of Budleigh Salterton.
In 1889 an excursion was made to Lyme Regis, under the guidance of the present Director, and the members then advanced as far as the eastern portion of the Great Landslip. It was now planned to continue the exploration from the Landslip westwards to the mouth of the Exe.
On Thursday evening, March 30th, the members of the party, which numbered nearly forty, arrived at the Royal Clarence Hotel, Seaton. On Friday, March 31st, the members started at 9 a.m. along the esplanade to Axmouth Bridge, where the Director pointed out that the trend of the beach turned the outlet of the river eastwards, and had been the means of choking the harbour of the once flourishing little fishing-town. At the close of the last century, a large tract of salt marshes extended above Axmouth, but these had been drained to the advantage of the neighbourhood. In far earlier times, when the river was more potent in action, spreads of valley-gravel were laid down, and from these at Broom, in the parish of Hawkchurch, above Axminster, some fine palaeolithic implements, fashioned from Upper Greensand chert, had been obtained. Remains of Mammoth had been found in the Sid Valley, further west.
The party now proceeded by Squire's Lane to the lime-kiln beyond the Coastguard Station, where the Middle Chalk, zone of Rhynchonella cuvieri, had been noted by Mr. A. J. Jukes-Browne. This division cropped out along the 300 ft. contour-line. Several specimens of Inoceramus mytiloides and poor examples of the characteristic Rhynchonella were obtained. Passing on through Barn Close and Stony Close Lanes, a pleasant walk over the grassy Chalk-plateau, here, in places 400 ft. high, led to the western end of the Great Landslip at the Bindon Cliffs. The view eastwards through the chasm was grand and striking, the slipped masses of Chalk and Greensand forming a platform about 100 ft. lower than the cliffs from which they had broken away. As some account of this Great Landslip, which happened at Christmas, 1839, has already been published by the Association, no particular description need now be given.
Leaving the chasm, the members proceede4 a short distance westwards along the brow of the cliffs and descended by a foot-path to the shore a little west of Culverhole Point. Here in the low cliffs fringing the beach a fine section of Rhaetic Beds was exposed."
[continues]

Woodward , H.B. and Ussher, W.A.E. 1911. The Geology of the Country near Sidmouth and Lyme Regis. Memoirs of the Geological Survey, England and Wales. Explanation of Sheets 326 and 340. 102 pp. Second Edition. Price One Shilling and Sixpence. By H.B. Woodward, F.R.S. and W.A.E. Ussher, F.G.S., with contributions by A.J. Jukes-Browne, B.A., F.R.S. Published by order of the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury. London, Printed for His Majesty's Stationery Office, by Darling and Son, Ltd., 34-40 Bacon Street, E., London.

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Webpage - written and produced by:

Ian West, M.Sc. Ph.D. F.G.S.

at his private address in Romsey and in conjunction with the School of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton University.

Ian West has been awarded the R.H. Worth Prize for 2008 of the Geological Society of London for the application to amateur geology of the website, the Geology of the Wessex Coast, of which this webpage is a part.

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