Hope, near the nature reserve on the A488, has small stream-bank shale exposures where trilobites and graptolites have occasionally been found. The wider valley preserves a much richer scientific record, including volcanic ash, fossil type localities and a younger Silurian sandstone succession. Those named research sites are distinct from the short stream visit described here.
FIND FREQUENCY: ♦ – The original entrance-stream account records few recognisable fossils in weathered shale, with occasional trilobite fragments or complete specimens.
CHILDREN: ♦♦ – The reserve offers walks, but the roadside approach, deeper pools and slippery stream banks require separate caution. A short distance does not make stream access safe.
ACCESS: ♦♦♦ – The reserve has a free car park and signed visitor information. Stream-bed and quarry access, and any collecting, need site-specific confirmation.
TYPE: – Small shale stream-bank exposures near the reserve entrance; separately located Ordovician valley and Silurian quarry/brook sections provide wider context.
DIRECTIONS
♦ Hope Valley Nature Reserve is on the A488, about three miles south of Minsterley. Shropshire Wildlife Trust gives the car-park reference SJ 34982 01684 and postcode SY5 0JX. Consult its current information board and route notices on arrival.
♦ The original guide point, 52.61035°N, 2.96197°W, is the general entrance locality. The old short-stream route returned from the car park to the A488, turned right for 20–30 m, then followed the small road branching left at a shallow angle to the stream crossing. Its fossil observation area was a few metres upstream.
♦ An additional shale exposure was described opposite the reserve entrance, where the water could be deeper. These are historical exposure locations, not confirmation that entering the stream or removing rock is currently permitted. Ask the Wildlife Trust about the exact point and activity, and view the banks from safe permitted ground.
♦ The reserve’s woodland paths include muddy and steep ground, a stile and more than 100 steps on its southern trail. Use the signed visitor routes; do not treat the scientific grid references in the geology section as a walking route through private land, fences or quarry faces.
♦ The wider Hope Valley Ordovician sites and Hope Quarry–Hope Brook Silurian section have separate locations. The old references to a village bus-stop quarry and a small roadside spur have not been matched confidently to those formal sections, so do not navigate to a fossil type locality by the guide pin alone.
FOSSIL HUNTING
The short entrance-stream locality offers modest prospects rather than the full fossil diversity implied by the name Hope Valley. The original observations record weathered shale, few durable fallen blocks, occasional trilobite fragments or whole specimens, and poorly preserved graptolites. Stream action quickly breaks down detached shale. Begin with observation and photographs of naturally visible surfaces; do not extract fresh blocks from the bank to compensate for a lack of loose material.
Trilobites may appear as small shields or parts of a segmented body. A head, tail or several organised segments can provide useful evidence, while a single flattened curve may be indeterminate. The photographs and their existing labels are preserved, but neither an image filename nor resemblance to a regional species establishes a numbered source bed or museum-quality identification for every entrance-stream find.
Graptolites in the old account were dark lines or fragments on shale. Look for regular colony structure under a hand lens and use oblique light to photograph faint impressions. Irregular black specks alone are not diagnostic. Surface weathering, cleavage and flattening can erase the characters needed for identification, so a broad graptolite record may be the most defensible result.
The wider Ordovician valley has several separately documented collecting stations. Below a local tuff near Hope Cottage, published records include Ectillaenus perovalis, Pricyclopyge binodosa, Barrandia homfrayi, Microparia cf. princeps and other trilobites. The historical type-locality species Neseuretus bullatus was treated as Colpocoryphe bullata in a later revision. These names belong to that located scientific record, not an assumed checklist for the few metres beside the reserve entrance.
Other valley exposures have their own faunas: shale above the upper local tuff records Barrandia and Acrograptus cf. acutidens; a separate Hope Brook point yielded trilobites, hyolithids and a recorded Palaeura starfish. The latter is an unusual historical occurrence, with no verified local type accession here. Preserving the exact collecting station matters more than attaching a spectacular regional name to an unproven loose specimen.
The Silurian Hope Quarry sandstone is a different fossil-bearing rock body. Its published fauna includes brachiopods such as transitional Stricklandia, Atrypa reticularis and higher Pentamerus oblongus, together with Tentaculites anglicus. Shelly concentrations, muddy partings and sedimentary structures are part of its scientific interest. The quarry is not demonstrated to be the same outcrop as every bus-stop or spur reference in the old guide.
Hope is also important for microscopic fossils recovered by specialist laboratory work. Chitinozoans from a precisely recorded Hope Cottage shale sample formed the basis of six species in 1967. Conodont elements from the Silurian quarry include type specimens, and a single fish scale from sample HQ3 was published in 1975, now referred to Loganellia scotica. Those results do not mean that visitors should expect visible fish fossils or take bulk rock samples; their sample numbers, processing and repository records are essential parts of the evidence.
If the land manager specifically permits a loose specimen to be taken, label its exact finding place, matrix and whether its original bed is known. Keep matching shale counterparts together and protect fragile surfaces separately. Do not hammer the stream bank, enlarge small exposures or undertake chemical microfossil extraction as casual collecting. Photograph anything unusual in place and seek advice before disturbance or preparation.
Significant discoveries, geological research and conservation milestones at Hope.
1894 – The Hope Shales name is introduced
Lapworth and Watts introduced Hope Shales terminology for the valley succession. Later mapping broadened the formation concept, so the original name should not be read as an unchanged modern thickness or boundary definition.
1931 – Whittard describes the valley’s geology and fauna
Whittard’s account documented the succession and fossils, including a Palaeura starfish from a separately located Hope Brook exposure. The record is a publication milestone, not evidence that a starfish came from the present guide’s short entrance-stream visit.
1955–1967 – The Hope Cottage trilobite type locality is documented
Whittard’s trilobite monograph included the Hope Cottage type-locality record of historical Neseuretus bullatus. Its later combination and regional faunal interpretation were revised, while its exact original type accession remains a separate question.
1963 – Earlier geological protection is recorded
The later statutory citation records notification under the 1949 legislation in 1963. This relates to the geological conservation history, distinct from the later reserve purchase and the separate Hope Valley Meadows designation.
1967 – Six chitinozoan species are based on Hope Cottage material
Jenkins described six new species with holotypes from sample S21 behind Hope Cottage: Conochitina chydaea, Rhabdochitina turgida, R. usitata, Siphonochitina tenuicollis, S. robusta and Sphaerochitina vulgaris. Their exact sample and specimen codes distinguish them from types based on material outside Hope Valley.
1968 – The Venusbank type section is defined
Ziegler, Cocks and McKerrow defined the Venusbank succession in Hope Quarry and Hope Brook and described marine transgression and changes in fossil communities. Their mapped type section is separate from the guide’s small roadside shale exposures.
