THE DEVONIAN

OF
THE WORLD

(1967) Intl. Symposium of the Devonian system: Papers, Volume I

2010 by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists
Europe
D E V O N I A N OF
SOUTHERN BRITAIN
R. G O L D R I N G , M . R. H O U S E , E. B. S E L W O O D , S C O T T S I M P S O N and R. St J.
ABSTRACT
In southern Britain a line joining the Bristol Channel with the
Thames estuary roughly demarcates the areas of Old Red Sand-
stone deposition to the north and of marine Devonian to the
south. Transgressions occasionally carried marine rocks farther
north, in the Late Devonian at least as far as Pembrokeshire
and Wyboston. Similarly O.R.S. conditions often spread south,
in the Siegenian as far as South Devon and Cornwall and in the
Middle and Late Devonian as far as North Devon. Many marine
facies are represented; in the Middle Devonian, the slates of
Cornwall pass into calcareous facies in South Devon. The deeper
water facies of the Upper Devonian in South Devon and Cornwall
shows "becken" and "schwellen" type deposition.
South of the bounding line the Devonian rocks are involved in
intense Armorican fold and thrust systems. The area has been
intruded by late Carboniferous granites and a belt of associated
mineralization crosses South Devon and Cornwall.
INTRODUCTION
It was at the British Association for the Advancement of
Science meeting in 1839 that the name 'Devonian' was first
applied by Sedgwick and Murchison to the marine rocks of
South Devon. This followed from the deduction by W.
Lonsdale that the coral faunas were intermediate in type
between those of the Silurian and those of the Carbonifer-
LAMBERT
ous. The 'Devonian' rocks were thus recognised to be the
marine southerly equivalent of the continental Old Red
Sandstone then known to be widespread in Wales and the
Welsh borders and especially in Scotland.
The distribution of marine Devonian rocks, with which
this paper is concerned, in southern England and Wales is
shown on the accompanying map (Fig. 1). The marine
outcrops are in the southwest, in Devon, Cornwall and
West Somerset. From borehole evidence marine Devonian
is known from several wells in the London area and to the
south. Marine Devonian crops out in the Boulonnais of
northern France, across the Straits of Dover.
The boreholes of the London area most commonly reveal
rocks of Old Red Sandstone type, with Holoptychius and
Bothriolepis, but marine fossils also occur. It is generally
stated that the Bristol Channel-Thames Estuary line
marks the boundary between the marine and terrestrial
facies. This is not wholly true. The Dartmouth Beds of
Siegenian age in South Devon and Cornwall are of O.R.S.
type, and the marine Skrinkle Sandstones of Pembroke-
shire (Wales) are uppermost Devonian. Recent boreholes
at Witney and Wyboston have yielded marine fossils of
2 INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON THE DEVONIAN SYSTEM
lC'W(STOFT
1627

~Hlu.s

II
=A~=:~N
POST-DEVONIAN
SCALE

,==__"'"==_.,,,,0~_'O MM. OEYONIAN

DEPTHS SHO,!,N

o ::~N~~C~~GKS.
~==-_,;;"'==-~40 MIl.ES
i/,m;:' PRE-DEVONIAN AT DEPTH SHOWN, WITH
DEVONIAN MISSING

Fig. 1. Mop showing the Devonian outcrop in southern England and the positions of boreholes which have penetrated the Devonian or reached older rocks. Assembled
with help from Mr. M. Mitchell, Institute of Geological Sciences, London. Pre-Devonian rocks are incorrectly shown at Fobbing.

