On the Distribution of Wastdale-Crag Blocks, “Shap-Fell Granite Boulders,” in Westmoreland

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Abstract
T he dispersion of blocks of porphyritic granite, which have been originally derived from Wastdale Crag, a hill lying three miles south of Shap, in Westmoreland, has long excited the attention of geologists. These granite blocks, to which the term “Shap-granite” boulders has been applied, are alluded to as early as 1836 by Professor Phillips, who has described the direction which these blocks have taken during the period of their dispersion; who also mentions the occurrence of these blocks on Stainmoor, a pass in the Pennine chain, and their having travelled over some of the hills and valleys of Westmoreland, South Durham, and Yorkshire. Wastdale Crag, from which these blocks have been derived, is a low rounded hill, a little more than four miles N.W. of Tebay station, on the Lancaster and Carlisle railway. It is composed wholly of porphyritic granite, which, on the western side of the granitic area, attains an elevation of about 1600 feet above the level of the sea. This area of porphyritic granite is flanked, on the western side, by ashes and porphyries, which belong to the Bala age ; and these ashes and porphyries on this side, immediately adjoining the granite, attain to a greater elevation than the granite, rising to a height of 1853 feet in the summit of Wastdale Pike ; and a little further westward some of the hill-tops are somewhat higher. The granitic area of Wastdale Crag has a somewhat irregular outline. Its greatest breadth is from E.S.E. to W.N.W., being

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