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The Fossils of the South Downs; or illustrations of the geology of Sussex, by Gideon Mantell, published 1822 (xv + 327 pp. + 42 plates, London: Lupton Relfe) accessible at: & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries View Online
Remarks on the geological position of the strata of Tilgate Forest in Sussex', in a letter to Professor Jameson, by Gideon A. Mantell, published 1826 in Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal (vol. 1, article, pp.262-265)
Observations on the strata at Hastings, in Sussex, by Thomas Webster, published 1826 in Transactions of the Geological Society of London (vol. S2-2, issue 1, article, pp.31-36) View Online
Abstract:The sea-cliffs on each side of the town of Hastings exhibit a section of the beds which lie below the clay of the wealds of Kent, Surrey, and Sussex, and furnish a key to understanding the structure of the high country which is surrounded by this clay and has hitherto been but imperfectly explored. In the present communication, I propose to give some account of the line of coast extending from the White Rock on the west of Hastings to Cliff End near to Winchelsea on the east.
Along this extent (Pl. V.) several valleys of denudation occur, which have separated the cliff into different portions. One of these valleys divides the White Rock from the West Cliff on which are the ruins of the ancient castle; in another, which divides the East from the West Cliff, the town of Hastings is built. In the middle of East Cliff is the romantic valley where the stream called Eaglesbourne forms the well-known fish-ponds; and to the east of East Cliff, and between it and Fairlee Cliff, is the place called the Govers. At Cliff End the cliff terminates, and gives place to the valley that goes up to Winchelsea.
When we view this coast from the sea, we may perceive that the beds of rock form a vast, but irregular, arch, dipping at each end under the Weald clay, and rising in the middle to the greatest height in the neighbourhood of Hastings, where they may be advantageously studied.
Along this extent (Pl. V.) several valleys of denudation occur, which have separated the cliff into different portions. One of these valleys divides the White Rock from the West Cliff on which are the ruins of the ancient castle; in another, which divides the East from the West Cliff, the town of Hastings is built. In the middle of East Cliff is the romantic valley where the stream called Eaglesbourne forms the well-known fish-ponds; and to the east of East Cliff, and between it and Fairlee Cliff, is the place called the Govers. At Cliff End the cliff terminates, and gives place to the valley that goes up to Winchelsea.
When we view this coast from the sea, we may perceive that the beds of rock form a vast, but irregular, arch, dipping at each end under the Weald clay, and rising in the middle to the greatest height in the neighbourhood of Hastings, where they may be advantageously studied.
Geological Sketch of the North-western Extremity of Sussex, and the adjoining Parts of Hants and Surrey, by Roderick Impey Murchison, published 1826 in Transactions of the Geological Society of London (vol. S2-2, issue 1, article, pp.97-108) View Online
Abstract:I propose to illustrate in this memoir the order of superposition of the strata in that north-western part of Sussex which is bounded on the south by the chalk escarpment of the South-downs, and in those adjoining parts of Hampshire and Surrey which are bounded severally, on the west by the Alton chalk-hills, and on the north by the North-downs.
Having examined a portion of this country with my friend Dr. Fitton, I was encouraged by him to attempt an exact delineation of the whole, by colouring the Ordnance map according to geological formations *. This task being now accomplished, I beg to lay the result before the Geological Society, together with such illustrative specimens of the strata and their fossils as I have been able to collect in the course of last summer.
The formations of which this district is composed, begin to emerge from the superior strata at the northern extremity of the parish of Bentley in Hants, 6 miles north-east of Alton; and they range from thence to the south and east, until their escarpments are cut through by the Arun, which river I have chosen to make the limit of my present observations.
The chalk escarpments of the Alton hills and of the South-downs, converging towards Petersfield, are united at an acute angle in the parish of East Meon, 4 miles west of the former place; and within that angle the inferior strata are disposed conformably.
Having examined a portion of this country with my friend Dr. Fitton, I was encouraged by him to attempt an exact delineation of the whole, by colouring the Ordnance map according to geological formations *. This task being now accomplished, I beg to lay the result before the Geological Society, together with such illustrative specimens of the strata and their fossils as I have been able to collect in the course of last summer.
The formations of which this district is composed, begin to emerge from the superior strata at the northern extremity of the parish of Bentley in Hants, 6 miles north-east of Alton; and they range from thence to the south and east, until their escarpments are cut through by the Arun, which river I have chosen to make the limit of my present observations.
The chalk escarpments of the Alton hills and of the South-downs, converging towards Petersfield, are united at an acute angle in the parish of East Meon, 4 miles west of the former place; and within that angle the inferior strata are disposed conformably.
Illustrations of the Geology of Sussex: containing a general view of the geological relations of the south-eastern part of England; with figures and descriptions of the fossils of Tilgate Forest., by Gideon Mantell, published 1827 (xii + 92 pp., London: Lupton Relfe) accessible at: East Sussex Libraries
Tabular Arrangement of the Organic Remains of the County of Sussex, Paper Read June 6th, 1828, by Gideon Mantell, published 1828 (Wanting Publishers) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries
A Geological Memoir on a part of Western Sussex; with some observations upon chalk-basins, the weald-denudation, and outliers-by-protrusion, by Peter John Martin, M.R.C.S., published 1828 (London: John Booth) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2557] View Online
Catalogue of the Organic Remains of Sussex etc. Abridged, by Gideon Mantell, published 1829 (London: Lupton Relfe) accessible at: & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
A Geological Sketch of the Vicinity of Hastings, by William Henry Fitton, M.D., V.P.G.S., F.R.S., published 1833 (London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown & Green) View Online
Geology and Mineralogy, by Gideon Mantell, F.R.L&G.S., published 1835 in The History, Antiquities and Topography of the County of Sussex (vol. 1, chapter I section II, article, pp.8-24) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2396][Lib 3211] & The Keep [LIB/507380][Lib/500087] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
The Wonders of Geology or, a familiar exposition of geological phenomena: being the substance of a course of lectures delivered at Brighton Vol I, by Gideon Algernon Mantell, published 1838 (428 pp., London: Henry G. Bohn) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries View Online
The Wonders of Geology or, a familiar exposition of geological phenomena: being the substance of a course of lectures delivered at Brighton Vol II, by Gideon Algernon Mantell, published 1838 (570 pp., London: Henry G. Bohn) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries View Online
On the Geological Structure of the Wealden District and of the Bas Boulonnais, by William Hopkins, published 1845 in Transactions of the Geological Society of London (vol. S2-7, issue 1, article, pp.1-51) View Online
Abstract:Geologists have long recognized the fact of the approximate parallelism of lines of dislocation in those districts in which systems of such lines are found to exist; and in my memoir on Physical Geology, published in vol. vi. part 1. of the Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, I have shown that such parallelism would, in many cases and under the most simple and probable conditions, be the necessary consequence of the simultaneous action of an elevating force acting beneath extensive portions of the crust of the globe. I also demonstrated that two systems of parallel dislocations might be produced by the same elevating force, the direction of the one system being perpendicular to that of the other. I also pointed out the circumstances under which, according to theory, there would be a necessary deviation from parallelism in these systems, and I indicated the relations which such deviations would bear, in certain general cases, to the boundary of the disturbed district, and to the particular configuration of its surface. On these points I proceeded farther, in theory, than geologists had gone in observation. There are still few districts, even in those countries with which we are geologically best acquainted, where observations have been made in sufficient detail to bring this subject, as a branch of descriptive geology, to the point to which I have carried it in theory.
Under these circumstances my attention was directed to the district of the Weald in Kent, Surrey and Sussex.
Under these circumstances my attention was directed to the district of the Weald in Kent, Surrey and Sussex.
The Geology and Fossils of the Tertiary and Cretaceous Formations of Sussex, by Frederick Dixon, F.G.S., published 1850 (London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longman) accessible at: & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries View Online
On some geological features of the country between the South Downs and the Sussex Coast, by P.J. Martin, published January 1856 in Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society (vol. 12, issue 1-2, article, pp.134-137) View Online
Abstract:The object of this paper is not so much to give a minute description of the district I am about to review, as to promote a discussion amongst the members of the Society here present on some of its phænomena, which seem to be singularly illustrative of the superficial changes that have been effected in the south of England by dynamic forces of comparatively modern date.
The district is to be found in the ninth section of the Ordnance Map, and extends from near Portsmouth to Shoreham, or that flat country which is to be seen from any part of the tops of the South Downs from Portsdown Hill eastward to the Shoreham River.
The district is to be found in the ninth section of the Ordnance Map, and extends from near Portsmouth to Shoreham, or that flat country which is to be seen from any part of the tops of the South Downs from Portsdown Hill eastward to the Shoreham River.
On the lowest strata of the cliffs at Hastings, by S.H. Beckles, published January 1856 in Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society (vol. 12, issue 1-2, article, pp.288-292) View Online
Abstract:The strata of which this communication is intended to be a very brief notice form the base of that range of cliff which extends from Hastings to Cliff End.
The group that I am about to describe consists of sandstone and clays, remarkable for their great diversity of hue, and are subordinate to those beds of conglomeratic shale and ironstone which Mr. Webster has described as the lowest strata visible in the series. They are supplemental, therefore, to the strata comprised, or intended to be comprised, in that author's notice. At the date, however, of his Memoir they were partially disclosed, although perhaps not at those detached points where he traced his lowest strata.
Mr. Webster, in speaking of the strata to the east of Hastings, remarks, that "the lowest strata visible in this series consist of a dark-coloured shale (m, m), which is seen at the Govers and at Cliff End, and contain small roundish masses of sandstone, together with several layers (two of them from two to three inches thick) of rich argillaceous iron-ore." On the west of Eaglesbourne this last bed rises, in an arch, to the height of about twelve feet and then descends to the east. At Cliff End it reappears, and may be traced at low-water, forming a ledge.
The group that I am about to describe consists of sandstone and clays, remarkable for their great diversity of hue, and are subordinate to those beds of conglomeratic shale and ironstone which Mr. Webster has described as the lowest strata visible in the series. They are supplemental, therefore, to the strata comprised, or intended to be comprised, in that author's notice. At the date, however, of his Memoir they were partially disclosed, although perhaps not at those detached points where he traced his lowest strata.
Mr. Webster, in speaking of the strata to the east of Hastings, remarks, that "the lowest strata visible in this series consist of a dark-coloured shale (m, m), which is seen at the Govers and at Cliff End, and contain small roundish masses of sandstone, together with several layers (two of them from two to three inches thick) of rich argillaceous iron-ore." On the west of Eaglesbourne this last bed rises, in an arch, to the height of about twelve feet and then descends to the east. At Cliff End it reappears, and may be traced at low-water, forming a ledge.
On the Succession of Beds in the ?Hastings Sand? in the Northern Portion of the Wealden Area, by Frederic Drew, published January 1861 in Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society (vol. 17, issue 1-2, article, pp.271-286) View Online
Abstract:Having for the last two years been engaged (in the course of the progress of the Government Survey) in examining part of that large tract in the south-east of England which is made by the outcrop of the Wealden strata, and having now become acquainted with many details concerning that formation, I wish to bring before the Society an account of its lithological character and of the order of succession that prevails in it.
As regards this part of England, the Wealden formation has long been divided into three members, namely -
The "Weald Clay," the ?Hastings Sand," and the "Ashburnham Beds." The first, the "Weald Clay," is much the same through all its thickness; where there is variety in it, it has been well described by Dr. Fitton, Mr. Martin, and Dr. Mantell. The lowest member, the ?Ashburnham Beds,? which may, perhaps, be classed with the Purbeck formation, does not appear in that district in which I have more particularly been engaged. I shall therefore say little of these two, and almost confine myself to the "Hastings Sand," and to the northern part of the Hastings Sand country, a district, 50 miles long and varying from 3 to 12 or more in width, lying between and in the neighbourhood of the towns of Tenterden, Cranbrook, Tunbridge Wells, East Grinstead, and Horsham.