supposed Middle Devonian and Late Devonian age respec-
tively. The Wyboston borehole is particularly remarkable
in giving evidence of a northward marine extension far
beyond the hitherto supposed limits.
Despite these exceptions, as a generalization it is true
that the line of facies intercalation does run between Bristol
and London. _Apart from the Gedinnian, for which there
is no evidence, the Devonian succession is complete in
Devon and Cornwall, although substantial facies changes
are recognizable. The faunas have been reviewed in some
detail by House and Selwood (1966). A general account of
the marine Devonian is given by Dewey (1948) from whom
details of the publications of the Geological Survey may be
found. A thorough account of the mineralization of the
area was given by Dines (1956). Hosking and Shrimpton
(1966) have edited a review on many aspeCts of the geology
of Devon and Cornwall.
The authorship of this contribution is as follows: the
following section and the Lower Devonian, S.S.; Upper
Devonian of North Devon and West Somerset, R.G.; Middle
Devonian of South Devon, E.B.S.; section on igneous activity
and metamorphism, R.St J.L.; the remainder by M.R.H.
RELATIONSHIP T O O R O G E N I C M O V E M E N T S
The Devonian outcrop areas of South Ireland, South
Wales, North Devon and South Devon-Cornwall all belong
to a vast region of Upper Palaeozoic downwarp which ex-
tended into Brittany, North France, Belgium and northern
Germany. The whole of this region was affected by
crustal compression which brought sedimentation to a close
in the later Carboniferous. This was the Variscan orogeny.
Accumulation in the Devonian along the northern margin
of the region was continental in character except at the
very end of the period when a widespread transgression
commenced. In South Devon and Cornwall, continental
conditions gave way to marine sedimentation in the Early
Devonian (Siegenian) and was at first of shelf-sea char-
acter. By the Middle Devonian, however, widespread
eugeosynclinal conditions developed, though locally, and
perhaps associated with volcanic piles of spilitic affinities,
biostromal and biohermal limestones were formed. In the
Late Devonian and beyond, eugeosynclinal conditions
persisted, "becken" and "schwellen" were differentiated, and
spilitic lavas were poured out while many basic intrusions
were emplaced.
In North Devon, also, sedimentation was uninterrupted
from the late Early Devonian (oldest strata exposed) into
the Carboniferous. Here, however, vulcanicity was virtually
absent and miogeosynclinal marine accumulation was inter-
rupted by two major intercalations of continental deposits.
There is no suggestion that there were separate basins of
accumulation and it is clear that there is a gradual transi-
tion of epeirogenic and magmatic conditions from south to
north which effected the facies changes observed today.
The simplicity of this picture of conditions is complicated
by the existence in extreme South Cornwall of a little-
understood succession of strata of very different char-
acter. These appear to be associated with the margin of
the Lizard metamorphic rocks and the serpentine. There
are remarkable boulder beds and a thick succession of
arenaceous turbidites. But there are also pillow lavas,
limestones, cherts and quartzites whose mutual relations
and relation to the turbidites are unclear. Fossils suggest
the presence of Ordovician, Silurian, Lower Devonian and
Lower Carboniferous.
Roughly reflecting the progressive facies changes from
south to north there is a transformation of tectonic styles,
though there is no correspondence in detail between tectonic
structures and facies boundaries. The folds trend generally
easterly. The eugeosynclinal region is characterized by re-
cumbent folds, nappes and flat-lying slaty cleavage. A
second, steep strain-slip cleavage is present and becomes
very prominent in the anomalous area of the extreme south;
it is axial-planar in relation to a set of second folds. It is
followed by a second phase of vertical flattening.
In North Devon, tectonic deformation in the Devonian is
not much less intense than in South Devon, but the tight
folding is about steep axial planes which are paralleled by
the well-developed slaty cleavage. There is no widespread
second cleavage or folding.
The strong steep folding of the most southerly outcrops
in South Wales and South Ireland rapidly dies out north-
wards.
In South Wales the folding is not older than the Stephan-
ian, and the same is probably true of North Devon. There
has, however, been much speculation about the date of de-
formation in South Devon and Cornwall. There is evidence
for an unconformity beneath the Upper Carboniferous, and
radiometric age determinations (Dodson, see below) have
been held to support the idea of a mid-Carboniferous oro-
geny. Against this, however, is the undoubted involvement
of the Upper Carboniferous in the recumbent structures of
the region, and it seems likely that if there is a mid-Carbon-
iferous unconformity then it was the product of only mild
warping movements and the major orogenic episode was
not earlier than the end of the Carboniferous.
Widespread breccias, conglomerates and dune sands of
Permian age testify to the engulfment of the Variscan
mountains in their own waste under continental conditions
of denudation. Throughout much of the Mesozoic, positive
epeirogenic movements resulted in extensive denudation, and
sedimentation was not renewed until the Upper Cretaceous
transgression. This negative episode was short-lived, and
continental conditions have generally persisted down to the
present.
The present outcrop pattern and perhaps also the overall
trend of the structures has however been affected by two
 m a P s h o w i n 9 the outcro
g r i d e ' s the N a N S a p G r i d * ' * Ps in
Devon, Cornwall a n d W e s t Somerset. Lines t a k e n from m o p s of the Geological Survey with minor changes. The
kinds of Tertiary structure. First there has been a broad
warping, again about east-west axes, which can be deduced
from the general relief of the region and its relation to
drainage patterns. How much of this was part of the
Alpine warping evident in southeast England, and how
much is older, cannot easily be determined. Second, there
is the remarkable set of northwesterly transcurrent faults