1972 – Conodont samples and quarry holotypes are published
Aldridge quantified separately located quarry and brook samples and described HQ3 holotypes Icriodella deflecta X.561 and historical Spathognathodus abruptus X.574. The form-element tables and sample appendices retain unresolved numerical differences; their entries are not a count of modern biological species.
1975 – A microscopic fish scale and a new sedimentological interpretation are published
Aldridge and Turner described the single HQ3 scale G39.50 as Logania scotica; their letter was dated November 1974, not a verified discovery date. Separately, Bridges interpreted quarry sedimentation in terms of suspension settling influenced by tides and storms, differing from an earlier emphasis on proximal turbidity currents.
1979 – The valley’s mapped stratigraphy is revised
Whittard’s later mapping revised the valley succession and the interpretation of its local shale and volcanic exposures. The modern distinction between regional formation extent and individual collecting stations remains essential.
1981 – The nature reserve is purchased
Shropshire Wildlife Trust purchased Hope Valley reserve, adding a conservation and visitor framework around the wooded valley. The reserve’s walking access remains separate from permission to disturb geological exposures or remove fossils.
1987 – Hope Valley is notified under the Wildlife and Countryside Act
The geological SSSI notification incorporated the former Hope Road Section and Hope Mill Quarry/Stream sites. It is distinct from Hope Valley Meadows SSSI and does not grant general collecting or entry rights.
2000 – Separate Ordovician and Silurian reviews clarify the locality scopes
Geological Conservation Review accounts separately assessed Ordovician Hope Valley and Silurian Hope Quarry–Hope Brook. Together they documented the distinct fossil, volcanic, structural and sedimentary records rather than treating the whole area as one collecting point.
2001 – The Geological Survey memoir records the contact and mapped sandstone terminology
Cave and Hains described the basal sandstone contact, quarry lithology and petrographic thin sections, and mapped Venusbank and Bog Quartzite within Pentamerus Sandstone Formation. This is a terminology crosswalk, not an extra pair of rock bodies to add to the type-section succession.
2007 – The Hope trilobite association is reassessed
Owens and Servais used Colpocoryphe bullata for historical Neseuretus bullatus. They distinguished the atheloptic/cyclopygid association in the lowest Hope beds below the Hyssington Member from the outer-shelf raphiophorid association from the Hyssington Member upwards, including younger Stapeley beds. This regional revision does not identify every entrance-stream trilobite photograph.
2012 – The published Hope fish material is included in a later taxonomic treatment
Žigaitė and Goujet explicitly included Aldridge and Turner’s 1975 scale figures under Loganellia scotica. This verifies the updated combination for the published specimen; it is not a new Hope discovery or a renewed oldest-fish claim.
2016 – Clearance work is reported at Hope Valley Quarry
A council bulletin reported that volunteers removed trees and brash to improve visibility of the quarry geology. This record does not establish that the work destroyed the particular outcrop alleged in the earlier guide, or that both accounts concern exactly the same feature.
GEOLOGY
The Hope area preserves rocks from two very different intervals of geological time, but not as one continuous section at the reserve entrance. The short guide visit concerns small shale exposures. The wider Ordovician Hope Valley GCR site follows discontinuous streams and old quarries over approximately 1.8 km, while the younger Hope Quarry–Hope Brook GCR section has its own mapped extent. Keeping those geographical scopes separate prevents regional beds and fossil discoveries being attributed to a few metres of stream.
The lower Hope Shale succession belongs to the Didymograptus artus Zone within the Darriwilian Stage of the Ordovician, historically described as lower Abereiddian or Llanvirn. Mud accumulated in a relatively deep marine setting, interrupted by volcanic ash. The lowest beds below the Hyssington Member have a cyclopygid association with small-eyed or blind seabed trilobites. From the Hyssington Member upwards, including the younger Stapeley beds, Owens and Servais describe a more outer-shelf raphiophorid association. The whole expanded regional formation therefore does not represent one unchanged habitat, and this internal boundary has not been identified at the entrance stream.
“Hope Shales” originally referred to shale below the Stapeley volcanic rocks. Modern mapping uses Hope Shale Formation more broadly, including the Stapeley Volcanic Member and former Stapeley Shales. Local acid tuffs historically called Chinastone Ash are included in the Hyssington Volcanic Member; their bands are laterally impersistent. Neither historical regional thickness estimates nor a named ash outcrop elsewhere defines the thickness of the entrance-stream exposure.
At the separate Silurian quarry, sandstone rests unconformably on more steeply inclined Ordovician shale. Marine flooding crossed an eroded, uneven surface. The basal sandstone succession was named Venusbank Formation in the original type-section study; later BGS mapping places Venusbank and Bog Quartzite units within Pentamerus Sandstone Formation. Those names describe a nomenclatural relationship, not two unrelated formations to stack on top of one another. The named quarry beds are Aeronian, not the Telychian age previously applied to them in the guide.
The quarry sandstone records changing currents and sediment supply through sharp-based beds, muddy interlayers, shell concentrations, lamination, local channels and traces of organisms disturbing the sediment. Some early work favoured proximal turbidity currents, while later sedimentological interpretation emphasised suspension settling influenced by tides and storms. These are differing published interpretations of marine sedimentation; neither justifies a confident deep-ocean or intertidal label for every exposure.
Upstream, the overlying Minsterley succession has its own lithologies, communities and microfossil samples. A separately located graptolite horizon provides evidence for Telychian strata in that broader succession; it does not date the basal quarry sandstone or every higher bed. The chart therefore compares the original stream scope, located Ordovician valley record and younger quarry/brook succession. It does not manufacture a complete measured log where none has been established.
Detailed geology, fossils and stratigraphy of Hope and its separately scoped research localities.
Three geographical scopes. The original guide describes a few metres of stream near the A488 reserve entrance. The Ordovician Hope Valley GCR site extends approximately 1.8 km between SJ 3390 0128 and SJ 3550 0209. The Silurian Hope Quarry–Hope Brook site occupies a separate stretch, approximately SJ 3530 0203–SJ 3568 0214. The scientific records below retain their own named localities, and do not turn the original entrance stream into a continuous measured reference section.
Hope Shale Formation
Terminology and age. The lower Hope succession belongs to the Didymograptus artus Zone, historically lower Abereiddian or Llanvirn and now placed in the Darriwilian Stage. Early “Hope Shales” meant shale below the Stapeley volcanic rocks; modern formation usage also includes the Stapeley Volcanic Member and former Stapeley Shales. Whittard’s approximately 245 m estimate for the lower shale and the larger, structurally uncertain regional formation estimate are not thicknesses of the entrance-stream outcrop.