As regards this part of England, the Wealden formation has long been divided into three members, namely -
The "Weald Clay," the ?Hastings Sand," and the "Ashburnham Beds." The first, the "Weald Clay," is much the same through all its thickness; where there is variety in it, it has been well described by Dr. Fitton, Mr. Martin, and Dr. Mantell. The lowest member, the ?Ashburnham Beds,? which may, perhaps, be classed with the Purbeck formation, does not appear in that district in which I have more particularly been engaged. I shall therefore say little of these two, and almost confine myself to the "Hastings Sand," and to the northern part of the Hastings Sand country, a district, 50 miles long and varying from 3 to 12 or more in width, lying between and in the neighbourhood of the towns of Tenterden, Cranbrook, Tunbridge Wells, East Grinstead, and Horsham.
The geology of the country between Folkestone and Rye, including the whole of Romney Marsh, by Frederic Drew, published 1864 (27 pp., London: H.M.S.O.)
On a Section of the Gault and lower Greensand, at lower Fettleworth, Sussex, by Geo. Maw, published July 1869 in Geological Magazine (vol. 6, issue 61, article, pp.335-336) View Online
Sketch of the Geology of Sussex, by James Howell, published 1870 in A Compendious History of Sussex, Topographical, Archaeological & Anecdotal (vol. I, Lewes: George P. Bacon) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8946][Lib 3314] & The Keep [LIB/500159] View Online
Catalogue of the Cretaceous fossils in the Brighton Museum, by Henry Willett, published 1871 (W. J. Smith) accessible at: British Library & West Sussex Libraries
Excavations through the Post-Pliocene Formation of Temple Field, Brighton, by James Howell, published 1871 in Brighton and Sussex Natural History Association (article, pp.14-)
The Brighton Cliff Formation and the Brighton Valley, by James Howell, published 1871 in Brighton and Sussex Natural History Association (article, pp.21-)
On the Cliff-sections of the Tertiary beds West of Dieppe in Normandy, and at Newhaven in Sussex, by William Whitaker, published January 1871 in Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society (vol. 27, issue 1-2, article, pp.263-268) View Online
Abstract:The notes from which this paper is made were taken in the summer of 1886. The two sections described are interesting as showing the spread of beds that, but for them, would be thought to occur only in the south-eastern part of the London Basin; and I believe that no detailed description of the French one has been published, whilst the English one has been enlarged since the time of its latest description.
On the Chalk of the Cliffs from Seaford to Eastbourne, Sussex, by William Whitaker, published May 1871 in Geological Magazine (vol. 8, issue 83, article, pp.198-200) View Online
Abstract:Just out of Seaford the Chalk rises sharply from beneath the sand of the Woolwich Beds, on an outlier of which the small town is buUt. The dip however soon lessens, until the Chalk is flat, with slight waves. Some of the layers of flint are continuous, and some nearly so, but most are not continuous, and they are rather closer together in the lower part of the cliff. There are a few thin beds of hard chalk, and at the top a capping of "clay-with-flints."
Silicified Coral on the Coast of Sussex, etc., by Spencer G. Perceval, published October 1871 in Geological Magazine (vol. 8, issue 88, article, p.476) View Online
Portland Wood, On the Coast of Sussex - Reply to Mr. Perceval, by O. Fisher, published November 1871 in Geological Magazine (vol. 8, issue 89, article, pp.524-525) View Online
Silicified Coral on the Coast of Sussex, etc., by S. G. Perceval, published December 1871 in Geological Magazine (vol. 8, issue 90, article, p.576) View Online
Geological Formations above the chalk at Brighton, etc., by James Howell, published 1872 (24 pp., Brighton: W. J. Smith) accessible at: British Library
On the Minerals lately found in the Drainage works at Brighton, by James Howell, published 1872 in Brighton and Sussex Natural History Association (article, p.108)
On Super-Cretaceous Formations in the Neighbourhood of Brighton, by James Howell, published 1872 in Brighton and Sussex Natural History Association (article, p.109)
The Geology of the Brighton Museum, by James Howell, published 1874 in Brighton and Sussex Natural History Association (article, pp.56-)
The Geology of Brighton, by James Howell, published 1874 in Brighton and Sussex Natural History Association (vol. iii no. 4, article, pp.168-188, & Vol v, pp.80-)
The Geology of the Weald, parts of the Counties of Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Hants., by William Topley, F.G.S., Assoc. Inst. C.E., published 1875 (London: Longmans & Co.) accessible at: & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries View Online
On Sub-Wealden Exploration, by Henry Willett, F.G.S. and Others, published 1875 (The British Association for the Advancement of Science) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries
The History of Harting, with a chapter on the Geology of the District by the late Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, F.G.S., and Some Notice of its Fauna and Flora by J Weaver, by Rev. H. D. Gordon, M.A., rector and vicar of Harting, published 1877 (xi + 491 pp., London: W. Davy & Sons) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2788] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries View Online
II. On the Chalk of the Cliffs from Seaford to Eastbourne, by Whitaker, William, published 1877 in Geological Society (vol. 8, no. 83, article, pp.198-200)
The Geology of Sussex by Frederick Dixon, F.G.S., edited by T. Rupert Jones, published 1878 (revised edition, Brighton)
Sand-Worn Pebbles in the Wealden of Sussex, by T. Rupert Jones, published June 1878 in Geological Magazine (vol. 5, issue 6, article, p.287) View Online
Geology and Climate of Brighton, by Dr. Edward Mackey, published 1881 in Brighton Health Congress 1881 (article, pp.57-64) View Online
Geological map of the Neighbourhoods of Dover: A detailed folding geological map of the area of East Kent, including part of East Sussex. Not dissected, by W. Boyd Dawkins, F.R.S., published 1890 (London: George Philip & Son)
Note on the denudation and elevation of the Weald, by Horace W. Monckton, published September 1890 in Geological Magazine (vol. 7, issue 9, article, pp.395-397) View Online
Abstract:It is I think, practically admitted that the present condition of the Weald is the result, firstly of marine, and secondly of subaerial denudation. A plain of marine denudation was first formed, and the valleys were carved out by subaerial action.
The Geology of the country around Bognor, by Clement Reid, published 1897 (London: H.M.S.O.) accessible at: British Library & West Sussex Libraries
The Geology of the country around Eastbourne, by Clement Reid, published 1898 (London: Eyre & Spottiswoode) accessible at: East Sussex Libraries
Water supply of Sussex from underground sources, and supplement, by Geological Survey Memoirs, published 1899 accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 1180]
The Water Supply of Sussex: From Underground Sources, by William Whitaker and Clement Reid, published 1899 (132 pp., London: H.M.S.O.) accessible at: & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Geology of the Country near Chichester, by Clement Reid, published 1903 (London: H.M.S.O.) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries
The Victoria History of the County of Sussex, edited by William Page, F.S.A., published 1905 (vol. 1: Natural History, Geology, pre-medieval Archaeology, the Domesday survey, and Political History, xxi + 554 pp. (facsimile edition published 1973), London: Victoria County History, ISBN-10: 0712905855 & ISBN-13: 9780712905855) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2398] & The Keep [LIB/500089] & R.I.B.A. Library & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries View Online
Geology, by Clement Reid, F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S., published 1905 in The Victoria History of the County of Sussex (vol. 1: Natural History, Geology, pre-medieval Archaeology, the Domesday survey, and Political History, pp.1-26, , facsimile edition published 1973, London: Victoria County History, ISBN-10: 0712905855 & ISBN-13: 9780712905855) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2398] & The Keep [LIB/500089] & R.I.B.A. Library & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries View Online
On the date of publication of Frederick Dixon's ?Geology of Sussex., by C. Davies Sherborn, published June 1908 in Geological Magazine (vol. 5, issue 6, article, pp.286-287) View Online
On the geology of the neighbourhood of Seaford (Sussex), by James Vincent Elsden, published January 1909 in Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society (vol. 65, issue 1-4, article, pp.442-461) View Online
Abstract:The following paper deals with that part of the South Downs which adjoins the coast between Beachy Head and Newhaven. Its primary object was to investigate the variations of the dip and strike of the Chalk strata in that area, with the view of discovering the interpretation of the sudden westerly dip of the Chalk at Seaford Head. Incidentally, the geological features of the surrounding country and their relation to the surface-contours are discussed, and reasons are given for the view that the true eastern extremity of the structural area known as the Hampshire Basin lies within this district. With regard to previous literature on this part of Sussex, the whole question is summed up by Mr. Jukes-Browne in the following statement, published in 1904:-
'At Newhaven the beds are nearly horizontal, so there must be a quick recovery from the steep inclination which they show in Seafurd Head. Whether they are re-curved or faulted we have no means of knowing.'
'At Newhaven the beds are nearly horizontal, so there must be a quick recovery from the steep inclination which they show in Seafurd Head. Whether they are re-curved or faulted we have no means of knowing.'
On the Geologic Conditions affecting the Coasts of England and Wales, with special reference to the Coast-line from Lynn to Wells (Norfolk) and from Yarmouth to Eastbourne (Suffolk, Essex, Kent, and Sussex), by William Whitaker, published February 1909 in Geological Magazine (vol. 6, issue 2, article, pp.49-56) View Online
Abstract:In reprinting this article some slight chages and corrections have been made, but it remains substantially the same, perhaps with trifling improvements. [Any notable addition is included in brackets of this kind.]
On the Geologic Conditions affecting the Coasts of England and Wales, with special reference to the Coast-line from Lynn to Wells (Norfolk) and from Yarmouth to Eastbourne (Suffolk, Essex, Kent, and Sussex), by William Whitaker, published March 1909 in Geological Magazine (vol. 6, issue 3, article, pp.113-119) View Online
Abstract:Having now given a short account of the geology of the long line of coast from Yarmouth to Eastbourne, one may say of the first part of it, north of the Thames, that it is, so to speak, most favourably constructed for coast-erosion. Without a single hard or firm rock, such as the Chalk; without anything that can form a nearly perpendicular cliff of any height, no cliff indeed being high enough to give rise to a respectable landslip; composed of loose sand and gravels, loams and clays (the last partly strengthened by thin layers of soft stone), there is really nothing to withstand either the assaults of atmospheric action from above or of the sea below. Such parts as are of special interest or have been subject to special observation will now be noticed.
Water supply of Sussex from underground sources, and supplement, by Geological Survey Memoirs, published 1911 (Geological Survey Memoirs) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 1182]
Iron ores of the Hastings beds of Sussex, by Helen Marguerite Muir-Wood, 1920 at University of London (M.Sc. thesis)
The geology of the country around Heathfield, Sussex: With report of excursion to Heathfield, Brightling, Netherfield and Robertsbridge. Saturday, June 4th, 1921, by Henry B. Milner, M.A., F.G.S., published 1922 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 33 issue 2, article, pp.142-151) View Online
Abstract:The country visited embraces an area extending from Heathfield eastwards to the main Tunbridge Wells-Hastings Road, a distance of ten miles, being naturally defined to the north by the high ground of Burwash, and to the south by the ridge on which Dallington and Netherfield are situated. In this comparatively small portion of the central Weald the geology is of exceptional interest, presenting as it does features of stratigraphical, tect onic and economic importance.
Description of a New Plesiosaur from the Weald Clay of Berwick (Sussex), by Charles William Andrews, B.A., D.Sc., F.R.S., F.G.S., published February 1922 in Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society (vol. 78, article, pp.285-) View Online
Abstract:The Plesiosaurian remains which form the subject of the present paper were contained in a large septarian nodule from the Upper Weald Clay of Berwick (Sussex). This nodule was found in the excavations made by the Cuckmere Brick Company; it was broken into many fragments which were, so far as possible, collected by Mr. S. Tooth, M.Inst.C.E., and by him presented to the British Museum (Natural History). The pieces, many of which clearly contained portions of bones, were reunited, and the gaps resulting from the loss of fragments filled in with plaster of Paris, so that the original form of the nodule was restored. The extremely hard matrix was then slowly and with great skill chiselled away by Mr. L. Parsons, who found that it enclosed a mass of bones for the greater part thrown together in the utmost confusion, with the result that their removal was a matter of extreme difficulty. Despite these drawbacks, however, he succeeded in getting out the hinder part of the skull and a nearly complete shoulder-girdle, all the elements of which seem to be quite undistorted by pressure, a most unusual circumstance. The humeri were also found, but the rest of the paddles, which probably projected beyond the limits of the concretion, was lost. Numerous cervical and dorsal vertebræ, ribs, and ventral ribs were found; but of the pelvis and hinder limb nothing remained, and only one or two imperfect caudal vertebræ were preserved.