with dextal movement discussed by Dearman (1953) which
can be dated as late Oligocene to Miocene on the evidence of
plants in the lignites occurring in lacustrine silts and clays
associated with one of these faults.
STRATIGRAPHY
Lower Devonian
FAUNA A N D CORRELATION
North Devon
Lynton Beds. The oldest outcropping rocks of North
Devonshire are those of the Lynton Beds. They contain a
fauna rich in individuals but restricted in variety. The
chief elements are spirifers of the sub-cuspidatus group, a
Mucrospirifer sp. and a form close to Spirifer bischofi, to-
gether with lamellibranchs such as Modiomorpha, Pterinea,
Limoptera and Actinodesma. In the slaty bands fenestellid
bryozoans may be common and layers crowded with Platy-
orthis circularis are frequent. Metriophyllum is also pre-
sent. Abundant crinoid debris occurs at certain levels. No
very useful index fossils appear to be present but the whole
assemblage is of a type not uncommon in the Emsian of the
Ardennes and the rhenish Schiefergebirge. The true attri-
bution of certain specimens formerly identified as Acrospiri-
fer paradoxus is not yet established and it is thus less cer-
tain than formerly that this fauna belongs to the upper part
of the Emsian. It could be Lower Eifelian but is unlikely to
be Lower Emsian.
South Devon and North Cornwall
Dartmouth, Beds. The fauna of this lithologically very
well-defined formation, which occupies the core of the
Watergate Bay anticline, is poorly preserved and consists
almost exclusively of fish. The only recorded invertebrate
which is at all common is Bucanella trilobata. It is remark-
able that plant remains are quite rare.
The most abundant identifiable fish remains are refer-
able to Rhinopteraspis leachi and R. dunensis (White, 1956),
which suggests a correlation with the Upper Dittonian to
Breconian of South Wales. There is thus no evidence that
the known Dartmouth Beds, which are the oldest Devonian
strata of the region, and whose base is not seen, are any
older than the Siegenian. As the overlying Meadfoot Beds
include Siegenian faunal elements, as will be shown below,
the Dartmouth Beds are probably essentially Early to
Middle Siegenian in age.
Meadfoot Beds and Staddon Grits. The Meadfoot Beds
everywhere overlie the Dartmouth Beds. The Staddon
Grits are sparingly fossiliferous massive sandstones locally
overlying the highly fossiliferous slates and sandstones of
the Meadfoot Beds. There is no faunal basis for separating
the two formations and it is possible that the Staddon Grits
should be considered to be a local development of more
sandy strata within the Meadfoot Beds (Simpson, 1951,
p.58). The faunas of the Meadfoot Beds are rich in brachio-
pods, particularly spirifers. Homalonotid trilobites and
Asteropyge also occur. Certain strata contain corals such
as Metriophyllum, Amphipora, Thammopora and Pleurodic-
tyum. The faunas are at present being revised but it seems
clear that the Middle and Upper Siegenian and the whole of
the Emsian are represented (Simpson, 1951) by faunas
closely comparable with those of the Rhineland.
South Cornwall
Gramscatho Beds. An extensive area in South Cornwall
is occupied by generally unfossiliferous slates and sand-
stones known as the Gramscatho Beds. In a recent
review House & Selwood (1966) have treated these rocks
with the Lower Devonian with which they are certainly in
contact along their northern margin, though the structural
relations are uncertain. The only fossils certainly contain-
ed in these strata are plant remains referred to Dadoxylon
and Asteroxylon. On the other hand there is along their
coastal limit, from the Lizard Peninsula to the northeast,
a belt of great structural complexity which has yielded
fossils of the Ordovician, Silurian, Lower Devonian (Stub-
blefield, 1939), and possibly also Middle Devonian and Lower
Carboniferous. The Lower Devonian fauna occurs at sev-
eral scattered localities and contains Chonetes plebejus,
 SOUTH DEVON
NORTH DEVON
t CORNWALL
MARINE STAGES
"Couvinian
Hangman Grits
Slates" EIFELIAN
Lynton Beds Staddon UPPER EMSIAN
Grits
LOWER EMSIAN
?
Meadfoot Beds UPPER SIEGENIAN
MIDDLE SIEGENIAN
Dartmouth Beds LOWER SIEGENIAN UPPER DITTONIAN
? UPPER GEDtNNIAN LOWER DITTONIAN
LOWER GEDINNIAN
Fig. 3. Table showing the correlation of Lower D e v o n i a n stages a n d
Douvillina elegans, and Spirifer c f. arduennensis, as well as
solitary corals, tabulates and Tentaculites. This fauna could
be ascribed to the Meadfoot Beds. There is no hint of any
transition between the Gramscatho Beds and any of the
known Lower or Middle Devonian formations to the north
and east. On the other hand, boulder beds and conglomer-
ates as well as turbidites characterize the Gramscatho Beds
which may well contain the fossiliferous rocks of the com-
plex zone as inclusions or be unconformable upon them. In
this case they would be possibly of Late Carboniferous age.
Mylor Beds. Completely unfossiliferous, mainly argilla-
ceous rocks occurring within the general area of the
Gramscatho Beds have been separated from them and named
Mylor Beds. They have generally been thought to underlie
them, but Stone (1966) has obtained structural evidence
for considering them to be younger than the Gramscathos.
FACIES A N D PALAEOGEOGRAPHY
Dartmouth Beds. The stratigraphy of the Dartmouth
Beds has been discussed by Dineley (1966). They consist
of interbedded purple slates and pale sandstones with some
thicker packets of slaty and silty strata. The primary sedi-
mentary structures, which include intraformational pellet
conglomerates often containing fragmental fish remains,
cross-bedding in the sandstones and occasional conglomer-
ates with exotic pebbles, are closely comparable with those
CONTINENTAL of the Dittonian of the Welsh Border. The fauna, too, is
STAGES similar to that of the Dittonian. It seems that in Dittonian
time South Devon and Cornwall were part of a very exten-
sive region extending from Wales into the Ardennes and
?
the Rhineland, in which continental lagoonal accumulation
intervened for a while after marine Silurian had been de-
posited, and before the great marine transgression of the
BRECONIAN Devonian.
Vulcanicity, which occurs intermittently throughout the
Devonian and Lower Carboniferous in South Devon and
Cornwall, is first evident in the Dartmouth Beds. Tuffs
