GEOLOGY movements, whereby the whole group has been modified. Hence in one sense these Archaean rocks are a complex of many ages. The Malvern rocks are notably dislocated and shattered. As Phillips remarked in 1848, ' Brecciated rocks are abundant on the eastern face of the Malvern Chain, as at North End, in the Wych road, on the east side of the Raggedstone Hill, and round the east and north of Key's-end [Chase End] Hill. They consist of slightly displaced portions of the adjoining masses, or else appear to be only crushed parts of these masses, crushed in situ by the force which displaced and broke the chain, as it is on the line of the great fault, and in places where much movement may be believed to have happened, that these rocks appear.' ^ Further attention was drawn to these brecciated rocks by Prof. Hughes in 1887, and he then pointed out ' that we may in certain cases have a conglomeratic-looking mass composed of rounded pieces of rock differing in lithological character both from the matrix and from one another, occurring along what looks like the strike of the rocks, and yet may be able to make out that it is entirely a superinduced structure due to brecciation in place and subsequent decomposition of the broken rock.'^ Noteworthy springs occur at various points along the hill range, for v/hile, as pointed out by Phillips, the surface of the hills is exceedingly dry, and the rain sinks into the many fissures, it reappears 'in many springs at or about the level where the steep slopes of the hills end and the Malvern rocks are covered by the strata of the lower ground.' ^ Thus we find St. Ann's Well on the eastern side of the Worcestershire Beacon, also the Holy Well (Malvern Wells), between Great and Little Malvern. Again, Walms Well issues on the western side of the Herefordshire Beacon. The hill-range is one of mixed woodland and pasture, the thin soil varying much according to the nature of the rocks. The gneissic tracts are for the most part grassy, and the steep slopes of the Worcestershire Beacon are slippery indeed in hot, dry weather. The more prominent of the heights naturally formed strongholds in ancient times, and we find encampments that were used by Britons, Romans and Danes. Some of the hills too have at various times proved useful as beacons. PhilHps mentions that across the ridge between the Worcestershire Beacon, and the Wych ' runs a sort of vein of mica, giving origin to the only even supposed mine in the Malverns — but a gold mine ! ' Many years ago, indeed, a shaft was sunk to raise the gold, which was thought to be present, but no traces of the precious metal were found.* The occurrence of Archsean rock near Martley has for some time been recognized. The structure of the region is a complicated one, and according to the observations of Prof Groom, the old rocks have appar- ' Mem. Geol. Survey, vol. ii., pt. i, p. 44. ^ Geol. Mag. for 1887, p. 502 ; see also Groom, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. Iv. p. 151. ' Mem. Geol. Survey, vol. ii., pt. I, p. 16.
- C. Hastings, Nat. Hist. IVorcestershire, 1834, p. 89.
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