Notes on the geology and structure of the country around Tunbridge Wells: With report of excursion to Southborough, Tunbridge Wells, High Rocks and Eridge. Saturday, May 20th, 1922, by Henry B. Milner, M.A., D.I.C., F.G.S., published 1923 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 34 issue 1, article, pp.47-55) View Online
Abstract:The following notes describe the geology of some forty square miles of country in the vicinity of Tunbridge Wells, stretching northward almost to Tonbridge and southward to Eridge and Boarshead in Sussex, and as far as Groombridge and Ashurst to the west, of which some of the main features were investigated by members of the Association during the excursion. The six-inch mapping of this area is a continuation of the author's work in the Weald, of which some results have already been published in these proceedings.
The Tunbridge Wells country presents many geological features meriting the attention of those interested in the Weald. Much to be learned from a detailed study of the Lower Cretaceous rocks as developed here, and from their modes of occurrence, has a wider significance than would at first be apparent from casual inspection; thus certain phases in the course of the evolution of the Weald as a whole are realised, the nature of the evidence permitting of a ready appreciation of the factors involved.
The normal Wealden sequence comprises (in descending order) Weald Clay (1200ft.), Tunbridge Wells Sand (180ft.), Wadhurst Clay (150ft.), and Ashdown Sand (400ft.); all four divisionsoccur in this region. In the paper above referred to, the author drew attention to the great practical value accruing from a petrographic study of the individual Wealden beds as an aid to geological mapping. The rocks of the district, by their general barrenness of fossils and by the marked similarities shown frequently by the clays and sands, serve to emphasize this point, especially in cases of repetition or elimination of beds by faulting, a prominent feature of the area. Consequently in the following paragraphs stress is laid on the petrographic criteria which have contributed so largely to the identification and differentiation of horizons in the field.
The Tunbridge Wells country presents many geological features meriting the attention of those interested in the Weald. Much to be learned from a detailed study of the Lower Cretaceous rocks as developed here, and from their modes of occurrence, has a wider significance than would at first be apparent from casual inspection; thus certain phases in the course of the evolution of the Weald as a whole are realised, the nature of the evidence permitting of a ready appreciation of the factors involved.
The normal Wealden sequence comprises (in descending order) Weald Clay (1200ft.), Tunbridge Wells Sand (180ft.), Wadhurst Clay (150ft.), and Ashdown Sand (400ft.); all four divisionsoccur in this region. In the paper above referred to, the author drew attention to the great practical value accruing from a petrographic study of the individual Wealden beds as an aid to geological mapping. The rocks of the district, by their general barrenness of fossils and by the marked similarities shown frequently by the clays and sands, serve to emphasize this point, especially in cases of repetition or elimination of beds by faulting, a prominent feature of the area. Consequently in the following paragraphs stress is laid on the petrographic criteria which have contributed so largely to the identification and differentiation of horizons in the field.
The Geology of the country around East Grinstead, Sussex: With Report of Excursion to Hartfield, Holtye Common, Forest Row, Ashurstwood and East Grinstead, Saturday, June 16th, 1923, by Henry B. Milner, M.A., D.I.C., F.G.S., published 1923 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 34 issue 4, article, pp.283-300) View Online
Abstract:The country to be described covers an area of some thirty-six square miles and is embraced by parts of Sheets IV. and VI. and the whole of Sheet V. of the six-inch Ordnance Survey maps (Sussex). It is a continuation westward of the author's work in the Tunbridge Wells district, some results of which were published in a recent number of these proceedings. The area includes the town of East Grinstead with Felbridge, and extends as far east as Ashurst (Kent); to the north it takes in Cowden (Kent) and a small strip of the Surrey-Sussex border-land; southward it extends to the northern fringe of Ashdown Forest and includes the picturesque country from Kingscote by Forest Row to Hartfield and beyond.
It has been the author's hope that by a combination of six-inchmapping and detailed petrographic investigation of the rocks occurring in the more disturbed area of the Weald, new light would be thrown on some of the still debatable points concerning its tectonics and on the origin of the sediments composing it, anticipations yet further strengthened by the results of the work in this district.
It has been the author's hope that by a combination of six-inchmapping and detailed petrographic investigation of the rocks occurring in the more disturbed area of the Weald, new light would be thrown on some of the still debatable points concerning its tectonics and on the origin of the sediments composing it, anticipations yet further strengthened by the results of the work in this district.
The Chalk of the Worthing District Sussex, by Christopher T. A. Gaster, F.G.S., published 1924 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 35 issue 2, article, pp.89-110) View Online
Abstract:For some years past I have been working on the Chalk of Sussex, chiefly in the neighbourhood of Worthing, and my results are outlined in this paper. The chalk pits collected from are situated on the south side of the Downs between the rivers Adur and Arun, a distance east and west of about 10 miles. The zones range from the Uintacrinus band of the Marsupites zone to the zone of Actinocamax quadratus as defined by Mr. Brydone (I9I2a, pp, 10, II). As the majority of the pits are in the A. quadratus zone, opportunities were afforded for paying particular attention to this Chalk, the recorded details of which will now be entered into as briefly as possible.
Since the publication of Rowe and Sherborn's valuable papers on the White Chalk of the English Coast (1900-1908) various adjustments have been made in the zonal divisions of the Upper Chalk.
Since the publication of Rowe and Sherborn's valuable papers on the White Chalk of the English Coast (1900-1908) various adjustments have been made in the zonal divisions of the Upper Chalk.
The Geology of the country between Goudhurst (Kent) and Ticehurst (Sussex): With special reference to the Excursion to Goudhurst, Lamberhurst Cousleywood and Wadhurst, Saturday, June 21st, 1924. Weald Research Committee Report No. 1, by H. B. Milner, M.A., D.I.C., F.G.S., published 1924 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 35 issue 4, article, pp.383-394) View Online
Abstract:The country included in this area lies to the east of Tunbridge Wells, and embraces the picturesque East Sussex-Kent borderland with the villages of Goudhurst, Lamberhurst, Wadhurst and Ticehurst, comprising a district of thirty-five square miles. It lies principally in the southern part of the Medway basin, though it also takes in a portion of the watershed between that and the Rother basin, the divide being formed by the high ground of Ashdown Forest (Crowborough) and Rotherfield to the west, continuing eastward to Wadhurst, Ticehurst, Cranbrook and beyond. Geologically and tectonically the main features of interest centre round the compound Crowborough-Ticehurst fold, extremely fractured in its eastern development, and in the relationship of that fold to the more northerly Chiddingstone-Pembury anticline, already alluded to in a previous paper.
The Geology of the Eastbourne - Hastings Coastline: With Special Reference to the Localities visited by the Association in June, 1925. Weald Research Committee Report No. 3, by H. B. Milner, M.A., D.I.C., F.G.S. and A. J. Bull, M.Sc., F.G.S., published 1925 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 36 issue 3, article, pp.291-316) View Online
Abstract:The following pages present in outline the geology of the coast-section exposed from Beachy Head to Cliff End, beyond Fairlight, a distance of 26 miles. One of us (A.J.B.) is responsible for the survey from Beachy Head to Rockhouse Bank, the other (H.B. M.) from Rockhouse Bank eastward to Cliff End. The work forms part of the six-inch geological survey of the Weald being under taken by members of the Weald Research Committee of the Geologists' Association.
The authors wish to point out that they do not here include the inland geology of the districts traversed, except in so far as exigencies of building or similar circumstances necessitate a detour for a few hundred yards inland to preserve continuity of geological description. For this reason much that is generally known to be of unusual interest in the region, especially in the vicinity of Hastings and S1. Leonards, finds no mention here, the object being rather to draw attention to this exceptionally fine coast-section, wherein is displayed such varied stratigraphy and tectonics, and also to render it possible for casual visitor or more serious student to explore it with some guide to the trend and sequence of geological events.
The description of the coast is arranged from west (Beachy Head) to east (Cliff End); but so as to enable those who desire to pick up the thread at any particular place, insets in the text indicating localities have been employed, from which a start can be made at will.
This section of coast has on it the towns of Eastbourne, Bexhill, St. Leonards and Hastings, while smaller residential and holiday resorts are springing up at Fairlight and Cooden, and even in unpromising places on the edge of the marsh-land.
The authors wish to point out that they do not here include the inland geology of the districts traversed, except in so far as exigencies of building or similar circumstances necessitate a detour for a few hundred yards inland to preserve continuity of geological description. For this reason much that is generally known to be of unusual interest in the region, especially in the vicinity of Hastings and S1. Leonards, finds no mention here, the object being rather to draw attention to this exceptionally fine coast-section, wherein is displayed such varied stratigraphy and tectonics, and also to render it possible for casual visitor or more serious student to explore it with some guide to the trend and sequence of geological events.
The description of the coast is arranged from west (Beachy Head) to east (Cliff End); but so as to enable those who desire to pick up the thread at any particular place, insets in the text indicating localities have been employed, from which a start can be made at will.
This section of coast has on it the towns of Eastbourne, Bexhill, St. Leonards and Hastings, while smaller residential and holiday resorts are springing up at Fairlight and Cooden, and even in unpromising places on the edge of the marsh-land.
The Geology of the country around Crowhurst, Sussex. Weald Research Committee Report No. 4, by G. S. Sweeting, F.G.S., published 1925 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 36 issue 4, article, pp.406-418) View Online
Abstract:This paper embodies the results of a geological survey of the country around Crowhurst, Sussex. The area examined is approximately 12 square miles in extent, forming part of I-inch sheet 5 (O.S.), and constituting roughly the eastern half of the 6-inch Ordnance sheet, 57 Sussex. It extends from Battle on the north to Crowhurst on the south, and from Crowhurst Park on the east to Catsfield on the west, Crowhurst being about 4½ miles from the coast towns of Bexhill and Hastings.
Apart from the structural problems germane to the study of any portion of the Central Weald, the chief interest of this area lies in the marked lithological variation characteristic of each member of the Hastings Sands here exposed, so much so that - for the Wadhurst Clay at least - the area constitutes a type locality for the South Weald. Accordingly the trend of this paper is mainly stratigraphical and petrological, structural details being left over for the time being until the wider area has been surveyed and continuity with the coastal structures to the south established.
The names of Tapley, Fitton and Mantell may be recalled as some of the earlier contributors to the investigation of the stratigraphy of this part of the Weald, chiefly by reason of their discoveries of some of the first fossil remains of the huge reptiles which formerly lived in the area.
The country is undulating in character, with parallel ridges usually striking W.N.W. - E.S.E., broken by transverse troughlike depressions, thus presenting a series of picturesque and often unexpected features over comparatively short distances. This type of scenery - which is so characteristic of the central and southern portions of the Weald - owes its origin to no small extent to the varying degrees of hardness of the Wealden rocks, particularly the Wadhurst Clay, and to their folding and faulting.
Apart from the structural problems germane to the study of any portion of the Central Weald, the chief interest of this area lies in the marked lithological variation characteristic of each member of the Hastings Sands here exposed, so much so that - for the Wadhurst Clay at least - the area constitutes a type locality for the South Weald. Accordingly the trend of this paper is mainly stratigraphical and petrological, structural details being left over for the time being until the wider area has been surveyed and continuity with the coastal structures to the south established.
The names of Tapley, Fitton and Mantell may be recalled as some of the earlier contributors to the investigation of the stratigraphy of this part of the Weald, chiefly by reason of their discoveries of some of the first fossil remains of the huge reptiles which formerly lived in the area.