belonging to the spilitic suite occur at various levels and
DOWNTONIAN
minor intrusions are widespread.
formations. Meadfoot Beds. The Dartmouth Beds are everywhere
conformably overlain by Meadfoot Beds. There is no alter-
nation of the two lithologies, nor any transition between
them. In detail there is much variation within the Mead-
foot Beds. Parts of the succession are almost completely
argillaceous; these parts yield solitary corals. Typically
there are alternations of slate and fine sandstone in beds
measuring from a few centimetres to a metre or so in
thickness. The sandstones generally are quartzitic or have
more or less calcareous cement. Richter (1965) describes
evidence of penecontemporaneous erosion in the form of
cut and fill. Traced laterally the beds vary abruptly in
thickness and frequently lens out. Brachiopod shells occur
in frequent lumachelles. A very characteristic, though sub-
ordinate, lithology consists of very even alternating slate
and sandstone laminae of one or two millimetres thickness.
Both the faunal and lithological elements of the facies
are identical with those of facies in the Siegenian and
Emsian, which are widespread not only in the Ardennes and
Rhineland but also in Brittany. The broad facies type cer-
tainly corresponds with the Rhenish facies as conceived by
H. Schmidt - a point which has been made by Erben (1964).
Accumulation must have taken place in a widespread shed-
low sea strongly affected by currents. Extrusive and intru-
sive igneous activity is present but less than in Dittonian
time.
Lynton Beds. Like the Meadfoot Beds, with which they
are probably in part contemporaneous, the Lynton Beds are
in conformable contact with continental sediments, though
in their case the continental deposits (Hangman Grits)
overlie them. There are broad similarities between the
Lynton and Meadfoot Beds, but the differences are more
significant. Vulcanicity is completely absent. Lamelli-
branchs form a far more important element of the fauna and
Modiomorpha is the main constituent of certain shell beds,
while others may consist largely of spirifers with Pterinea
and Actinodesma. The fauna is far less diverse than that of
the Meadfoot Beds. A great part of the succession consists
of alternating fine sand and mud laminae with the regular
lamination much interfered with by burrowing organisms.
Chondrites is ubiquitous. In the upper part of the succes-
sion thicker quartzitic beds are present and the lamination
is less prominent.
Interpretation of these features is difficult. There is
little evidence of erosion channels, scoured surfaces cannot
be recognized and rippling is confined to the thicker sandy
bands. The uniformity of the lithology through fully 400
metres implies heavy sedimentation. A good supply of
sediment might be expected along the margin of the con-
tinental area which was itself accumulating sediment
rapidly. Such an area probably lay at no great distance to
the north and its southern extension finally resulted in the
replacement of the Lynton Beds by the Hangman Grits.
Middle Devonian
As a generalization it can be said that the North Devon
and West Somerset Middle Devonian is predominantly of
Old Red Sandstone clastic type, that of South Devon is of
calcareous and locally reef type with subsidiary shales and
volcanism, and that of North Cornwall is a deeper water
argillite sequence now in the form of slates with very sub-
sidiary limestones and volcanics. If the Gramscathos are
correlated here, then yet farther south, in southern Corn-
wall, coarse and poorly sorted sediments of flysch type
occur (Hendriks, 1966).
Cornwall
A thick sequence of Middle Devonian slates, probably at
least a few thousand feet in thickness, follows above the
Emsian Staddon Grit. These slates are well exposed around
Trevose Head (Fig. 2) and the Padstow estuary. The out-
crop passes east towards Plymouth Sound where a signifi-
cant facies change takes place into a predominantly lime-
stone development in South Devon.
The slates south of the promontory of Dinas Head on
Trevose Head are highly cleaved, grey, and variously band-
ed. Inland some volcanic seams occur. The thickness
here has not been accurately determined because the region
is involved in a recumbent fold, but it makes up most of the
Middle Devonian succession. The slates are fossiliferous
with Styliolina especially abundant and crinoids and ortho-
cones common on certain bedding planes. The goniatites
present (House, 1963) show that both Eifelian and Givetian
are represented. In the Padstow estuary, supposed equival-
ents of the lower part of these beds are locally rich in
brachiopods and trilobites. The upper limit of this group
is taken at the Pentonwarra Point Goniatite Band, where
pyritized Maenioceras, WedeTiindella, Agoniatites, Cabriero-
ceras, Werneroceras, Sobolewia, Protornoceras, Aulatorno-
ceras and Tornoceras occur. This horizon belongs to the
Terebratum Zone. Various corals, trilobites and orthocones
also occur (House, 1956; 1963, p.12).
Overlying this thick sequence of slates are the Marble
Cliff Beds, comprising several hundred feet of beds, especial-
ly a group of alternating limestone and shale, both rarely
exceeding two feet in thickness. The limestones may be
turbiditic in origin. Conodonts indicate the correlation of
this sequence with the Upper Givetian. The upper part
becomes more argillaceous and the upper limit is drawn at
a marked agglomerate and tuff horizon, the Longcarrow
Cove Tuff Beds.
This group, predominantly of slates, passes east to Ply-
mouth where, at Neal Point, Matthews (1962) recorded
Middle Devonian conodonts. Substantial areas of Middle
Devonian slates are marked on Geological Survey maps as
Upper Devonian.
The Cornish Middle Devonian is interpreted as having
been formed in a deep water environment. Pelagic organ-
isms are the commonest. The transition to the shallow
water coral facies of South Devon is abrupt and coincides
with the Tamar estuary. The abruptness may be emphasiz-
ed by wrench faulting.
 Fig. 4. Table showing the correlations supposed between the D e v o n i a n successions in various parts of Devon a n d Cornwall. For sources see text. The heavy dots indicate
the levels of f a u n a s which hove been correlated with the standard zones a n d stages. M o d i f i e d from House a n d Selwood, 1966.