Original entrance stream. The old visit records weathered shale, occasional trilobite fragments or whole specimens and poorly preserved graptolites. Fallen blocks were scarce and rapidly broken by the stream. No numbered bed, species-level museum voucher or Whittard collecting station has been tied securely to those exact few metres. The old references to a village bus-stop quarry and a small spur remain insufficiently located to supply that missing link.
Shale above the upper local tuff: Whittard 834L, M and N. The stream stretch SJ 3390 0128–SJ 3399 0135 contains some of the youngest Hope Shales locally exposed in the GCR section. Recorded fossils are Barrandia and Acrograptus cf. acutidens. “Above” describes the local tuff relationship, not the full regional formation top.
Shale below the upper local tuff: Whittard 834E, G, H and I. South of the ash quarry, between SJ 3426 0143 and SJ 3443 0141, the recorded trilobites include Ectillaenus perovalis, Pricyclopyge binodosa and Placoparia cambriensis. This is a distinct located shale interval and should not be transferred to every photograph or entrance-stream block.
Hope Cottage below the lower local tuff: Whittard 142. At SJ 3438 0143 the GCR records Ectillaenus perovalis, Pricyclopyge binodosa, Barrandia homfrayi, Microparia cf. princeps, Gastropolus obtusicaudatus and historical Neseuretus bullatus, with Paterula cf. bohemica and pendent didymograptid graptolites. Hope Cottage is the stated type locality of that historical Neseuretus species. Owens and Servais use the revised combination Colpocoryphe bullata; an exact original type accession is not established here. Jenkins’s nearby samples below have their own verbal positions and older grid resolution.
Separate Ordovician Hope Brook point. At SJ 3494 0104, shale above the upper local tuff yielded Ectillaenus perovalis, other trilobites, hyolithids and a recorded Palaeura starfish, attributed in the GCR to Whittard’s 1931 account. No accession or new-species status is attached to that starfish here. Similar shale downstream near the Fox Inn yielded Ellipsotaphrus monophthalmus; no more precise new point is inferred for that record.
Hyssington Volcanic Member: local Chinastone Ash
Local tuffs and the Contorted Ash Quarry. The acid tuffs historically called Chinastone Ash are laterally impersistent; they cannot serve as universal subdivision boundaries throughout the district. At the quarry beside Ash Cottage, SJ 3425 0147, bluish-grey, very fine-grained flinty tuff and subsidiary shale are folded and fractured. Competent thin tuff beds deformed within weaker shale. This structural exposure is separately located, not a fossil bed demonstrated at the car park.
Marine setting and younger formation context. The lowest Hope beds below the Hyssington Member combine cyclopygid trilobites with small-eyed or blind benthic forms, an atheloptic/cyclopygid association interpreted as relatively deep marine background sedimentation interrupted by ash falls. Owens and Servais distinguish the succession from the Hyssington Member upwards, including the younger Stapeley beds, as a more outer-shelf raphiophorid association. This boundary within the wider formation is not presented as exposed at the entrance stream. Flattening, cleavage and weathering also affect preservation and identification.
Hope Shale Formation: located shale and ash samples
Jenkins’s Hope Cottage sample framework. The historical six-figure grid 33/345014 is retained at its original precision; sheet 33 corresponds to SJ, but adding digits would create false accuracy. The stream distances below are not stratigraphic thicknesses. S25, S24 and S21 are successively higher shale samples; S22, S23 and S26 record the adjacent ash interval. S27–S29 are separately located road samples.
S25. Massive rusty-black shale, base of Hope Shales. 23 ft upstream of the stone-and-brick outhouse behind Hope Cottage. Historical grid reference: 33/345014.
S24. Same shale, stratigraphically above S25. 12 ft farther upstream than S25. Historical grid reference: same locality.
S21. Same shale, stratigraphically above S24. 25 ft upstream of S25. Historical grid reference: same locality.
S22. Chinastone Ash. 0.5 inch stratigraphically above S21. Historical grid reference: same locality.
S23. Soft olive-green shale, 0.5-inch band within Chinastone Ash. 6 inches stratigraphically above S21. Historical grid reference: same locality.
S26. Chinastone Ash, stratigraphically above S23. 33 ft upstream of S25. Historical grid reference: same locality.
S27. Chinastone Ash. 40 yd along Lord Stone Road from main road, NE bank; 28 inches stratigraphically above base of small anticline. Historical grid reference: 33/342015.
S28. Black shale. 8 inches stratigraphically above S27. Historical grid reference: same locality as S27.
S29. Green-black shale, near top of Hope Shales. Road excavation, Lordstone Lane, Leigh, 230 yd SE of Blue Barn. Historical grid reference: 33/338025.
Chitinozoan occurrence and abundance limits. S25 contains five recorded taxa and S21 eleven, twelve unique historical taxa between them. The author’s estimated categories are rare, fewer than 1 per thousand; uncommon, 1–10; common, 10–50; very common, 50–100; abundant, more than 100. These nonuniform samples and broken tests do not support a modern exact census. “Not recorded” is not biological absence. S36, near Brithdir Farm at Old Church Stoke, is outside Hope Valley: its type specimens, fauna and per-gram estimates must not be imported.
Sphaerochitina vulgaris. S25: not recorded; S21: common. Historical taxonomic usage.
Siphonochitina robusta. S25: not recorded; S21: abundant. Historical taxonomic usage.
Siphonochitina tenuicollis. S25: uncommon; S21: common. Historical taxonomic usage.
Rhabdochitina usitata. S25: rare; S21: abundant. Historical taxonomic usage.
Rhabdochitina turgida. S25: not recorded; S21: uncommon. Historical taxonomic usage.
Rhabdochitina magna. S25: not recorded; S21: rare. Historical taxonomic usage.
Lagenochitina esthonica. S25: not recorded; S21: rare. Historical taxonomic usage.
Lagenochitina cylindrica. S25: not recorded; S21: uncommon. Historical taxonomic usage.
Cyathochitina campanulaeformis. S25: uncommon; S21: very common. Historical taxonomic usage.
Cyathochitina calix. S25: abundant; S21: not recorded. Historical taxonomic usage.
Conochitina parviventer. S25: not recorded; S21: rare. Historical taxonomic usage.
Conochitina chydaea. S25: abundant; S21: abundant. Historical taxonomic usage.
Six S21 holotypes and published repository. Jenkins states that preparations were deposited in the Micropalaeontology Laboratory, Department of Geology, University of Sheffield. That is the 1967 repository statement, not a verified current custody claim. The six type records below belong specifically to S21; type material of Conochitina parviventer and Siphonochitina formosa from S36 does not.
Conochitina chydaea. Holotype S21/35/3/A, S21; plate 70, figure 4, printed page 453. Reported length 204 μm.