The country is undulating in character, with parallel ridges usually striking W.N.W. - E.S.E., broken by transverse troughlike depressions, thus presenting a series of picturesque and often unexpected features over comparatively short distances. This type of scenery - which is so characteristic of the central and southern portions of the Weald - owes its origin to no small extent to the varying degrees of hardness of the Wealden rocks, particularly the Wadhurst Clay, and to their folding and faulting.
The Geology of the country around Horsham, Sussex, by J. C. Ferguson, B.Sc., published 1926 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 37 issue 4, article, pp.401-413) View Online
Abstract:The following are the chief results of this investigation of the Horsham district
- The existence of small outcrops of Grinstead Clay has been shown in the southern part of St. Leonard's Forest.
- The Upper Tunbridge Wells Sand has an unusually large thickness, viz., about 180 feet, compared, for instance, with its thickness at Tunbridge Wells (80 ft.).
- The Horsham Stone - using the term in its broad sense so as to include the intercalated beds of clay, is a lenticular deposit, and does not keep to definite horizon.
- There are three distinct lithological types of Horsham Stone: a flaggy calcareous sandstone, a fissile stone and a thickly bedded stone.
- The Horsham Stone bears a strong similarity to the Tilgate Stone (Wadhurst Clay) in its microscopic structure.
- The absence of limestone bands in the Weald Clay below the Horsham Stone is noted.
- Attention is drawn to several interesting features concerning the rivers of the district.
Gideon Algernon Mantell, LL.D., F.R.G.S., F.R.S., Surgeon and Geologist, by Sidney Spokes, M.R.C.S., published 1927 (xv + 263 pp., John Bale, Sons and Daniel and Son Ltd.) accessible at: & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Review by W. H. G. [W. H. Godfrey] in Sussex Notes and Queries, May 1928:Gideon Mantell's reputation as a geologist is world-wide, Lewes is proud of him, and this book is a notable piece of Sussex history. The name of Mantell occurs frequently in our county records and since the days of Gideon's ancestor, Thomas Mantell, (headborough of Lewes, 1562, and constable 1572), the family has been well-known in the County town. Born in 1790, within its walls, Mantell went to London to take his medical degree and returned to his native town to practice in 1811, and it was here that he entered, with such surprising energy and brilliance upon the double activities of surgeon and geologist. He won a conspicuous position in his profession and at the same time opened up new worlds by his scientific studies. In Castle Place (the two centre houses of a group of four, built in 1812 on the site of the White Horse Inn) which he remodelled as we see it to-day and adorned with the "Ammonite order", he gathered together the famous, collection of fossil remains from Sussex which was eventually acquired by the nation and now forms part of the British Museum of Natural History at South Kensington. Tilgate Forest was his happy hunting ground, and it was from the study of Sussex geology that he drew those weighty inferences that have been so important a factor in the modern development of the Science. Mantell moved to Brighton in 1833 and five years later, broken in health by his long labours and by disappointment, went to live in London. It was during his residence in Sussex that his chief discoveries were made and his important works were written.
The degree in which a man's character lives again in the memory of his friends, both contemporary and posthumous, is eloquently shown in this book. The author came to Lewes unwitting of the task before him; he found Mantell's house ready for a tenant, inviting him to enter; and when he took up his residence, one of the first things he did was to fix a commemorative stone to its walls. Here he has collected much local information, here he has studied the transcripts of the long and illuminating correspondence with Professor Silliman of Yale University, and thus, with the aid of the genius loci, he has now produced a more enduring memorial than stone, of a man whose life had its full share of the tragedy which is so often attendant upon greatness. As a boy Mantell was fascinated by the ruins of Lewes Priory; he unearthed many important finds, and presented amongst other relics the splendid St. Peter Capital to the British Museum. He wrote many interesting papers concerning the town, its events, topography and antiquities. Indeed, Mantell deserved the tribute of our grateful memory in so many ways, that we are glad the debt is at last recognised and in part at any rate discharged by Mr. Spokes' appreciative volume. The illustrations add to the value of the book, an excellent photograph of Castle Place, Lewes, being justly given pride of place, as frontispiece.
The degree in which a man's character lives again in the memory of his friends, both contemporary and posthumous, is eloquently shown in this book. The author came to Lewes unwitting of the task before him; he found Mantell's house ready for a tenant, inviting him to enter; and when he took up his residence, one of the first things he did was to fix a commemorative stone to its walls. Here he has collected much local information, here he has studied the transcripts of the long and illuminating correspondence with Professor Silliman of Yale University, and thus, with the aid of the genius loci, he has now produced a more enduring memorial than stone, of a man whose life had its full share of the tragedy which is so often attendant upon greatness. As a boy Mantell was fascinated by the ruins of Lewes Priory; he unearthed many important finds, and presented amongst other relics the splendid St. Peter Capital to the British Museum. He wrote many interesting papers concerning the town, its events, topography and antiquities. Indeed, Mantell deserved the tribute of our grateful memory in so many ways, that we are glad the debt is at last recognised and in part at any rate discharged by Mr. Spokes' appreciative volume. The illustrations add to the value of the book, an excellent photograph of Castle Place, Lewes, being justly given pride of place, as frontispiece.
The Geology of Piltdown, by Unknown, published January 1927 in The Antiquaries Journal (vol. 7 issue 1, note, p.60) View Online
Chalk Quarry near Black Rabbit Inn, Arundel, Sussex, by . T. A. Gaster, published December 1927 in Geological Magazine (vol. 64, issue 12, article, pp.557-558) View Online
Abstract:This quarry is situated three-quarters of a mile north-east of Arundel Castle on the west bank of the River Arun.
Wells and Springs of Sussex, by F. H. Edmunds, published 1928 (263 pp., London: H.M.S.O.) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 95] & The Keep [LIB/500153] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Chalk zones in the neighbourhood of Shoreham, Brighton and Newhaven, Sussex, by Christopher T. A. Gaster, F.G.S., published 1929 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 40 issue 4, article, pp.328-340) View Online
Abstract:This paper is a further contribution of my work on the zones of the chalk in Sussex. My previous paper dealt with the chalk of the Worthing District [1924 (3) p. 89, et seq .]; the present one, which continues eastward of that district, embraces the area between Shoreham and Seaford. The southern portion is coastal, extending east and west for about 15 miles and is chiefly of an urban character. It includes the towns of Brighton, Hove, Shoreham and Newhaven. Owing to a westerly inward bend of the coast the inland extension is about 2½ miles at Shoreham, widening to 6 miles at Bishopstone, west of Seaford. The western boundary is drained by the River Adur and the eastern by the River Ouse. The part of the South Downs which forms the cliff at Brighton and eastwards to Newhaven recedes from the coast west of Brighton and continues inland. The Mount Caburn syncline is pr esent in the north of Brighton and eastwards, also the anticline of Kingston near Lewes, which runs approximately parallel with the last fold [1924 (2) pp. 6, 7]. Brydone has recorded a series of folds transverse to the cliff-line from Black Rock, Brighton, to Seaford [1914 p. 361]. These are continued westwards by an anticline which may be known as the Brighton anticline, of which East Brighton is the axis. It is the westerly pitch of this fold that accounts for the presence of the higher zones in West Brighton (which may be seen in the railway sections between Brighton Station and Holland Road Halt) and finally terminates the outcrop of chalk on the coast in East Hove. The inliers of Cold Dean, Lower Bevendean and Balsdean recorded by the Survey [1924 (2) p. 40] are present in the area.
The origin of the Devil's Dyke near Brighton, by R. L. Sherlock, D.Sc., A.R.C.Sc., F.G.S., published 1929 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 40 issue 4, article, pp.371-372) View Online
The Romance of Sussex Geology, by Harold Van Tromp, published 1929 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. III no. 9, article, p.619) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2307] & The Keep [LIB/500140]
The geological structure of the Ashburnham, Battle and Crowhurst districts (Sussex): With notes on the Wealden iron ore. Weald Research Committee Report, No. 10, by G. S. Sweeting, D.I.C., F.G.S., published 1930 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 41 issue 1, article, pp.44-52) View Online
Abstract:In 1925 the author published a paper on "The Geology of the Country around Crowhurst (Sussex) "; in this, attention was given to the stratigraphy and petrology of the main rock-types of that district, and the structural details were purposely excluded until a larger area (Ord. Surv. Sheet 57, Sussex), of which Crowhurst forms the eastern part, was surveyed. This has now been done and the final results are presented in this paper.
The geology of Etchingham and Robertsbridge, Sussex. Weald Research Committee Report, No. 11, by A. A. Fitch, A.R.C.S., B.Sc., published 1930 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 41 issue 1, article, pp.53-62) View Online
Abstract:The area described is 24 square miles in extent; it forms part of the Central Weald of Sussex and Kent, and constitutes Sheet XXX, Sussex, and part of Sheet LXXVIII, Kent, of the Ordnance Survey Six-Inch Series: the geological map is Sheet 5 of the Old Series (one-inch). It includes four towns or large villages - Burwash, Etchingham, Robertsbridge and Salehurst.
Pebbles of quartzite near Piltdown, Sussex, by Herbert L. Hawkins, published January 1930 in Geological Magazine (vol. 67, issue 1, article, pp.28-30) View Online
Abstract:In July of 1929 I visited the classic locality of Piltdown under the guidance of Sir A. Smith Woodward. After paying homage at the tomb of Eoanthropus we descended from the plateau to the low-level gravel terrace that flanks the flood-plain of the River Ouse. At a place known locally as Sharp's Bridge (marked on the accompanying map by a cross) there is a new but already extensive gravel pit. A spot-level on the map near the pit gives the approximate level of the top of the gravel terrace as 38 o.d.; the face of the pit is dug to a depth of from 8 to 10 feet below this level, and seems to reach down to about the level of saturation determined by the water of the river.
Notes on the Geology of Felpham, near Bognor Regis, by Edmond M. Venables, published 1931 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 42 issue 4, article, pp.363-369) accessible at: University of Sussex Library View Online
Abstract:The area dealt with in this paper is included in Sheet 332 of the Geological Survey, taking in about I½ miles of the Sussex coast at Bognor Regis, Felpham, and Middleton. This area, with the surrounding country, has been described by Mr. Clement Reid. Dixon's account of the district is scanty, although not without interest; but, apart from these papers, little appears to have been written about the area. Topley's map in Dixon's "Geology of Sussex" is of considerable interest in connection with this paper, as will be shown in due course.
Outlines of Sussex Geology and other essays, by Edward A. Martin, F.G.S., published 1932 (London: Archer & Co.) accessible at: & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Chalk zones in the foreshore between Worthing and Felpham, Sussex, by E. C. Martin, B.Sc., A.I.C., published 1932 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 43 issue 3, article, pp.201-211) View Online
Abstract:This paper deals with a stretch of about 14 miles of the Sussex coast, betwe en East Worthing and Felpham. A modern shingle bank, backed in places by a low cliff of brickearth, extends along the whole length of this coast and slopes down to a foreshore varying in width, at low-water spring tides, from about 300 yards to nearly half a mile. The upper part of the foreshore consists generally of sand, but in the lower part beds of broken Chalk are seen at frequent intervals and, in places, extend almost up to the shingle bank.
Nearly a century ago Sir Woodbine Parish recorded that "in front of the village of Felpham, chalk is exposed for a considerable distance cropping out of the sands between high and low water mark, and at low water it may be traced for upwards of a mile in the direction of Middleton. It abounds in its characteristic fossils." (Some of these he recorded, but the list unfortunately was not published.) Parish also noted that "chalk marl has long been dug out of the beach near Middleton at low tides for manuring the neighbouring beds."
Later geologists appear to have given little attention to these foreshore exposures, and no attempt to zone them seems to ha ve been made. They are briefly referred to by Dixon, H. B. Woodward, and by Clement Reid, who wrote "it is difficult to say to what zones this Chalk belongs, or whether zones older than the Upper Chalk may not be exposed on the foreshore towards Worthing." Mr. R. M. Brydone, however, in one of his papers on the zone of Offaster pilula, suggested that this zone "is probably exposed on the coast in West Sussex in the foreshore near Bognar."