South Devon
In South Devon strata assigned to the Middle Devonian
are mapped in a broad tract (which is also known to in-
clude Upper Devonian rocks) east from Plymouth towards
Brixham and Torquay, and then north towards Newton
Abbot. The rock sequence has been described by Dineley
(1961) as "a thick group of shales or slates in which are
set lenticular sheets and masses of limestone and volcanic
rocks". The area is tectonically complex and exposure,
except on the coast, is generally poor; further, many faunas
are in need of revision. Hence complex changes in facies,
which certainly must occur, have yet to be fully elucidated
and distinguished from tectonic breaks. The limestones
and their faunas have attracted most attention: stromato-
poroids and tabulate and rugose corals are particularly
abundant, and brachiopods, polyzoa, pelecypods and trilo-
bites are locally common. A summary of present know-
ledge of the faunas is given by House and Selwood (1966).
The limestones are known by a variety of local names, but
they may be grouped conveniently into the Plymouth, Tor-
quay and Chudleigh Limestones. Thicknesses are difficult
even to approximate but the Plymouth Limestone has been
quoted as close to 1,200 feet.
 Large brachiopods. Small brachiopods.

Massive Small
Stnomotoporoids- slromatoporoids
Tabulate &
'.rugose corals
-Rugose corals and bryoioa
( s c a t t e r e d a n d in g r o w t h
Sea fere/ position)