Rhabdochitina turgida. Holotype S21/23/1/A, S21; plate 74, figure 19, printed page 467. Reported length 231 μm.
Rhabdochitina usitata. Holotype S21/16/2/A, S21; plate 75, figure 1, printed page 468. Reported length 418 μm.
Siphonochitina tenuicollis. Holotype S21/1/5/A, S21; plate 75, figure 7, printed page 471. Reported length 322 μm.
Siphonochitina robusta. Holotype S21/29/4/A, S21; plate 75, figure 17, printed page 473. Reported length 531 μm excluding the siphon.
Sphaerochitina vulgaris. Holotype S21/5/1/H, S21; plate 75, figure 19, printed page 475. Reported length 111 μm.
Additional figured Hope Cottage material. Lagenochitina esthonica specimens S21/2/1/A and S21/2/1/B are useful figured vouchers, not newly designated types. Original combinations remain historical records where a complete later revision has not been established.
Complete figured Hope Cottage register. Jenkins’s plates 70, 71, 74 and 75 contain 36 distinct S21/S25 specimens: 33 from S21 and three from S25. Six are the holotypes described above, leaving 30 other figured specimens. The register below includes the holotypes again to retain each complete plate reference; these are the same objects, not six additional specimens. Other figured material is not automatically paratype material. Magnifications refer to the printed plates, not a calibration of a digital image. The historical Sheffield repository statement remains distinct from verified present custody.
Conochitina chydaea: S21/35/3/A. Holotype; sample S21; plate 70, figure 4, ×230. Caption on printed page 452.
Conochitina chydaea: S21/35/8/var. A/2. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 70, figure 5, ×230. Caption on printed page 452. The caption describes no differentiation between chamber and neck.
Conochitina chydaea: S21/33/1/C. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 70, figure 6, ×230. Caption on printed page 452. The caption describes a hemispherical base.
Conochitina chydaea: S21/35/5/A. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 70, figure 7, ×230. Caption on printed page 452.
Conochitina chydaea: S21/35/9/B. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 70, figure 8, ×230. Caption on printed page 452.
Cyathochitina calix: S25/10/4/A. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S25; plate 71, figure 5, ×190. Caption on printed page 456.
Cyathochitina calix: S25/10/4/B. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S25; plate 71, figure 6, ×190. Caption on printed page 456.
Cyathochitina calix: S25/10/4/C. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S25; plate 71, figure 7, ×190. Caption on printed page 456.
Cyathochitina campanulaeformis: S21/10/1/2. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 71, figure 8, ×190. Caption on printed page 456.
Cyathochitina campanulaeformis: S21/10/1/44. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 71, figure 9, ×190. Caption on printed page 456.
Cyathochitina campanulaeformis: S21/10/2/A. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 71, figure 10, ×190. Caption on printed page 456. The caption calls this an atypical specimen with a short, wide chamber.
Cyathochitina campanulaeformis: S21/10/1/45. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 71, figure 11, ×190. Caption on printed page 456.
Lagenochitina cylindrica: S21/12/1/A. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 74, figure 1, ×150. Caption on printed page 464.
Lagenochitina cylindrica: S21/11/1/A. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 74, figure 2, ×150. Caption on printed page 464.
Lagenochitina cylindrica: S21/11/1/B. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 74, figure 3, ×150. Caption on printed page 464.
Lagenochitina esthonica: S21/2/1/A. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 74, figure 4, ×80. Caption on printed page 464.
Lagenochitina esthonica: S21/2/1/B. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 74, figure 5, ×80. Caption on printed page 464.
Rhabdochitina magna: S21/17/1/A. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 74, figure 12, ×80. Caption on printed page 464.
Rhabdochitina usitata: S21/16/5/A. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 74, figure 13, ×150. Caption on printed page 464.
Rhabdochitina usitata: S21/16/2/B. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 74, figure 14, ×150. Caption on printed page 464.
Rhabdochitina usitata: S21/15/5/A. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 74, figure 15, ×230. Caption on printed page 464. The caption identifies a stump of the basal process.
Rhabdochitina turgida: S21/23/1/B. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 74, figure 16, ×150. Caption on printed page 464.
Rhabdochitina turgida: S21/16/4/A. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 74, figure 17, ×150. Caption on printed page 464.
Rhabdochitina turgida: S21/16/4/B. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 74, figure 18, ×150. Caption on printed page 464.
Rhabdochitina turgida: S21/23/1/A. Holotype; sample S21; plate 74, figure 19, ×150. Caption on printed page 464.
Rhabdochitina usitata: S21/16/3/B. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 74, figure 20, ×150. Caption on printed page 464.
Rhabdochitina usitata: S21/16/2/A. Holotype; sample S21; plate 75, figure 1, ×150. Caption on printed page 472.
Siphonochitina tenuicollis: S21/1/3/A. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 75, figure 6, ×150. Caption on printed page 472.
Siphonochitina tenuicollis: S21/1/5/A. Holotype; sample S21; plate 75, figure 7, ×150. Caption on printed page 472.
Siphonochitina robusta: S21/29/5/B. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 75, figure 14, ×150. Caption on printed page 472.
Siphonochitina robusta: S21/29/5/C. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 75, figure 15, ×150. Caption on printed page 472.
Siphonochitina robusta: S21/29/5/A. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 75, figure 16, ×150. Caption on printed page 472.
Siphonochitina robusta: S21/29/4/A. Holotype; sample S21; plate 75, figure 17, ×150. Caption on printed page 472.
Sphaerochitina vulgaris: S21/5/1/H. Holotype; sample S21; plate 75, figure 19, ×230. Caption on printed page 472.
Sphaerochitina vulgaris: S21/5/1/C. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 75, figure 21, ×230. Caption on printed page 472.
Sphaerochitina vulgaris: S21/5/1/D. Figured specimen, without an asserted nomenclatural type designation; sample S21; plate 75, figure 22, ×230. Caption on printed page 472. The caption identifies small spines and cones at the aboral end of the chamber.
Exact S21 acritarch record. Jenkins records historical Baltisphaeridium longispinosum (Eisenack, 1931) as often numerous in S21 as well as the separately named C14/b sample. No numerical S21 count is supplied. This discussion concerns larger acritarchs retained on a 300-mesh sieve and does not establish a complete S21 assemblage or every morphological variant mentioned elsewhere.
Joint fine-fraction survey involving S21. Material passing the 300-mesh sieve from S21, Weston Beds S1 and Meadowtown Beds S11 collectively yielded Baltisphaeridium, Micrhystridium, Veryhachium and Leiofusa. Jenkins gives no sample-by-taxon matrix for this passage, so these are not four independently proved S21 genus records. Preservation across the Shelve survey was generally poor, numbers small and many remains fragmentary, with only a minority identifiable.