Nearly a century ago Sir Woodbine Parish recorded that "in front of the village of Felpham, chalk is exposed for a considerable distance cropping out of the sands between high and low water mark, and at low water it may be traced for upwards of a mile in the direction of Middleton. It abounds in its characteristic fossils." (Some of these he recorded, but the list unfortunately was not published.) Parish also noted that "chalk marl has long been dug out of the beach near Middleton at low tides for manuring the neighbouring beds."
Later geologists appear to have given little attention to these foreshore exposures, and no attempt to zone them seems to ha ve been made. They are briefly referred to by Dixon, H. B. Woodward, and by Clement Reid, who wrote "it is difficult to say to what zones this Chalk belongs, or whether zones older than the Upper Chalk may not be exposed on the foreshore towards Worthing." Mr. R. M. Brydone, however, in one of his papers on the zone of Offaster pilula, suggested that this zone "is probably exposed on the coast in West Sussex in the foreshore near Bognar."
The zones of the Chalk of the Arun Gap, Sussex: With description of new species of Bicavea, by Christopher T. A. Gaster, F.G.S., published 1932 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 43 issue 3, article, pp.212-223) View Online
Abstract:The southward dip of the Chalk of the Arun Gap enables one to ascertain in sequence the zones present, which are exposed chiefly in old quarries and sections on either bank of the river. The Chalk is quarried at Amberley and in the pit by the Black Rabbit Inn, near Arundel. The old quarries at Houghton and the Burpham River Cliff add to the picturesque scenery of this beauty spot of West Sussex.
The Geologists' Association visited the area during their Whitsuntide field meeting in May, 1929, when some of the zonal details were pointed out. Since that date additional evidence has been obtained, and the results of the zoning of the Chalk in the gap are given, in th e schedule below.
Palaeontological evidence has resulted in a number of corrections being made in previous zonal records. Attention is drawn to the abundance of foraminifera in the zone of Actinocamax quadratus.
The Geologists' Association visited the area during their Whitsuntide field meeting in May, 1929, when some of the zonal details were pointed out. Since that date additional evidence has been obtained, and the results of the zoning of the Chalk in the gap are given, in th e schedule below.
Palaeontological evidence has resulted in a number of corrections being made in previous zonal records. Attention is drawn to the abundance of foraminifera in the zone of Actinocamax quadratus.
Note on the Chalk of Felpham, by Edmond M. Venables, published 1932 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 43 issue 3, article, pp.223-224) View Online
Note on the geomorphology of the Arun Gap: Weald Research Committee Report, No. 16, by A. J. Bull, M.Sc., F.G.S., published 1932 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 43 issue 3, article, pp.274-276) View Online
Abstract:The object of this note is to give an outline of the geomorphological features of the Arun Gap which has been zoned by Mr. C. T. A. Gaster, and to give a preliminary account of the work which the Weald Research Committee has in progress on the South Downs and the river gaps.
The Sandgate Beds of the Western Weald: Weald Research Committee Report, No. 17, by J. F. Kirkaldy, M.Sc., F.G.S., published 1933 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 44 issue 3, article, pp.270-311) View Online
Abstract:Our present knowledge of the Lower Greensand of the Weald is somewhat disconnected. The main facts conceming these beds are familiar; but owing to the absence of any general survey comparable with the special Memoirs of H.M. Geological Survey on the Jurassic and the Upper Cretaceous rocks, much remains to be done in the collection of local detail and also in the discussion of questions of correlation and other matters which need to be considered from a broad, regional point of view. In the well-known coast section between Hythe and Folkestone in Kent, the Lower Greensand has been divided into four main lithological units, the Folkestone Sands, the Sandgate Beds, the Hythe Beds, and the Atherfield Clay.
British Regional Geology: The Wealden District, by F. H. Edmunds, published 1935 (London: H.M.S.O.) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries
The Sussex Scene, by Denys Jacobs, published 1935 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. IX no. 2, article, pp.93-95) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9330] & The Keep [LIB/500179]
The Sussex Scene. II - The Forest Ridges, by Denys Jacobs, published 1935 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. IX no. 3, article, pp.148-150) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9330] & The Keep [LIB/500179]
The Sussex Scene. III - The Wild, by Denys Jacobs, published 1935 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. IX no. 4, article, pp.217-220) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9330] & The Keep [LIB/500179]
The Sussex Scene. IV - The Lower Greensands, by Denys Jacobs, published 1935 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. IX no. 5, article, pp.285-289) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9330] & The Keep [LIB/500179]
The Sussex Scene. V - The Downs, by Denys Jacobs, published 1935 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. IX no. 6, article, pp.378-382) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9330] & The Keep [LIB/500179]
The base of the Gault in Sussex, by John Francis Kirkaldy, published January 1935 in Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society (vol. 91, issue 1-4, article, pp.519-537) View Online
Abstract:Recent detailed stratigraphical work on the Mesozoic rocks has shown very clearly the importance of careful study of the age and lithology of beds which indicate the presence of transgressions, or of pauses in the deposition of sediment. Arkell, in his well-known monograph (1933), has shown the extreme importance of this in unravelling the history of the Jurassic period, but unfortunately our knowledge of similar phenomena in Cretaceous times is not nearly so complete or to be found in so accessible a form.
The presence of a marked break in deposition and, in some areas, of widespread transgression at the base of the Gault clays is well known, but the details of the exact age and lithology of the basal beds of the Gault have only been worked out in the belt of country lying at the foot of the main Chalk escarpment of England (Kitchin and Pringle, 1920, 1922). In the Weald, the facts are less completely known, whilst those available are only to be found after search through a score of separate publications. It is in an attempt to fill in a part of this gap in our knowledge that the present study of the base of the Gault between Petersfield and Eastbourne is offered.
The presence of a marked break in deposition and, in some areas, of widespread transgression at the base of the Gault clays is well known, but the details of the exact age and lithology of the basal beds of the Gault have only been worked out in the belt of country lying at the foot of the main Chalk escarpment of England (Kitchin and Pringle, 1920, 1922). In the Weald, the facts are less completely known, whilst those available are only to be found after search through a score of separate publications. It is in an attempt to fill in a part of this gap in our knowledge that the present study of the base of the Gault between Petersfield and Eastbourne is offered.
Studies in the geomorphology of the South Downs: Eastbourne to the Arun Gap, by A. J. Bull, M.Sc., F.G.S., published 1936 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 47 issue 2, article, pp.99-129) View Online
Abstract:The South Downs are the southern outcrop of the Chalk in the Wealden dome. They consist of a range of rounded hills rarely exceeding 700 ft. O.D. in height, and extend from Eastbourne to Petersfield, a distance of about 55 miles. Seen from any point such as Beachy Head or Seaford Head that affords an extensive view, the Downs present the appearance of a dissected peneplain which has been tilted to the south. So extreme is the dissection that little if any of the original peneplained surface remains, and most of the area is occupied by dry valleys whose interfluves have gently rounded crosssections. Most of the higher ground, especially that which tends to be flat, is covered with the well-known Clay-with-Flints. The northern face is an abrupt escarpment, which, except for the four river gaps and some wind gaps, is not breached, although the heads of the dry valleys often come close to it, as at Ratton and Willingdon, north of Eastbourne. The effect of the proximity of the dry valleys is usually to lower the escarpment slightly, but the amount is often surprisingly small, and the skyline as seen from the lower ground from the north is only gently undulating.
A section in Woolwich and Reading Beds, and in the '15-foot' raised beach at Worthing, Sussex, by E. C. Martin, B.Sc., A.I.C., F.G.S., published 1937 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 48 issue 1, article, pp.48-51) View Online
Abstract:The Woolwich and Reading Beds of the Worthing district are about 100 feet thick and occupy a narrow belt extending along the Chichester Syncline between the Littlehampton Chalk Inlier and the main Chalk outcrop of the South Downs. They form an easterly extension of the Eocene Beds of the Hampshire Basin, and reach the sea at South Lancing. Farther east, outliers occur at Portslade, Brighton, Newhaven and Seaford.
The relation of the coombe rock to the 135-ft. raised beach at Slindon, Sussex, by Kenneth P. Oakley, B.Sc., F.G.S. and E. C. Curwen, M.A., M.B., B.Ch., F.S.A., published 1937 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 48 issue 4, article, pp.317-323) View Online
Abstract:The so-called 100-ft. Raised Beach of the Sussex coast comprises marine sands amI shingle resting at heights varying from 80 to 135 feet above O.D., and can be traced almost continuously between Chichester and Arundel. Various parts of it have been described by Prestwich (1859, 1892), Clement Reid (1892, 1903) and Osborne White (1924), but the most comprehensive account is that of Fowler (1932). The beach has generally been treated as an indivisible unit, but recently archaeological evidence has been brought forward (Calkin, 1935) to show that the deposits at 80-90 feet above O.D. at AIdingbourne Park are older than those at Slindon Park. which attain an altitude of 135 feet above O.D. There is consequently some justification for distinguishing a 90-ft. Beach and a 135-ft. Beach. Taken together, they appear to mark the period of rising baselevel which caused prolonged aggradation of the rivers in Southern England during Clactonian-Middle Acheulian times (i.e.. the "100 ft. Terrace aggradation").
The Stratigraphy of the Chalk of Sussex: Part I. West Central area - Arun Gap to Valley of the Adur, with zonal map, by Christopher T. A. Gaster, F.G.S., published 1937 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 48 issue 4, article, pp.356-373) View Online
Abstract:In this paper are recorded the results of a Survey of the Chalk of the portion of the Sussex Downs that extends from the Valley of the Adur to the Arun Gap, a distance of 13½ miles.
The overstep of the sandgate Beds in the Eastern Weald, by John Francis Kirkaldy, published January 1937 in Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society (vol. 93, issue 1-4, article, pp.94-126) View Online
Abstract:Comparatively little work has been done on the Lower Greensand of the eastern Weald for the last fifty years, whilst the current maps of H.M. Geological Survey are based on the original survey made under Topley prior to 1875. The general succession and fauna of the beds are fairly well known in East Kent, but in East Sussex, where the beds are thin, great difficulty has been found in the past in subdividing them and correlating them with the lithological subdivisions recognizable in other parts of the Weald.
Detailed mapping of the outcrop has, however, shown that in the extreme east of Sussex the Sandgate Beds overstep the Hythe Beds to rest on the Weald Clay. A similar overstep is traceable in the Boulonnais and in the boreholes of the East Kent coalfield.
Detailed mapping of the outcrop has, however, shown that in the extreme east of Sussex the Sandgate Beds overstep the Hythe Beds to rest on the Weald Clay. A similar overstep is traceable in the Boulonnais and in the boreholes of the East Kent coalfield.
Notes of the Geology of the country around Haslemere and Midhurst, by J. F. Kirkaldy, M.Sc., F.G.S. and S. W. Wooldridge, D.Sc., F.G.S., published 1938 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 49 issue 2, article, pp.135-147) View Online
Abstract:A traverse from Haslemere to Midhurst involves the crossing of nearly 1,000 feet of the Lower Cretaceous beds and reveals the structure and physiography of the Weald in somewhat unusual light. We have made observations on this area for some ten years, and on the occasion of the Field Meeting the opportunity was taken of co-ordinating these observations and presenting a brief connected account of the geology of the district as a whole.
The Littlehampton and Portsdown Chalk Inliers and their relation to the raised beaches of West Sussex, by E. C. Martin, B.Sc., A.I.C., F.G.S., published 1938 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 49 issue 2, article, pp.198-212) View Online
Abstract:The Coastal Plain of West Sussex is traversed from east to west by the Littlehampton and Portsdown Anticlines, each of which brings up a large inlier of Chalk. The Littlehampton Inlier extends approximately 17 miles in an east and west direction and is intersected by the coast between Worthing and Felpham. The Portsdown Inlier is nearly 20 miles long, and extends from south of Chichester to north-west of Fareham, in Hampshire.