Surface occasionally Shell pocket" or bed,

eroded s o r t e d brae "

Relatively stable or only slowly subsiding

reef and massive limestone zone

Gentle slope:
marginal limestones
with fossils and ""
reef debris
Deeper-water (more argillaceous;
limestones and shales.
trough subsiding more rapidly.
Limestones diminish: shales dominate-

Fig. 5. A d i a g r a m illustrating possible ecological a n d depositional facies around the Middle D e v o n i a n limestone reefs of the T o r q u a y area. From Dineley, 1961, repro-
duced with permission of Field Studies.

On the east side of Plymouth Sound a fairly complete
succession is seen from the Staddon Grits into the black and
grey shales with thin limestones which characterize the
lower part of the Plymouth Limestone, but the Emsian/
Eifelian boundary cannot be recognized palaeontologically
and is placed at the top of the arenaceous beds. This pas-
sage is not observed elsewhere but the Couvinian Shales
(probably 300 feet thick at Mudstone Bay) which underlie
the limestones in and around Torquay have yielded (House,
1963) Calceola sandalina and Anarcestes lateseptatus; the
latter is the zone fossil of the Lower Eifelian. Thin-bedded
limestones appear in the higher horizons of the Couvinian
Shale and become increasingly important upwards so that
Couvinian Limestone horizons (e.g. Hope's Nose Limestone)
may be recognized. Thus a transitional and possibly dia-
chronous contact (Richter, 1965) is seen with the overlying
more thickly bedded and massive limestones. The latter
limestones are generally referred to the Givetian, but locally
they are known to range down into the Eifelian and up into
the Frasnian; the stage boundaries are rarely precisely iden-
 tifiable. The coral faunas of the Plymouth Limestone indi-
cate a full succession of Middle Devonian coral zones
(Taylor, 1951) and a passage into the Frasnian. This latter
passage is confirmed by the presence of goniatites (House,
1963). The Torquay Limestone at Barton and Ransleigh
has also yielded both Givetian and Frasnian faunas, and at
Chercombe Bridge near Newton Abbot the coral-brachiopod
evidence suggests that the massive limestones are also, in
part, of Eifelian age. Within the Chudleigh Limestone the
presence of the Givetian in the massive lower part of the
sequence has recently been confirmed by the discovery of
Stringocephalus (House, 1963).
It has been suggested that the subsiding geosynclinal
trough in which these rocks accumulated was divided by
ridges or axes into secondary longitudinal basins, and that
the argillaceous sediments were deposited in the basins
whilst the shallows were the site of more rapid limestone
accumulation (Dineley, 1961). The petrology of the lime-
stones has recently been described by Braithwaite (1966),
who finds that the bulk are coarse bioclastics and argues
against any continuous growth-structures which might be
called reefs, though "coral thickets" may be present.
Braithwaite suggests rather that intermittent disturbances
interrupted periods of prolific organic growth, loosening
and transporting for a short distance attached organisms
which then formed the substrata for renewed growth.
Stronger currents which winnowed away fine material are
thought to be responsible for the coarser bioclastics. Din-
eley (1961) on the other hand advocated a reef origin for
certain massive limestones in the Torquay area, indicating
that stromatoporoids and probably algae were the major
reef-forming organisms with tabulate corals and bryozoa
playing a secondary role. Certain highly fossiliferous shell-
beds which are associated with these massive limestones
are interpreted as water-concentrated pockets of faunas in-
habiting the surface of the stromatoporoid fields. Dineley's
ecological and depositional interpretation of the Middle
Devonian limestones around Torquay is summarized in
Figure 5.
During the Middle Devonian the vulcanicity initiated in
the Early Devonian became intense and continued into the
Late Devonian. Locally, and particularly in the Totnes-
Dartington area, there occur thick accumulations of lava
and variegated tuff with bombs and lapilli, known as the
Ashprington Volcanic Series (Champernowne, 1889; Mid-
dleton, 1960). Richter (1965) notes that marginally
(around Stoke Gabriel) the volcanic series interfingers with
the massive Torquay Limestone, and interprets limestones
within the volcanic series as biogenetic limestones accumu-
lating in situ during intervals of less intense volcanic activ-
ity, rather than as tectonic slices.
North Devon and West Somerset
The Middle Devonian emerges on the north side of the
Culm synclinorium in clastic facies, contrasting markedly
with the sequence in South Devon. The main group here
is the Hangman Grits, composed mostly of grits and con-
glomerates of Old Red Sandstone type. It may be that the
Lynton Beds below are partly Eifelian (see discussion
above) and almost certainly the Frasnian/Givetian bound-
ary falls in the lower part of the Ilfracombe Beds above, but
significant evidence for age within the Hangman Grits is
lacking since it has recently been shown that the supposed
Stringocephalus from the upper part of the group are incor-
rectly determined pelecypods.
The Hangman Grits crop out from the coast through the
Brendon Hills (Webby, 1965A) and on to the Quantock Hills
of west Somerset (Webby, 1965B). Few fossils are re-
corded apart from Psilophyton and Coccosteus. The upper
part, which becomes progressively more marine, contains
several beds of bivalves before the onset of clearly marine
facies in the Ilfracombe Beds. The transgressive phase and
its associated facies has been described by Webby (1950,
1966).
Upper Devonian
Along the north Cornish coast, the Upper Devonian is
predominantly of ostracod slate facies with some pillow
lavas. Eastward in South Devon, thick sequences of ostra-
cod slate with local volcanism are also recognizable, but
locally reduced sequences occur which are usually rich in
ammonoids, and these are interpreted as deposits formed
on submarine rises, in contrast to the basinal ostracod slate
facies. This is the "becken" and "schwellen" interpretation
favoured for similar facies in the rhenish Schiefergebirge
(Fig. 6).
 SOUTHERN BRITAIN 11

CONT- NER ITIC FACIES BATHYAL FACIES

INENTAL

.' .~.; LITTORAL

... . . O ' 00
:." ' . OJ : : ... : o ~~::::;:,----------:::;::::;::::::::::-----if-------------------------'4'
" "~" .Do '0':
. :.; ':":;."! - I
"_~~"P"

----r -.- --

Discont inuou s CEPHALOPOD OST.

