Geology

==Geological Information about Church Stretton==
The parish's geology is almost entirely PreCambrian. The principal feature is the Church Stretton Fault running along the east side of the dale. East of the fault, broadly speaking, the hills are formed of what, apart from some small areas of schists near the Wrekin, are Shropshire's oldest rocks, the Uriconian volcanics: mainly Ragleth Tuffs, though Caer Caradoc's geology is complicated by Caer Caradoc Andesites and Cwms Rhyolites with intrusive igneous Dolerite. West of the fault the younger Longmyndian sedimentary rocks from the Long Mynd, their strata dipping almost vertically to the northwest, throwing up the Stretton Series of fine-grained siltstones and a thin band of Cardingmill Grit and, further west and beyond the parish boundary, the newer coarse-grained Wentnor Series; the higher parts of the Long Mynd are covered with head and, between All Stretton and Colliers Lye, areas of boulder clay. In the centre of the dale Longmyndian rocks are exposed on both sides of the fault so that Stretton Shales from the lowest slopes not only of the Long Mynd but also of Ragleth and Helmeth hills and the south-western slope of Caer Caradoc hill; on the western slopes of the eastern hills, though not on the Long Mynd, Helmeth Grit, oldest of the Longmyndian rocks, appears from beneath the Stretton Shales. Small areas at the south end of Ragleth hill (around Wiresytch coppice) and at the eastern end of Minton township (around Queensbatch mill and Marshbrook) are Ordovician: Caradoc shales, flags, and sandstone. The floor of the dale consists of glacial deposits of boulder clay overlying Silurian shales and limestone; some of those shales, of the Llandovery and Wenlock Series, are exposed in the southern part of the dale, particularly around Minton. There are alluvial deposits along the courses of the streams and, here and there, islands of sand and gravel. Coal Measures have been encountered near Botvyle.
From: 'Church Stretton', A History of the County of Shropshire: Volume 10: Munslow Hundred (part), The Liberty and Borough of Wenlock (1998), pp. 72-120. URL: http://british.history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=22861. Date accessed: 26 January 2006.