A Great Sussex Geologist: Dr Frederic Dixon, F.G.S., of Worthing, by Emily Harris, published 1938 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. XII no. 7, article, pp.426-429) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2317] & The Keep [LIB/500183]
Dr Frederick Dixon: His Researches in Sussex Geology, by Edmond M. Venable, F.G.S., published 1938 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. XII no. 11, article, pp.725-728) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2317] & The Keep [LIB/500183]
A Zonal map of parts of the South Downs. I Eastbourne to the River Cuckmere, by A. J. Bull, Ph.D., F.G.S., published 1939 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 49 issue 3, article, pp.261-262) View Online
Abstract:Some maps of the outcrops of the palaeontological zones of the Chalk of the South Downs are being prepared in order to facilitate the study of certain geomorphological problems. In the Adur-Arun district the outer escarpment consists of Chalk of the pilula zone, but the continuation of this escarpment eastward is uncertain. It is, therefore, proposed to map particularly this zone and the Marsupites zone below it both eastward and westward of the Adur-Arun district, and to ascertain how far the lithology which appears to produce the marked series of hills from Steep Down to Wepham Down continues to be associated with the pilula zone outside that district.
The Stratigraphy of the Chalk of Sussex. Part II. Eastern Area - Seaford to Cuckmere Valley and Eastbourne, with Zonal Map, by Christopher T. A. Gaster, F.G.S., published 1939 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 50 issue 4, article, pp.510-526) View Online
Abstract:This paper, which forms the second part of a comprehensive survey of the Chalk of Sussex, records the results of a survey of the Chalk extending from Seaford to the Cuckmere Valley and Eastbourne, a distance of 7 miles. The width of the outcrop from the escarpment on the north to the chalk cliffs on the coast being approximately five miles. The area dealt with is included in parts of Sheets 334 (Eastbourne) and 319 (Lewes) of the Geological Survey. The three major divisions of Lower, Middle and Upper Chalk shown on those sheets are replaced in the present work by detailed zonal results which are shown on the accompanying map.
The Journal of Gideon Mantell, Surgeon and Geologist. Covering the Years 1818-1852, edited by Eliot Cecil Curwen, published 1940 (xii + 315 pp., London: Oxford University Press) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/503531] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Cold conditions and land forms in the South Downs. Weald Research Committee Communication No. 27#, by A. J. Bull, Ph.D., F.G.S., published 1940 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 51 issue 1, article, pp.63-71) View Online
Abstract:The effects of cold and other agents in fashioning the South Downs and other Chalk hills has been a subject of discussion since Clement Reid thought that the existing system of dry valleys was cut at a time when the Chalk was saturated with water and this was frozen, so that the rock was for the time being impermeable. The present writer has referred to the matter in a study of the geomorphology of the South Downs, but some aspects of the question require further elaboration.
The South Downs show three main types of land form and others that are transitional. These are the now dry dendritic valleys on the counterscarp, gullies, and the arm-chair form I have previously referred as a coombe. The use of this word has been rightly criticised, because coombe or combe is applied to many different land forms in the south of England. For the arm-chair form, the seat of which is often occupied by a mass of neve or by a lake, many countries have developed local names such as corrie (Scottish), cwm (Welsh), cirque (French), etc. Cirque is being restricted to the larger, often composite, mountain forms. There remain cwm and corrie, and for the moment I choose the latter as being easier for an Englishman to pronounce.
The South Downs show three main types of land form and others that are transitional. These are the now dry dendritic valleys on the counterscarp, gullies, and the arm-chair form I have previously referred as a coombe. The use of this word has been rightly criticised, because coombe or combe is applied to many different land forms in the south of England. For the arm-chair form, the seat of which is often occupied by a mass of neve or by a lake, many countries have developed local names such as corrie (Scottish), cwm (Welsh), cirque (French), etc. Cirque is being restricted to the larger, often composite, mountain forms. There remain cwm and corrie, and for the moment I choose the latter as being easier for an Englishman to pronounce.
The geomorphology of the rivers of the Southern Weald: Weald Research Committee Communication No. 28, by J. F. Kirkaldy, M.Sc., F.G.S. and A. J. Bull, Ph.D., F.G.S., published 1940 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 51 issue 2, article, pp.115-150) View Online
Abstract:In a recent communication one of the authors dealt with the evidence of periods of 'still-stand' shown by the bevelled spurs of the South Downs. The present paper is an attempt to extend the investigation over a wider area and through a greater period of geological time. It is hoped that by combining the evidence of the Downland spurs with that of the drainage plan, longitudinal profiles and drift deposits of the rivers Cuckmere, Ouse, Adur and Rother-Arun and the raised beaches and infilled valleys of the Coastal Plain of Sussex, a clearer picture than hitherto available of the events of the later stages of geological time in the Southern Weald will be obtained.
Geological Report on Chipping Sites and Hearths on Bedham Hill, near Pulborough, by J. F. Kirkaldy, M.Sc., published 1940 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 81, article, p.235) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2166] & The Keep [LIB/500348] & S.A.S. library
A Wealden soil bed with Equisetites lyelli (Mantell), by P. Allen, B.Sc., published 1941 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 52 issue 4, article, pp.362-374) View Online
Abstract:This modern-looking horsetail was first described and figured by Mantell in 1833. Since then the only important contributions to our knowledge of the plant have been made by Seward [11, pp. 24-27]. Until recently Equisetites lyelli was known only from stem fragments whose relations to the whole plant were uncertain, and from apical buds and leaf sheathes from different-sized and differently-proportioned stems. In 1938 the author located near the base of the Wadhurst Clay in the Weald, an extensive fossil soil bed containing E. lyelli. The subterranean parts of the plants are there preserved as casts in their original position of growth, and the detached aerial portions of the erect stems occur as fragments in the 1-2 ft. of overlying sediment.
It has thus been possible to obtain for the first time a fairly complete idea of the main features of the plant as a whole. In this paper a description of these features is given and certain geological aspects of the new evidence are considered.
It has thus been possible to obtain for the first time a fairly complete idea of the main features of the plant as a whole. In this paper a description of these features is given and certain geological aspects of the new evidence are considered.
Wealden iron ore and the history of its industry: Weald Research Communication, No. 32, by G. S. Sweeting, D.I.C., F.G.S., published 1944 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 55 issue 1, article, pp.1-20) View Online
Abstract:In 1925 and 1930, the writer contributed two small papers to the Proceedings on the geology of various areas in East Sussex from which much iron ore had been extracted in earlier times. In the 1930 paper, some notes were added on "The Wealden Iron Ore," and attention is, therefore, directed to this communication, particularly for chemical analyses of the ore.
To picture South East England with its present quiet and beautiful surroundings as an area of noise and smoke-laden skies would be a difficult matter. Such, however, were the conditions which prevailed in Sussex, Kent and Surrey during Tudor days. Sussex and Kent had from very early times been important producers of iron, and they were destined to become for a time the seat of the largest iron trade in the British Isles.
Iron being the most plentiful and accessible of the metals, it follows that it would be naturally one of the first to be employed by an early race. Though we have no certain knowledge of the beginning of the iron ore industry in South East England, we know that in early times the iron ore in the Weald was of such importance as to be noticed by Caesar before the Christian era, and by Strabo in 20 A.D. The Romans extracted iron on a large scale as is seen by the size of their workings; in fact, during their occupation, there was much activity all over the Weald and iron became one of its chief exports. This is proved by the abundant heaps of iron slag found at Maresfield, Westfield, Seddlescombe, Crowhurst and Ashburnham in Sussex, and at Cowden and Tenterden in Kent.
To picture South East England with its present quiet and beautiful surroundings as an area of noise and smoke-laden skies would be a difficult matter. Such, however, were the conditions which prevailed in Sussex, Kent and Surrey during Tudor days. Sussex and Kent had from very early times been important producers of iron, and they were destined to become for a time the seat of the largest iron trade in the British Isles.
Iron being the most plentiful and accessible of the metals, it follows that it would be naturally one of the first to be employed by an early race. Though we have no certain knowledge of the beginning of the iron ore industry in South East England, we know that in early times the iron ore in the Weald was of such importance as to be noticed by Caesar before the Christian era, and by Strabo in 20 A.D. The Romans extracted iron on a large scale as is seen by the size of their workings; in fact, during their occupation, there was much activity all over the Weald and iron became one of its chief exports. This is proved by the abundant heaps of iron slag found at Maresfield, Westfield, Seddlescombe, Crowhurst and Ashburnham in Sussex, and at Cowden and Tenterden in Kent.
The Stratigraphy of the Chalk of Sussex: Part III. Western Area. Arun Gap to the Hampshire Boundary, with zonal map, by Christopher T. A. Gaster, F.G.S., published 1944 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 55 issue 3, article, pp.173-188) View Online
Abstract:This paper comprises the third part of an extensive survey of the Chalk of Sussex. It records the result of a survey of the Chalk in the area extending from the Arun Gap to the Hampshire boundary, a distance of 16½ miles. The width of the outcrop from the main escarpment on the north to the Coastal Plain on the south ranges from 4 to 7 miles.
The area dealt with is included in parts of Sheets 316 (Fareham) and 317 (Chichester) of the Geological Survey. The three major divisions of Lower, Middle and Upper Chalk shown on those Sheets are replaced in the present work by detailed zonal results as recorded on the accompanying Map (Pl. 9). Reference to the Survey Memoirs indicate that research on the Chalk of this part of the county has been scanty. This is probably due to the many large estates and tracts of woodland covering the Downs, and to the limited means of access in the past to this purely rural area.
The area dealt with is included in parts of Sheets 316 (Fareham) and 317 (Chichester) of the Geological Survey. The three major divisions of Lower, Middle and Upper Chalk shown on those Sheets are replaced in the present work by detailed zonal results as recorded on the accompanying Map (Pl. 9). Reference to the Survey Memoirs indicate that research on the Chalk of this part of the county has been scanty. This is probably due to the many large estates and tracts of woodland covering the Downs, and to the limited means of access in the past to this purely rural area.
Piltdown man: With special reference to the ape mandible and canine tooth, by Alvan T. Marston, L.D.S.Edin., F.G.S., F.R.A.I., published 1946 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 57 issue 1, pp. i-viii, article) View Online
Notes on Wealden fossil soil-beds, by P. Allen, M.A., B.Sc., Ph.D., F.G.S., published 1946 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 57 issue 4, article, pp.303-314) View Online
Abstract:The following appear to be the more significant of the new facts:
- Both soil- and rootlet-beds are frequent in the strata examined. It follows that the basin of deposition must have been shallow during much of Lower Wealden time.
- All but one of the soil-beds occur in transitional strata of very similar aspect. The upward change involved may be from dominantly arenaceous to dominantly argillaceous facies, or vice versa - which, appears to be irrelevant. Evidently, the conditions necessary for colonisation (by horsetails, at least) were strictly limited. The nature of the strata lead to the conclusion that colonisation was controlled by one or more of the following factors: depth of water, amount of movement of the water, size-distribution of the sedimentary particles, chemical nature of the sediment, rate of accumulation of the sediment. That other factors were sometimes limiting is shown by the occasional presence of similar transitional strata without horsetails.
- Though the data are scanty, there are indications of a positive correlation between the lithological similarity of the soil-beds and the taxonomic similarity of the plants they contain.
- The bulk of the recognisable plant-tissues are preserved as ferruginous substances. Carbonised and 'coalified' remains are unusual at all the horizons. Doubtless a phase of oxidising conditions formed part of the history of each.
- Contemporaneous erosion was not normally severe. Where considerable, it was confined to the frontal (S.E.) margin of the delta-complex
British Regional Geology: The Wealden District, by F. H. Edmunds, published 1948 (pamphlet, 2nd edition, vi + 93 pp., London: H.M.S.O.) accessible at: & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Surface problems in the search for oil in Sussex, by J. W. Reeves, M.Sc., published 1948 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 59 issue 4, article, pp.234-269) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 4700] View Online
Abstract:A search for oil resolves itself ultimately into a geological survey, but one where the controlling factor is of commercial rather than academic interest. This gives to it a difference, not so much of method or design, but rather of emphasis. The predominant concern of the oil geologist is a successfully producing oil well, the drilling of which is noted by his Company in 'cost per foot.' It is upon results in drilling that he will be judged and his value assessed. He tends to think, therefore, in three dimensions rather than in two, and measurements, in structure and thickness, assume a greater significance than is usual. His search is for facts, rather than opinions, and for detailed measurements on which he can base reasonably accurate forecasts. The drawing of sections enters largely into his scheme of things, for they will be the principal aid to the drilling department. From them he tries to indicate the presence of water, oil or gas shows, the occurrence of soft beds which may cause caving and, more particularly, the position of beds hard enough and thick enough to 'carry strings of casing.' Generally it is on such matters that his advice will be needed and consequently it is on them that his mind is directed in the field, although, naturally, he will find much of academic interest.