REEF (, BEDDED LST. SH.

LSTS.

Vertica I sedimentation (clay)

rise
-----:~~ Lateral sedimentation (TURBIDITES) (Schwelle)

Fig. 6. A composite diagram to show the relationship between deep and shallow water deposits in the Upper Devonian. Based on Rabien, from Goldring, 1962, repro-
duced by permission af the University af Exeter.

The Upper Devonian along the immediate southern flank
of the Carboniferous synclinorium gives evidence of more
shallow water faunas. Brachiopods and trilobites are
abundant at some localities, and at Launceston rich am-
monoid horizons occur in the Famennian. Where next seen
to the north, in North Devon and West Somerset, delta and
prodelta deposits predominate.
North Cornwall
Around the Pads tow estuary the Frasnian is represented
by grey slates, frequently with dark bands, rich in pyritized
Manticoceras, Ponticeras and Tornoceras (House, 1963);
these comprise the Merope Island Beds. They are followed
by a thick sequence of purple and green slates, the ostracods
in which suggest a Famennian age, presumably early.
Precisely where in this sequence the Pentire Point pillow
lavas belong is uncertain, but it is probably early in the
Frasnian.
Farther north, near Tintagel, the Delabole Slates, with
supposed Cyrtospiriter verneuili, are presumed to be the
equivalent of some part of the Padstow succession, probably
of the purple and green slates. Inland in North Cornwall,
around Launceston (Selwood, 1960), very rich Famennian
ammonoid and trilobite faunas occur in a partly calcareous
sequence with shales, but also, more significantly, some
sandstones.
South Devon
The Upper Devonian slates of the Padstow area pass as a
broad belt, but highly disturbed tectonically, eastward to
Plymouth and South Devon, where the succession is also
mainly of ostracod slate with local volcanism. The Wearde
Grit near Plymouth may be a turbidite intercalation. The
transition from the Givetian limestones into the Lower
Frasnian is proved faunally at several places (House, 1963;
1964). Particularly rich goniatite faunas are known from
Saltern Cove and Chudleigh.
Details of the Famennian in South Devon have still to be
elucidated. At Chudleigh (House, 1963), a full sequence of
Famennian zones is known in a succession less than 200
feet thick; no volcanism is associated. Yet a few miles to the
south the Famennian is clearly represented by a thick se-
quence of ostracod slates with widespread evidence of con-
temporary volcanism. It is on such evidence that the
Chudleigh sequence is considered to be of "schwelle" type.
Undoubtedly tectonic movements are in part responsible for
their juxtaposition.
North Devon and West Somerset
The Upper Devonian of North Devon and West Somerset
parallels the ESE - striking bands of the Lower and Middle
Devonian. Present knowledge is from the coast sections
between Combe Martin and the Taw estuary (summarized
in House & Selwood, 1966), the Brendon Hills, and the
Quantock Hills. Marine developments in the dominantly
Old Red Sandstone facies of South Wales and Ireland are
discussed elewhere in this symposium.
The position of the Givetian/Frasnian boundary is not
yet resolved. In the coast section, Holwill (1963, 1964)
suggests on coral evidence that the boundary be taken
within the Ilfracombe Beds (above), between two of the
limestones. Webby (1963, 1966) has pointed out that the
change is essentially an ecological one. A rather deeper-
water and less turbulent facies appears locally on the coast
with the small solitary corals and small tabulatid colonies of
the Combe Martin Beach Limestone, replacing the shallow-
er-water and more turbulent facies of the other limestones,
characterized by compound rugose corals; the shallower-
water facies is also known from the limestones of the Bren-
don Hills (Webby, 1965a). In the Quantock Hills, the lime-
stones appear to represent a still shallower-water facies
with predominantly tabulate corals and stromatoporoids.
There, Webby (1965b) takes the stage boundary above the
Holwell Limestone either within the highest part of the
Ilfracombe Beds (Leighland Beds) below the Leigh Barton
Limestone (yielding Cyrtospirifer sp.) or, for convenience,
between the Ilfracombe Beds and the Morte Slates.
The Frasnian and Famennian of North Devon and West
Somerset total at least 10,000 feet, a much greater thickness
than in South Wales or South Devon, and Webby (1966)
invokes a trough, the Exmoor basin, to accommodate the
succession. The sediments represent continental, delta plat-
form, and prodelta slope deposits (Goldring, 1962; Webby,
1966), with sedimentation almost or quite keeping pace
with subsidence. The equivalent sediments in South Devon
and North Cornwall, however accumulated in general in
much deeper water and the (? same) trough was not filled
until the Carboniferous. Occasional tuff bands in the