Formation-level acritarch context. Jenkins records Veryhachium lairdi (Deflandre, 1946) Deunff, 1954 from the Hope Shales, with specimens reaching 150 μm across body and processes. No sample is supplied in this passage: it does not establish an S21, S25 or entrance-stream occurrence.
A further Veryhachium form is described as ranging from the base of the Hope Shales to the top of the Caradoc. It has a rounded triangular body with three radial blade-like processes whose shapes vary. This is regional range and morphology information, not an independently sampled Hope Cottage record.
Hope Shales material provisionally assigned to Leiofusa cf. filifera Downie, 1959 includes specimens 300–650 μm long, with relatively smaller and less sharply defined central bodies than the cited Wenlock examples. Jenkins retained the tentative identification pending whole-population study. The account is formation-scoped and cannot be assigned specifically to S21 or S25.
Pentamerus Sandstone Formation: mapped Venusbank unit
Historical Venusbank terminology and exact type-section scope. Ziegler, Cocks and McKerrow named Venusbank Formation in 1968. Cave and Hains later mapped the Venusbank and Bog Quartzite units within Pentamerus Sandstone Formation; these names must not be stacked as separate unrelated rock bodies. The Venusbank type section begins in Hope Brook at SJ 3554 0207 and Hope Quarry at SJ 3550 0207, ending near SJ 3572 0215. A later quarry reference is SJ 3550 0209. One memoir sentence’s SO prefix is inconsistent with the surrounding SJ records and is not repeated as a second quarry.
Angular unconformity and basal sandstone. Silurian sandstone rests on steeply inclined Ordovician Hope Shales. BGS records the shale dipping 35° east while the sandstone dips gently east. Basal sandstone thin section E59498 contains 0.1–0.2 mm quartz and feldspar with silica overgrowths; E59500 records quartz around 0.2 mm in quarry sandstone. These are petrographic slide identifiers, not fossil type vouchers.
Main sandstone beds and finer interlayers. Calcareous sandstone beds reach about 1 m in thickness and are separated by thinner muddy material. Sharp bases, shale chips or shell concentrations, lenses and parallel lamination are recorded, with some beds fining upward into silt. Low-angle channels, worm traces or other bioturbation, and occasional ripple cross-lamination near bed tops help interpret sediment movement. The quarry exposes about 10 m in the 1968 account and 9 m in the BGS description; the difference is not two beds to add together. BGS also records possible hummocky cross-stratification; that sedimentary-structure identification remains tentative.
Flaggier upper beds and the Venusbank top. Upward, sandstone becomes less calcareous and more flaggy, with more frequent thin mudstone interbeds. A conspicuous sandstone with calcareous concretions below the footbridge marks the upper boundary in the original type-section account. The reproduced Bridges quarry figure plots a representative approximately 4.4 m interval with finer sediment, shell levels and structures; it is not a complete numbered ten-metre log. Exact thicknesses must not be invented for every drawn sub-bed.
Aeronian age and quarry fauna. Basal beds yielded Climacograptus aff. rectangularis. The Stricklandia population is transitional between historical S. lens intermedia and S. lens progressa; lower records include Atrypa reticularis and Tentaculites anglicus, with Pentamerus oblongus higher. The assemblage supports Aeronian, not Telychian, age for the named quarry succession. The GCR identifies Hope Quarry as type locality for Leptostrophia compressa, Coolinia semicircularis and Leptaena contermina; exact original accession numbers are not supplied here.
Separate Hope outlier conglomerate. At SJ 3458 0146 the regional basal conglomerate contains pebbles up to 5 cm of Hope Shale, Stapeley volcanic rock and Stiperstones Quartzite. This outlier is separate from both the entrance stream and main quarry. The regional 0–65 m sandstone thickness range and historical 200–300 ft pre-transgression relief estimate are not quarry heights.
Registered 1968 community collections. The following seven collections retain their own locations, community labels and repositories as published. No species-by-locality numerical matrix was provided for these collections; a community name does not prove every characteristic species at each point.
Locality 68: Venusbank. SJ35340125; Stricklandia community. Published repository: Oxford University Museum.
Locality 69: Hope Outlier. SJ34820140; Stricklandia community. Published repository: Oxford University Museum.
Locality 70: Hope Quarry. SJ35510208; Stricklandia community. Published repository: Oxford University Museum.
Locality 71: Hope Brook. SJ35780212; Clorinda community. Published repository: Oxford University Museum.
Locality 72: Josey’s Wood A. SJ36560213; Stricklandia community. Published repository: Oxford University Museum.
Locality 73: Josey’s Wood B. SJ36530221; Stricklandia community. Published repository: Oxford University Museum.
Locality 74: Josey’s Wood C. SJ36410216; Pentamerus community. Published repository: British Museum (Natural History).
Locality 74 coordinate disagreement. The 1968 text on p. 743 associates its Pentamerus collection with SJ 3555 0107, whereas the p. 781 register gives Josey’s Wood C at SJ 3641 0216. Both source statements are retained; locality number 74 alone cannot resolve the fossil point.
Minsterley Formation: wider upstream context
Overlying brook succession. Above SJ 3572 0215, the Minsterley succession continues upstream towards Wagbeach, around SJ 3642 0270. Lower beds include calcareous siltstone and mudstone; higher strata include maroon, green and blue beds, with an upper purple siltstone interval described as about 49 m. The historical total of about 400 ft, or roughly 130 m, is regional rather than one exposed face. Hope Brook locality 71 has a Clorinda community, distinct from the basal Stricklandia assemblage.
Separately located younger age evidence. A historical record of Monograptus halli, M. becki and M. cf. proteus was located at locality 75, Minsterley–Habberley Lane, outside the short guide visit. Later work assigned the horizon to the turriculatus Zone. It supports Telychian strata within the wider Minsterley succession, not that age for every bed or for the underlying Venusbank sandstone. HV3–HV6 and HB1–HB2 microfossil samples below retain their own brook positions.
Marine flooding and competing sedimentological interpretations. Early Silurian transgression crossed an eroded Ordovician landscape. Ziegler and colleagues suggested proximal turbidity currents for some sandstone deposition; Bridges later favoured suspension sedimentation influenced by tidal currents and storms, as discussed and illustrated in the GCR. These are differing published interpretations, not grounds for an unqualified deep-ocean or intertidal label at the entrance stream.
Aldridge’s sample framework. HQ1 came from basal calcareous sandstone in the small roadside exposure in front of the quarry, while HQ3 sampled the lower quarry succession and HQ5–HQ6 higher levels. HV and HB samples belong to their separately recorded brook positions. Historical masses and yields document research processing and are not a recommendation to collect bulk rock.