The denudation chronology of the dip-slope of the South Downs, by B. W. Sparks, B.A., published 1949 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 60 issue 3, article, pp.165-215) View Online
Abstract:Although much is already known of the denudation chronology of the South Downs, detailed surveying of the dip-slope reveals the existence of a number of closely-spaced marine platforms, which are intermediate in age between the early Pliocene bench (650-550 feet O.D.) and the Goodwood raised beach (130-80 feet O.D.). A careful examination of the distribution of the platform fragments shows that in certain situations they must be of sub-aerial origin and related to the development of streams in the area. Thus, the river Adur is shown to have migrated eastwards since the early Pliocene, and it is suggested from certain evidence that the Ouse once reached the sea via the mouth of the Cuckmere, its present outlet being of comparatively recent origin. The major longitudinal valleys of the South Downs, i.e., the upper Lavant and the Lewes Winterbourne were clearly in existence by the 475-foot stage, which is the first clearly-defined stillstand in the regression of the sea from the early Pliocene level. The discontinuous secondary escarpment is examined in some detail and it is suggested that it was originally formed by the action of scarp-foot subsequent streams, which were later disrupted. Certain convergent dry valley patterns can be demonstrated to coincide in position with embayments of the shorelines discussed and are thus readily explicable. Finally the debated question of the origin of dry valleys is reviewed and it is concluded that there are no real objections to the hypothesis that they are former river valleys, which have been abandoned as the level of the water-table in the Chalk fell.
A detailed summary of the evidence for each platform is included as an appendix.
A detailed summary of the evidence for each platform is included as an appendix.
A note on a section of Coombe Rock and Brickearth at Angmering-on-sea, Sussex, by B. W. Sparks, B.A., published 1949 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 60 issue 4, article, pp.288-293) View Online
Abstract:A temporary cliff-section in the superficial deposits of the Sussex Coastal Plain revealed some new details of the lithological composition of these beds, in particular of the gravels which lie between the Coombe Rock proper and the Brickearth. A small fauna of freshwater mollusca was obtained from lenticular beds of chalky silt lying within the gravels and evidence of human occupation from the Brickearth. On the basis of the lithology of the beds and the contained organic remains an attempt has been made to deduce the geographical conditions obtaining during their deposition.
Some features in the structure and geomorphology of the country around Fernhurst, Sussex, by S. W. Wooldridge, D.Sc., F.R.G.S., published 1950 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 61 issue 3, article, pp.165-190) View Online
Abstract:The paper describes the structure of a part of the Western Weald. The work is based on 6-inch mapping of the base of the Hythe Beds and of a distinctive group of red clays some 400 feet from the top of that formation. It renders clear the character of the folding in this part of the Weald and throws light on the superficial "mass-movements", simulating faulting, which have affected the escarpment of the Hythe Beds. These movements are regarded as related to the widespread rubble drift occurring on hill-tops at about 300 feet on the low ground of the Weald Clay. An early Pleistocene age is tentatively ascribed to them.
The junction of the Gault and Lower Greensand in East Sussex and at Folkestone, Kent: Weald Research Committee Report No. 42, by R. Casey, F.G.S., published 1950 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 61 issue 4, article, pp.268-298) View Online
Abstract:Gault and Lower Greensand are parts of an essentially continuous and conformable series; their line of demarcation is often arbitrary and has no fixed time-relationship. In the Lewes-Eastbourne district of Sussex, for example, the basement-beds of the Gault are the age-equivalents of almost the whole of the Folkestone Beds of the Lower Greensand as developed at Folkestone, the nodosocostatum, tardefurcata, and mammillatum zones of the Albian all being represented in 3-4 feet of glauconitic sandy clay with phosphatic nodules. The presence of the nodosocostatum zone is here indicated by the jacobi fauna, the first authentic record of its occurrence in England since its discovery at Folkestone in 1939. Conversely, the sands which underlie the Gault in this part of Sussex are regarded as an expanded version of the bottom few inches of the Folkestone Beds at Folkestone and are compared with the sands below the nodule-bed with H. jacobi at Wissant, in the Bas Boulonnais.
The diachronous base of the Gault in East Sussex, previously thought to indicate transgressive overlap, may now be ascribed to the progressive assumption by the top beds of the Lower Greensand of the Gault facies as they extend towards the coast, thereby partly accounting for the rapid south-easterly thinning of the Lower Greensand in East Sussex. This hypothesis is advanced as the explanation for the apparent disappearance of the Folkestone Beds under Eastbourne.
Condensed and incomplete faunal successions are demonstrated in both areas and the significance of phosphatic nodule-beds in unravelling the relations of Gault and Lower Greensand is discussed. Some modifications of current views on the faunal sequence in the Folkestone Beds and basal Gault at Folkestone are introduced. The Lower Albian ammonite Hypacanthoplites is illustrated for the first time from a British occurrence.
The diachronous base of the Gault in East Sussex, previously thought to indicate transgressive overlap, may now be ascribed to the progressive assumption by the top beds of the Lower Greensand of the Gault facies as they extend towards the coast, thereby partly accounting for the rapid south-easterly thinning of the Lower Greensand in East Sussex. This hypothesis is advanced as the explanation for the apparent disappearance of the Folkestone Beds under Eastbourne.
Condensed and incomplete faunal successions are demonstrated in both areas and the significance of phosphatic nodule-beds in unravelling the relations of Gault and Lower Greensand is discussed. Some modifications of current views on the faunal sequence in the Folkestone Beds and basal Gault at Folkestone are introduced. The Lower Albian ammonite Hypacanthoplites is illustrated for the first time from a British occurrence.
The Stratigraphy of the chalk of Sussex: Part IV. East central area - between the valley of the Adur and Seaford, with zonal map, by Christopher T. A. Gaster, F.G.S., published 1951 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 62 issue 1, article, pp.31-64) View Online
Abstract:The paper records the results of a zonal survey of the Chalk in the area between the valley of the Adur and Seaford. It reveals some new and interesting facts relating to the geological structure of the area. For instance, the previously described anticline of Kingston near Lewes is found to comprise three folds, i.e. (a) Kingston Anticline, (b) Hollinghury Anticline, and (c) Beddingham Anticline. The Kingston Anticline is limited to the area between Mount Caburn and Newmarket Plantation. Faulting is associated with these folds. The Beddingham Anticline extends eastward beyond the district. Other folding, both synclinal and anticlinal, with faulting, are also described. The form of the outstanding valley, known as the Coombe, East of Lewes, is explained. The results are supported by considerable field evidence.
Equisetites lyelli (Mantell) at a new horizon in the Wadhurst Clay, near Pembury, Kent, by Maurice Lock, B.Sc., A.R.S.M., published 1953 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 64 issue 1, article, pp.31-32) View Online
British Regional Geology: The Wealden District, by F. H. Edmunds, published 1954 (pamphlet, 3rd edition, vi + 93 pp., London: H.M.S.O.) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 4659] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
The pleistocene deposits of Penfold's Pit, Slindon, Sussex, and their chronology, by J. B. Dalrymple, published 1957 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 68 issue 4, article, pp.294-303) View Online
Abstract:The deposits from sections at Penfold's Pit, Slindon, are described both macro- and micromorphologically. Fossil soil horizons are identified and deductions made as to their primary origin. Finally the relative and absolute chronology of the Pleistocene deposits is inferred.
Geology of the Central Weald: The Hastings Beds, by Percival Allen, published 1958 (Geologists' Association Guide no. 24, Geologist's Association)
Subdivision of the Weald Clay in Sussex, by J. W. Reeves, published 1958 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 69 issue 1, article, pp.1-16) View Online
Abstract:The monotonous nature and paucity of good exposures have discouraged attempts at subdivision of the Weald Clay in Sussex for more than a century. Using the oldest and youngest of a series of red clay bands occurring throughout the area as Index Horizons, the formation has been divided into three Groups. These are Group I, buff grey, Group II, red, and Group III, yellow. The detailed mapping of the Index Horizons and other beds has produced definite figures for thicknesses of the strata, and shown a very large increase in thickness as the formation is traced to the west and north-west from Eastbourne to Horsham. The Groups are lithological and have not yet been placed in any palaeontological zoning.
Some sedimentary structures from a Weald Clay Sandstone at Warnham Brickworks, Horsham, Sussex, by J. E. Prentice, published 1962 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 73 issue 2, article, pp.171-185) View Online
Abstract:Sedimentary structures in a sandstone in the Weald Clay are described. They are groove casts, possibly formed by plant fragments being moved by water, air-heave structures, scour structures, load casts, syndepositional faults and folds, trace fossils and ripple structures. From their study it is concluded that the sandstone was deposited by the sudden inrush of sediment-laden water; and a comparison is suggested with the crevasse sands of modern deltas.
A short note on the origin of the Devil's Dyke, near Brighton, by R. J. Small, published 1962 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 73 issue 2, article, pp.187-192) View Online
Abstract:It is suggested that the Devil's Dyke has arisen through the capture and rejuvenation of a dip-slope valley by a scarp-foot spring and associated stream. Certain features of the Dyke suggest later modification by periglacial processes. The general rarity of escarpment valleys similar to the Devil's Dyke is attributed to the absence from many Chalk crestlines of recession-cots allowing easy penetration of the scarp face by pirate springs.
The London Clay of Bognor Regis, by Edmond M. Venables, published 1962 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 73 issue 3, article, pp.245-271) View Online
Abstract:Bognor Regis has long been noted for fossils of the London Clay, yet the literature devoted to it is scanty. Its geographical position gives it importance in the regional study of this deposit, and it is one of the few localities where the whole thickness of London Clay strata can be studied in sequence. A low angle of dip, and a strike oblique to the coastline, produce a wide field of research in the foreshore outcrop. A number of palaeontological horizons have been established, and the sequence of micro-faunas has been investigated for the first time. A distinct group of horizons, characterised by a largely terrestrial assemblage, has been recognised. This group has yielded a large new flora and a new vertebrate fauna. The first known fossil insect fauna of the London Clay, discovered in 1936, is now recorded.
Some sections in the Lower Gault of the Weald, by H. G. Owen, published 1963 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 74 issue 1, article, pp.35-53) View Online
Abstract:Sections in the dentatus Zone of the Lower Gault in the Weald are described. The presence of the eodentatus Subzone at the Coney Hill sand-pit, Barrow Green, is recorded and a comparison is made with deposits of this Subzone exposed at the Shere By-Pass and at Folkestone. The benettianus Subzone exposed at Shere and in the Sevenoaks Brick Works are described and correlated with other known or possible occurrences in the Weald. The expansion of deposits of the dentatus-spathi Subzone in the northern Weald when traced westwards from Folkestone is demonstrated. In Kent and east Surrey the deposits are greatly condensed. In west Surrey the degree of condensation becomes less, and in east Hampshire the dentatus-spathi Subzone is little condensed and forms the bulk of the Lower Gault. In the Selborne area it appears that the transgression during the cristatum and basal orbignyi Subzones has removed all Lower Gault sediments above the dentatus-spathi Subzone. In Sussex there is evidence of an easterly condensation within deposits of this Subzone, and the presence of a nodule bed, comparable to the dentatus nodule bed at Folkestone, is recorded in the English Channel off Beachy Head.