Morte Slates and Pickwell Down Sandstone are the only
evidence of volcanic activity.
Following the coral developments of the middle Ilfra-
combe Beds the Frasnian and probably lower Famennian
Morte Slates represent a regressive trend, though Webby
(1966) suggests that the Middle Devonian transgression
continued northwards to account for the Plateau Beds of
South Wales, for which present faunal evidence indicates
a low Frasnian age.
The Morte Slates comprise a series of silty slates, cleaved
siltstones and sandstones. Though they presumably repre-
sent prodelta and delta slope deposits, they are unfossilifer-
ous, though a brachiopod and pelecypod fauna, has been
obtained at and near the coast including C. verneuili. Lith-
ological subdivision has been established only in the Brendon
Hills (Webby, 1965a).
No facies work has yet been completed on the regressive
continental Pickwell Down Sandstone and Upcott Beds. The
 only fossils are wood fragments and fish in the former
(House and Selwood, 1966), and unrecognizable fragmen-
tary shell debris in the latter. The Pickwell Down Sand-
stone grades into the cleaved, mainly clay-grade Upcott
Beds which might represent lagoonal or lake sediments.
The unit is nevertheless particularly constant in thickness
and lithology and can be traced the whole length of the
outcrop.
The Famennian transgression begins sharply with the
near-shore sediments of the Baggy Beds, and there is a
gradual transition into the fossiliferous neritic sandstones
and shales of the Pilton Beds. As the transgression appar-
ently moved northwards into South Wales there is a fall
in sand-grade sediment which is particularly marked shortly
below the level taken as the conformable junction with the
Carboniferous. In the Baggy Beds several levels of channel
structure with abundant plant debris, and subbeach biotur-
bated sandstones indicate repeated regressive episodes when
the sedimentation rate exceeded subsidence.
AGES OF IGNEOUS A C T I V I T Y A N D METAMORPHISM
The latest estimates (Friend and House, 1964) of the
dates of the beginning and end of the Devonian are respec-
tively 395 m.y. for the former and 345 m.y. for the latter.
Within this range there are no isotopic ages which can be
unambiguously assigned to igneous activity in southwest
England, but ages assigned to metamorphic events are
known from the Lizard, from the vicinity of the Lizard-
Dodman line and from off-shore and ocean-floor rocks south
of the Lizard-Dodman-Start line.
The isotopic ages from the Lizard rocks are as follows:
(a) Old Lizard Head Series, muscovite K-Ar ages average
353 m.y. (Dodson, 1961; Miller and Green, 1961a)
(b) Llandewednack schists and aureole of the Lizard
peridotite, a range of K-Ar ages on minerals from 357 to
492 m.y. (Miller and Green, 1961b), and
(c) Kennack Gneiss and Goonhilly granite, Rb-Sr and
K-Ar ages on minerals, grouping close to an average of 369
m.y. (disregarding one figure of 397 m.y.) (Dodson, 1961,
1963; Miller and Green, 1961a, 1961b).
Dodson (1963), reviewing the original data summarized
above, regarded the difference between (c) and (a) as
significant, the 353 m.y. ages being thought by him to be
due to a distinct Upper Devonian event. The higher age
for the Kennack gneiss and Goonhilly granite, usually re-
garded as younger rocks, may also mark a (mild?) thermal
or deformational event, the main igneous activity in the
Lizard presumably being older than 369 m.y. Miller and
Green (1961b) regarded their higher K-Ar ages of 442 and
492 m.y. on hornblendes (in group (b) above) as indicating
a pre-Devonian date for the Lizard peridotite, but Dodson
(1963) suggested that firm conclusions on that problem
could not yet be drawn.
K-Ar whole-rock ages of slates from the vicinity of the
Lizard-Dodman line average 353 m.y. and form a distinct
geological and geographical group (Dodson, 1963). Togeth-
er with the Old Lizard Head ages, they provide good evi-
dence for an Upper Devonian tectonic/metamorphic event
in southern Cornwall. Similar ages, ranging up to 375 m.y.,
have been found on samples from various island and ocean
floor localities south of the Lizard-Dodman-Start line, ex-
tending the geographic extent of the tectonic event men-
tioned. The Start portion of the line has, however, a more
complicated history than the western part, as Carboniferous
ages (near 310 m.y.) are found in the Start area itself
(Dodson, 1963).
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R. G O L D R I N G
Department of Geology, T h e University, Reading, England.
M . R. H O U S E ,
Department of Geology, T h e University, Hull, England.
E. B. S E L W O O D a n d S C O T T S I M P S O N ,
Department of Geology, T h e University, Exeter, England.
R. ST.J. L A M B E R T
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