THE GEOLOGY OF THE WOOLHOPE INLIER (HEREFORDSHIRE)

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Abstract
The Silurian rocks of the Woolhope inlier (Herefordshire) present a typical calcareous and shelly development of the shelf facies. Upper Llandovery and Wenlock deposits resemble those of neighbouring Silurian areas. The Ludlow Series (215 to 1300 feet) is subdivided into eight stratigraphical groups based essentially upon variation in lithology and faunal assemblage. The succession is continuous except for minor breaks at the base of the Dayia Beds and immediately below the base of the Upper Ludlow, and the absence of deposits equivalent to the Ayrnestry Limestone in the extreme south of the inlier. A distinctive fauna, with abundant Shaleria ornatella, can be recognized in the thin division which succeeds the Dayia Beds. Upper Ludlow deposits yield many thin condensed beds, biotite-bearing bands and bone-beds. The Ludlow Bone-bed separates the Ludlovian Series from overlying sandstones and siltstones of the Downtonian. The succession compares closely with those of both May Hill and Usk, and a tentative correlation with the successions of the Ludlow district and Builth area is offered. Structurally the Woolhope inlier is a much-faulted, asymmetric pericline, its axis trending N W —SE. The northern part of this upfold has been subjected to rotation with the formation of two domes. The Shucknall inlier, a sub-parallel anticlinal structure, is separated from the Woolhope pericline by a topographic depression, believed to mark the site of a deep-seated fracture which is probably a continuation of the Neath disturbance. The main structural elements of the two inliers are attributable to an E —W . compression and a later N.—S. compression, both believed to be phases of a complex Armorican orogeny.

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