HQ1. Basal calcareous sandstone, small roadside exposure in front of quarry, not quarry face. Grid reference SJ355021. Processed mass 14.0 kg; appendix yield 108 conodont elements; published elements per kilogram 8.
HQ2. Quarry; exact height not supplied here. Grid reference SJ355021. Processed mass 1.0 kg; appendix yield 0 conodont elements; published elements per kilogram 0.
HQ3. Low quarry section; two conodont holotypes and later thelodont scale. Grid reference SJ355021. Processed mass 14.0 kg; appendix yield 291 conodont elements; published elements per kilogram 21.
HQ4. Quarry; exact height not supplied here. Grid reference SJ355021. Processed mass 2.0 kg; appendix yield 0 conodont elements; published elements per kilogram 0.
HQ5. Higher quarry section. Grid reference SJ355021. Processed mass 1.0 kg; appendix yield 4 conodont elements; published elements per kilogram 4.
HQ6. Higher quarry section. Grid reference SJ355021. Processed mass 1.25 kg; appendix yield 32 conodont elements; published elements per kilogram 26.
HV1. Hope Brook near quarry. Grid reference SJ355021. Processed mass 1.5 kg; appendix yield 0 conodont elements; published elements per kilogram 0.
HV2. Hope Brook. Grid reference SJ357022. Processed mass 1.5 kg; appendix yield 2 conodont elements; published elements per kilogram 1.
HV3. Lower Minsterley Formation. Grid reference SJ358022. Processed mass 2.0 kg; appendix yield 285 conodont elements; published elements per kilogram 142.
HV4. Minsterley Formation; first recorded Hadrognathus staurognathoides. Grid reference SJ360022. Processed mass 5.0 kg; appendix yield 748 conodont elements; published elements per kilogram 150.
HV5. Minsterley Formation. Grid reference SJ361022. Processed mass 2.0 kg; appendix yield 15 conodont elements; published elements per kilogram 7.
HV6. Minsterley Formation. Grid reference SJ364025. Processed mass 1.0 kg; appendix yield 0 conodont elements; published elements per kilogram 0.
HB1. Hope Brook at Josey’s Wood Brook confluence area. Grid reference SJ364022. Processed mass 1.0 kg; appendix yield 4 conodont elements; published elements per kilogram 4.
HB2. Limestone conglomerate; highest conodont-bearing Minsterley horizon found. Grid reference SJ364022. Processed mass 5.0 kg; appendix yield 116 conodont elements; published elements per kilogram 23.
Minsterley Lane. Separate locality outside original guide route. Grid reference SJ380049. Processed mass 3.5 kg; appendix yield 163 conodont elements; published elements per kilogram 46.
Combined HQ1/HQ3 historical form-element table. Aldridge’s four distribution tables combine these two samples in one column. The forty-two nonblank rows below are historical conodont form-element taxa, not forty-two modern biological species. Their entries sum to 397, whereas the two appendix sample totals sum to 399. This two-element difference is unresolved. Distomodus? egregius is figured from HQ3 as X.641 but its combined table cell appears blank; a connection with the count mismatch has not been proved.
Acodus unicostatus. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 1 elements; table 1, p. 144.
Distomodus? extrorsus. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 6 elements; table 1, p. 144.
Distomodus kentuckyensis. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 10 elements; table 1, p. 144.
Distomodus? spp.. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 1 elements; table 1, p. 144.
Drepanodus suberectus. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 8 elements; table 1, p. 144.
Drepanodus spp.. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 2 elements; table 1, p. 144.
Exochognathus brassfieldensis. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 6 elements; table 1, p. 144.
Exochognathus brevialatus. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 4 elements; table 1, p. 144.
Exochognathus detortus. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 3 elements; table 2, p. 145.
Exochognathus keislognathoides. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 10 elements; table 2, p. 145.
Exochognathus spp.. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 5 elements; table 2, p. 145.
Hindeodella spp.. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 3 elements; table 2, p. 145.
Icriodella deflecta. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 38 elements; table 2, p. 145.
Icriodina irregularis. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 2 elements; table 2, p. 145.
Ligonodina kentuckyensis. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 6 elements; table 2, p. 145.
Ligonodina spp.. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 4 elements; table 2, p. 145.
Lonchodina greilingi. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 4 elements; table 2, p. 145.
Lonchodina walliseri. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 4 elements; table 2, p. 145.
Lonchodina sp. A. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 1 elements; table 2, p. 145.
Neoprioniodus costatus paucidentatus. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 2 elements; table 3, p. 146.
Neoprioniodus excavatus. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 3 elements; table 3, p. 146.
Neospathognathodus? sp.. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 1 elements; table 3, p. 146.
Ozarkodina cf. O. edithae. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 4 elements; table 3, p. 146.
Ozarkodina media. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 1 elements; table 3, p. 146.
Ozarkodina typica. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 1 elements; table 3, p. 146.
Ozarkodina spp.. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 1 elements; table 3, p. 146.
Paltodus dyscritus. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 2 elements; table 3, p. 146.
Panderodus cf. P. gracilis. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 1 elements; table 3, p. 146.
Panderodus serratus. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 27 elements; table 3, p. 146.
Panderodus simplex. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 59 elements; table 3, p. 146.
Panderodus cf. P. staufferi. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 4 elements; table 3, p. 146.
Panderodus unicostatus. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 129 elements; table 4, p. 147.
Sagittodontus edentatus. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 12 elements; table 4, p. 147.
Spathognathodus abruptus. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 7 elements; table 4, p. 147.
Spathognathodus hassi. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 1 elements; table 4, p. 147.
Spathognathodus oldhamensis. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 8 elements; table 4, p. 147.
Spathognathodus spp.. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 2 elements; table 4, p. 147.
Trichonodella excavata. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 1 elements; table 4, p. 147.
Trichonodella? expansa. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 2 elements; table 4, p. 147.
Trichonodella inconstans. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 7 elements; table 4, p. 147.
Trichonodella symmetrica. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 1 elements; table 4, p. 147.
Trichonodella spp.. HQ1/HQ3 combined: 3 elements; table 4, p. 147.
Separate Hope Brook table columns. HV3, HV4 and HB2 have their own historical form-element columns. The retained transcription totals 285, 752 and 113 respectively; appendix totals are 285, 748 and 116. The last two remain discrepant and should not be treated as reconciled specimen totals. The following preserves the source-transcribed non-zero cells, with a zero meaning an unmarked table cell rather than biological absence. These are historical form names, not a modern species count. Smaller-yield samples without their own columns cannot acquire invented taxon counts.
