Geol. [f. CORN sb.1 + BRASH sb.2] A name, originally local, for the coarse ‘brashy’ calcareous sandstone which forms the upper division of the Lower Oolite in various parts of England. Also attrib.
1815. W. Smith, Mem. Delineation Strata, 45. The cornbrash is very aptly described by its name, as in the western part of its course … this is almost the only land in tillage. In Wiltshire it is called cornbrash, and in Northamptonshire redbacks.
1833. Lyell, Princ. Geol., III. 66. Beds of sandy limestone … replete with numerous fragments of shells, and much resembling, in structure, the English cornbrash.
1866. Phillips, in Athenæum, 2 May (1874), 597/3. While walking over some cornbrash fields near Bath.