Acodus curvatus. HV3: 4; HV4: 35. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Acodus unicostatus. HV3: 6; HV4: 83; HB2: 2. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Ambalodus anapetus. HV3: 13. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Ambalodus spp.. HV4: 1. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Aphelognathus siluricus. HV3: 4. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Distomodus? extrorsus. HB2: 5. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Distomodus kentuckyensis. HV3: 2; HV4: 3; HB2: 9. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Drepanodus suberectus. HV3: 5. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Drepanodus spp.. HV4: 1. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Exochognathus brassfieldensis. HV3: 2; HV4: 2; HB2: 1. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Exochognathus brevialatus. HV3: 1. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Exochognathus caudatus. HB2: 2. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Exochognathus keislognathoides. HV3: 1. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Exochognathus spp.. HV3: 1; HV4: 1; HB2: 6. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Hadrognathus staurognathoides. HV4: 1; HB2: 2. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Hindeodella equidentata. HV3: 6; HV4: 20. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Hindeodella spp.. HV3: 1; HV4: 21; HB2: 2. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Icriodella inconstans. HB2: 6. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Icriodina sp.. HV4: 1. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Ligonodina kentuckyensis. HV3: 11; HV4: 6; HB2: 5. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Ligonodina salopia. HV3: 1. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Ligonodina? variabilis. HV3: 1; HV4: 4. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Ligonodina spp.. HV3: 4; HV4: 1; HB2: 6. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Lonchodina detorta. HV3: 1; HV4: 17; HB2: 1. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Lonchodina fluegeli. HV4: 17. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Lonchodina greilingi. HV3: 2; HV4: 7. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Lonchodina walliseri. HV3: 11; HV4: 1; HB2: 4. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Lonchodina sp. A. HV4: 2. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Lonchodina sp. B. HV3: 3. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Lonchodina spp.. HV4: 4. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Neoprioniodus excavatus. HV3: 1; HV4: 5; HB2: 1. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Neoprioniodus latidentatus. HV3: 5; HV4: 3. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Neoprioniodus multiformis. HV3: 12; HV4: 18. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Neoprioniodus planus. HV3: 4; HV4: 28. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Neoprioniodus spp.. HV3: 3; HV4: 1. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Ozarkodina cf. O. edithae. HV3: 1. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Ozarkodina media. HV3: 3; HV4: 15; HB2: 3. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Ozarkodina typica. HV3: 2; HV4: 3. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Ozarkodina spp.. HV3: 1; HV4: 1; HB2: 1. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Paltodus debolti. HV3: 3; HV4: 39; HB2: 1. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Paltodus dyscritus. HV3: 4; HV4: 42; HB2: 3. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Paltodus migratus. HV3: 3; HV4: 27. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Panderodus cf. P. gracilis. HV3: 10; HV4: 19; HB2: 3. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Panderodus serratus. HV3: 30; HV4: 59; HB2: 1. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Panderodus simplex. HV3: 28; HV4: 53; HB2: 7. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Panderodus cf. P. staufferi. HV3: 10; HV4: 35; HB2: 4. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Panderodus unicostatus. HV3: 51; HV4: 107; HB2: 11. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Panderodus sp. A. HV3: 2; HV4: 4. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Plectospathodus extensus. HV4: 25; HB2: 1. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Plectospathodus flexuosus. HV3: 1. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Plectospathodus irregularis. HV3: 2. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Sagittodontus edentatus. HB2: 9. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Spathognathodus abruptus. HV3: 2. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Spathognathodus gulletensis. HB2: 1. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Spathognathodus hassi. HV3: 1. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Spathognathodus inclinatus. HV3: 7; HV4: 20; HB2: 4. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Spathognathodus ranuliformis. HB2: 3. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Spathognathodus spp.. HV3: 1. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Trichonodella asymmetrica. HB2: 1. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Trichonodella excavata. HV3: 5; HV4: 4; HB2: 2. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Trichonodella? expansa. HV3: 3. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Trichonodella inconstans. HV3: 4; HV4: 6; HB2: 1. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Trichonodella symmetrica. HV4: 9; HB2: 1. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Trichonodella spp.. HV3: 6; HV4: 1; HB2: 4. Unlisted sample cells are zero in the retained transcription.
Figured specimens and type status. HQ3 supplied holotypes Icriodella deflecta X.561 and historical Spathognathodus abruptus X.574, the latter referred to Kockelella abrupta in the GCR. Totals in systematic species descriptions include other localities and are not HQ3-only counts. The following exact specimen, sample and figure records remain independent of those totals. X-prefixed material was deposited in BM(NH), with other material listed at Southampton as published in 1972; present custody is not independently asserted.
X.561: Icriodella deflecta. Holotype; sample HQ3; plate 1, figure 6; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
S.1.2: Icriodella deflecta. Figured; sample HQ1; plate 1, figure 5; magnification 35×. Published repository: University of Southampton (remainder of collection).
X.562: Icriodella deflecta. Figured; sample HQ3; plate 1, figure 7; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
S.1.4: Icriodella deflecta. Figured; sample HQ3; plate 1, figure 4; magnification 35×. Published repository: University of Southampton (remainder of collection).
X.574: Spathognathodus abruptus. Holotype; GCR modern combination Kockelella abrupta; sample HQ3; plate 4, figure 6; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.588: Icriodina irregularis. Figured; sample HQ3; plate 2, figure 1; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.603: Neospathognathodus? sp.. Figured; sample HQ3; plate 3, figure 14; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.626: Spathognathodus oldhamensis. Figured; sample HQ1; plate 4, figure 1; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.640: Distomodus? extrorsus. Figured; sample HQ3; plate 6, figure 2; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.641: Distomodus? egregius. Figured but combined table cell blank; sample HQ3; plate 6, figure 3; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.644: Distomodus kentuckyensis. Figured; sample HQ3; plate 6, figure 8; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.645: Distomodus kentuckyensis. Figured; sample HQ3; plate 6, figure 5; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.652: Neoprioniodus costatus paucidentatus. Figured; sample HQ3; plate 5, figure 20; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.663: Sagittodontus edentatus. Figured; sample HQ3; plate 7, figure 2; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.666: Exochognathus keislognathoides. Figured; sample HQ3; plate 7, figure 5; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.689: Lonchodina walliseri. Figured; sample HQ3; plate 8, figure 5; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.690: Lonchodina sp. A. Figured; sample HQ1; plate 8, figure 9; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.714: Drepanodus suberectus. Figured; sample HQ3; plate 9, figure 16; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.718: Panderodus serratus. Figured; sample HQ3; plate 9, figure 7; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.719: Panderodus simplex. Figured; sample HQ3; plate 9, figure 8; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.589: Icriodina sp.. Figured; sample HV4; plate 2, figure 2; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.637: Ozarkodina typica. Figured; sample HV4; plate 4, figure 18; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.657: Neoprioniodus multiformis. Figured; sample HV3; plate 5, figure 26; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.665: Exochognathus brassfieldensis. Figured; sample HV4; plate 7, figure 4; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.676: Plectospathodus extensus. Figured; sample HV4; plate 7, figure 22; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.678: Plectospathodus irregularis. Figured; sample HV3; plate 7, figure 23; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.681: Trichonodella symmetrica. Figured; sample HB2; plate 7, figure 15; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.682: Trichonodella symmetrica. Figured; sample HV4; plate 7, figure 18; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.686: Lonchodina detorta. Figured; sample HV4; plate 8, figure 6; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.687: Lonchodina fluegeli. Figured; sample HV4; plate 8, figure 7; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.708: Acodus curvatus. Figured; sample HV4; plate 9, figure 1; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.709: Acodus unicostatus. Figured; sample HV4; plate 9, figure 2; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.721: Panderodus cf. P. staufferi. Figured; sample HB1; plate 9, figure 10; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.722: Panderodus cf. P. gracilis. Figured; sample HV4; plate 9, figure 12; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.725: Paltodus debolti. Figured; sample HV4; plate 9, figure 18; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.727: Paltodus migratus. Figured; sample HV4; plate 9, figure 20; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.696: Ligonodina kentuckyensis. Figured; sample HV3; plate 8, figure 15; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
X.726: Paltodus dyscritus. Figured; sample HV4; plate 9, figure 19; magnification 35×. Published repository: BM(NH).
Later quarry conodont usage. The GCR lists Icriodella deflecta, Kockelella abrupta, Distomodus sp., Ozarkodina hassi and O. oldhamensis. The verified printed name is hassi, not an OCR-derived bassi. A modern apparatus-based revision is needed before reconciling every older form-element name with these later biological interpretations.
HQ3 thelodont scale. Aldridge and Turner published one body scale in 1975 as Logania scotica, specimen G39.50, deposited in the Hancock Museum, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, according to the paper. Plate 1, figures 1–3 show dorsal, ventral and lateral views at 100×. It is a figured specimen, not a new-species holotype. Their letter was dated 25 November 1974, which is not a verified discovery date. Žigaitė and Goujet’s 2012 treatment explicitly includes these figures under Loganellia scotica, supporting the updated combination for that exact material. The 1975 priority claim belongs to its historical context and is not restated as a current record.
References. Jenkins (1967), Ordovician Chitinozoa from Shropshire, Palaeontology 10, 436–488; Ziegler, Cocks and McKerrow (1968), The Llandovery transgression of the Welsh Borderland, Palaeontology 11, 736–782; Aldridge (1972), Llandovery conodonts from the Welsh Borderland, Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Geology 22, 125–231; Aldridge and Turner (1975), Britain’s oldest agnathans, Geological Magazine 112, 419–420; Geological Conservation Review volumes 18 and 19, separate Hope Valley and Hope Quarry–Hope Brook accounts; Cave and Hains (2001), BGS Montgomery memoir; Owens and Servais (2007), The Ordovician of the Condroz Inlier, Belgium: Trilobites from the southeastern margin of Avalonia, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 245, 272–294; Žigaitė and Goujet (2012), Loganellia scotica treatment; original UK Fossils Hope guide. Older works mentioned through the GCR retain that secondary attribution.
SAFETY
The A488 approach requires care around traffic, especially where the old route leaves the car park for the small road and stream crossing. Keep children close and do not stand in the carriageway to inspect rock.
Stream stones can be slippery, water can be deeper than it appears and flow may rise quickly after rain. Avoid entering in high or fast water, keep clear of undercut banks and do not assume a short walk from the car park means the exposure is safe.
The reserve has steep, muddy woodland paths, steps and a stile. Wear appropriate footwear, choose a route suited to the party and let someone know your plans. An old report of poor phone reception is not a current coverage survey; do not rely on being able to make a call from every point.
EQUIPMENT
Take a hand lens, camera, small scale, notebook and current reserve information. Sturdy footwear and waterproof clothing are useful for wet woodland conditions. Observation of naturally exposed surfaces does not require a hammer or bank-working tools.
For any specifically authorised loose specimen, bring soft wrapping, rigid containers and labels. Fragile shale and flattened fossil surfaces should be kept separate from harder sandstone pieces.
CLEANING AND TREATING
Retain the precise locality and matrix information before cleaning any authorised specimen. Photograph fragile shale surfaces and keep part and counterpart together. Begin with minimal dry brushing; do not soak fissured shale, force apart weathered layers or coat a faint fossil simply to darken it.
Avoid acid processing, bleach, varnish and casual bulk microfossil preparation. Hope’s published conodont, chitinozoan and fish-scale records were specialist studies with documented samples. Leave scientifically important or delicate material unprepared for advice.
IDENTIFY YOUR FINDS
Need help identifying a fossil? Share clear photos, where you found it and its size with the community.
FURTHER READING
Shropshire Wildlife Trust: current Hope Valley reserve information
Geological Conservation Review: Ordovician Hope Valley exposures
Geological Conservation Review: Silurian Hope Quarry and Hope Brook
Cave and Hains (2001): BGS Montgomery memoir
Jenkins (1967): Ordovician chitinozoans, Hope Cottage samples and types
Ziegler, Cocks and McKerrow (1968): the Llandovery transgression
Aldridge (1972): conodont samples and figured specimens
Natural England: geological Hope Valley SSSI citation
ACCESS RIGHTS
Shropshire Wildlife Trust currently lists free access to the Hope Valley reserve, open at all times, with a car park and visitor paths. That invitation does not establish a right to enter every stream bed or quarry face or to remove fossils. Ask the Trust about the exact locality and intended activity before collecting or sampling.
The geological Hope Valley SSSI is distinct from Hope Valley Meadows SSSI. Its protected exposures must be checked against the exact point being visited; the reserve entrance coordinate and the meadow designation cannot be used as substitutes for the geological boundary. SSSI notification establishes scientific interest, not universal access or collecting permission. Current point screening places the published entrance reference outside the geological SSSI polygon and the named Hope Quarry reference inside it; approximate points do not establish the boundary of an entire bank or any collecting right.
Respect signs, fences, wildlife and unstable ground. The earlier guide simultaneously recommended extracting bank material and said bedrock hammering was prohibited; those conflicting statements are not a current permission. Use observation and photography unless the site manager has expressly agreed a different activity.
It is important to follow our ‘Code of Conduct’ when collecting fossils or visiting any site. Please also read our ‘Terms and Conditions‘
LINKS
♦ Fossil Discussions
♦ Fossil Articles
♦ Buy Fossils, Tools and Equipment
♦ Buy Crystals, Meteorites, and Artefacts
♦ Join Fossil Hunts
♦ UK Fossils Network