Iron ore workings in the Weald Clay of the Western Weald, by B. C. Worssam, published 1964 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 75 issue 4, article, pp.529-546) View Online
Abstract:The location and extent of a belt of old workings for clay ironstone on the outcrop of the Weald Clay of parts of western Surrey and Sussex are described, and related to the stratigraphy and geological structure. Historical evidence for iron-working in the western part of the Weald is referred to. For the first time an estimate is made of the total production of ore from a worked ironstone bed in the Weald Clay. It is concluded that exhaustion of iron ore supplies was a factor in the decline of the iron industry in the western part of the Weald.
The low-level Pleistocene marine sands and gravels of the West Sussex Coastal Plain, by J. M. Hodgson, published 1964 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 75 issue 4, article, pp.547-561) View Online
Abstract:The nature, origin and relationships of low-level Pleistocene marine sands and gravel, together with a map of their distribution compiled during a soil survey of the West Sussex Coastal Plain, are described and discussed.
There has been considerable solution of the underlying wave-cut platform where it cuts across the Chalk. This solution, which post-dates the beach, gives a variation in platform height independent of its original slope.
The wave-cut platform rises from about six feet O.D. to at least eighteen and a half feet O.D., and probably several feet higher, and the deposits, which are widespread and continuous except over the Chalk, rise to an observed maximum of forty-seven feet O.D. There is no evidence for the separate existence of more than one deposit within these altitudinal limits. The beach is considered to be the westward continuation of the similar beach at Black Rock, Brighton.
There has been considerable solution of the underlying wave-cut platform where it cuts across the Chalk. This solution, which post-dates the beach, gives a variation in platform height independent of its original slope.
The wave-cut platform rises from about six feet O.D. to at least eighteen and a half feet O.D., and probably several feet higher, and the deposits, which are widespread and continuous except over the Chalk, rise to an observed maximum of forty-seven feet O.D. There is no evidence for the separate existence of more than one deposit within these altitudinal limits. The beach is considered to be the westward continuation of the similar beach at Black Rock, Brighton.
Stratigraphy and structure of the Purbeck inliers of Sussex (England), by Frank Howitt, published January 1964 in Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society (vol. 120, no. 1-4, article, pp.77-113) View Online
Abstract:The Purbeck Beds exposed in Sussex are redescribed together with new sections exposed in gypsum mines workings and boreholes. Comparisons are made with Purbeck Beds elsewhere in southern England in boreholes and at outcrop.
A new map of the Purbeck inliers is presented and the structure is discussed. Conditions of sedimentation are illustrated by isopachyte maps.
A new map of the Purbeck inliers is presented and the structure is discussed. Conditions of sedimentation are illustrated by isopachyte maps.
Geology of the Weald, by J. F. Kirkaldy, published 1967 in Geologists' Association Guide (no. 29, article)
Geology of the Haywards Heath district, by E. R. Michaels, published 1968 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 79 issue 4, article, pp.525-548) View Online
Abstract:Detailed mapping of the Haywards Heath district has resulted in revision of previously published maps. The use of well records together with the new mapping has led to the conclusion that the clay outcropping in the valley of the Ouse north of Cuckfield, is not Weald Clay but a lenticular clay in the Lower Tunbridge Wells Sand. An unconformity at the base of the Weald Clay resulting in a westerly onlap of the Weald Clay over the Upper Tunbridge Wells Sand is described.
Facies maps for intervals in the Tunbridge Wells Sand are presented. The areal facies distribution, together with analyses of the vertical succession of facies, confirm the conclusion that the sediments of the Tunbridge Wells Sand are the deposits of a shallow lake-shore. Re-working of the sands through several stages of deposition during Wealden times is suggested.
Facies maps for intervals in the Tunbridge Wells Sand are presented. The areal facies distribution, together with analyses of the vertical succession of facies, confirm the conclusion that the sediments of the Tunbridge Wells Sand are the deposits of a shallow lake-shore. Re-working of the sands through several stages of deposition during Wealden times is suggested.
Chamosite in Weald clay from Horsham, Sussex, by R. G. Thurrell, published 1970 (14 pp., Institute of Geological Sciences: H.M.S.O.) accessible at: British Library & West Sussex Libraries
Hydrogeology of part of East Sussex, by R. M. Luis, 1971 at University of London (Ph.D. thesis)
Iron ore workings near Horsham, Sussex, and the sedimentology of Wealden clay ironstone, by B. C. Worssam, published 1972 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 83 issue 1, article, pp.37-55) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 5347] View Online
Abstract:The distribution of old workings, or 'minepits', for clay ironstone in an area between Horsham and Crawley is shown on geological sketch-maps. The geological structure of the area is described in outline. The old workings, except for those in two anomalous patches, are restricted to two argillaceous units in the Upper Tunbridge Wells Sand and to an ironstone horizon some 2 m. below the Horsham Stone in the Weald Clay. Slags from two bloomery sites are described. The amount of ore dug from the minepits is estimated to correspond roughly to the requirements of local blast furnaces, of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century date. Depletion of iron ore reserves is suggested as a factor deciding against resumption of the iron industry in the area after the Civil War.
Bringing into consideration evidence from the whole Wealden area, the origin of clay ironstone is discussed in relation to the environment of deposition of the Wealden Beds. Non-spherulitic ironstone occurs at five main Wealden horizons. In the Weald Clay, ironstone development appears to be related to cycles of sedimentation.
Bringing into consideration evidence from the whole Wealden area, the origin of clay ironstone is discussed in relation to the environment of deposition of the Wealden Beds. Non-spherulitic ironstone occurs at five main Wealden horizons. In the Weald Clay, ironstone development appears to be related to cycles of sedimentation.
Iron ore workings near Horsham, Sussex, by P. J. Ovenden and B. C. Worssam, published 1972 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 83 issue 2, article, pp.237-238) View Online
Transport of Sediment in Streams in Sussex, in Relation to Geological and Hydrological Characteristics of Catchments., by M. B. Collins, 1973 at Sussex University (Ph.D. thesis)
Concealed Eocene outcrop beneath Shoreham Harbour, Sussex, by L. P. Thomas and D . A. Gray, published March 1974 in Geological Magazine (vol. 111, issue 2, article, pp.125-132) View Online
Abstract:Evidence from a series of boreholes in the Shoreham area demonstrates the occurrence of an outcrop of Woolwich and Reading Beds lying beneath the drift deposits which form the floor of Shoreham Harbour. The classification of the Eocene strata, their structural relation to other deposits in the area and their conditions of deposition are examined.
William Topley and 'The Geology of the Weald', by J. F. Kirkaldy, published 1975 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 86 issue 4, article, pp.372-388) View Online
Abstract:This article was written to commemorate the centenary of the publication of William Topley's well-known memoir The Geology of the Weald. The progress of the primary geological survey of the Weald is traced from its beginning, in the autumn of 1855, to the publication, in December 1868, of the last of the Old Series sheets covering the area. Biographical details are given of the ten members of the Geological Survey who shared the field work. F. Drew mapped by far the greatest area, the other major contributors being C. Le Neve Foster, C. Gould, H.W. Bristow, W. Boyd Dawkins and W. Topley. Owing to death, promotions and resignations, the task of writing the memoir devolved on Topley, who by then had been transferred to Northumberland. Despite this handicap, Topley produced a masterly memoir, notable especially for the breadth of his treatment of so many aspects of Wealden geology. The value of the memoir is assessed against the background of the previous work on the area. During the following century, the Institute of Geological Sciences has been resurveying the Weald, publishing New Series maps and sheet memoirs. The Weald Research Committee and many other geologists have also been active in the area. The advances in our knowledge of the Weald made during the post-Topley period are summarised.
Wealden of the Weald: a new model, by P. Allen, published 1975 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 86 issue 4, article, pp.389-437) View Online
Abstract:An alternative to the deltaic model is presented. The Weald is seen as a subsiding graben-basin, with 'Macaraibo' sedimentary features, spasmodically open to the sea and margined by active horsts.
Channel-facies are commoner in the Wealden sand and clay formations than previously suspected. The 'normal' environment was a variable-salinity coastal mudplain with lagoons and sandy water-courses loosely connected north-westwards with the East Anglian Sea. Channel patterns fluctuated across the low ? high sinuosity transition. Periodically, increased riverflow transformed parts of the basin into sandy braidplains, culminating sometimes in coalescent alluvial fans. These interruptions were brief and generated by marginal upfaulting of surrounding blocks combined with attendant climatic changes. Large expanses of alluvial plain were bare of trees and bushes, but supported rich growths of herbaceous pteridophytes where deposition and erosion became inactive temporarily. Herds of dinosaur travelled freely across the basin and maintained themselves in it. The climate was warm, with marked wet and dry seasons and, possibly, diurnal rhythms in precipitation. Its general trend was towards 'amelioration', as though Britain was leaving the Purbeck semiarid zone and moving across the warm temperate belt.
Following mid-Purbeck earth movements and the final Cinder Bed transgression, the London-Kent horsts dominated Hastings times, being the main suppliers of arenaceous sediment and controlling water-salinity by acting as imperfect barriers against further inroads by the northern sea. On two occasions (Ashdown and Lower Tunbridge Wells formations) the channel-networks merged to build up a single braidplain spanning the basin. Bedload from Wessex and the Isle of Wight stopped short at the Hampshire-Sussex border, though some Norman sand may have reached south-east Sussex. During Weald Clay times the London and Kent blocks ceased to be important sources of sediment, the former letting in the muddy 'Snettisham' Sea voluminously. Several of the brackish-marine inundations sprinkled East Anglian sand across the north-west Weald, mixing it with 'London' gravel gathered up in passing. But most of the sand, now sparse, was generated by jolts in distant Cornubia and Armorica, rejuvenating the rivers and causing the Wessex alluvia to probe the western Weald. After their Horsham première the movements weakened, the younger sands reaching less far eastwards and becoming more restricted to their channel systems. Least affected by tectonic and marine influences were the eastern parts of the basin. The regional palaeoslope in the Anglo-French area seems to have tilted northeast, away from the ruptured continental margin, preluding increased spreading rates in the mid-Cretaceous Atlantic.
There is no room in the new model for large-scale classical deltaic processes or for the traditional derivation of the immature 'western' detritus from Hercynian granites (or any other granites). The model removes some previous difficulties, e.g. the small sizes of the London catchments, the rapidity of many sedimentological changes and the paradox that both marine and fluviatile invasions appear to come from the same general direction.
In the field, the well-known 'Rocks' (massive sandstone members) become the merged multistorey networks of braided channel-fills formed during climactic phases of uplift and river-rejuvenation on the basin margins.
Channel-facies are commoner in the Wealden sand and clay formations than previously suspected. The 'normal' environment was a variable-salinity coastal mudplain with lagoons and sandy water-courses loosely connected north-westwards with the East Anglian Sea. Channel patterns fluctuated across the low ? high sinuosity transition. Periodically, increased riverflow transformed parts of the basin into sandy braidplains, culminating sometimes in coalescent alluvial fans. These interruptions were brief and generated by marginal upfaulting of surrounding blocks combined with attendant climatic changes. Large expanses of alluvial plain were bare of trees and bushes, but supported rich growths of herbaceous pteridophytes where deposition and erosion became inactive temporarily. Herds of dinosaur travelled freely across the basin and maintained themselves in it. The climate was warm, with marked wet and dry seasons and, possibly, diurnal rhythms in precipitation. Its general trend was towards 'amelioration', as though Britain was leaving the Purbeck semiarid zone and moving across the warm temperate belt.
Following mid-Purbeck earth movements and the final Cinder Bed transgression, the London-Kent horsts dominated Hastings times, being the main suppliers of arenaceous sediment and controlling water-salinity by acting as imperfect barriers against further inroads by the northern sea. On two occasions (Ashdown and Lower Tunbridge Wells formations) the channel-networks merged to build up a single braidplain spanning the basin. Bedload from Wessex and the Isle of Wight stopped short at the Hampshire-Sussex border, though some Norman sand may have reached south-east Sussex. During Weald Clay times the London and Kent blocks ceased to be important sources of sediment, the former letting in the muddy 'Snettisham' Sea voluminously. Several of the brackish-marine inundations sprinkled East Anglian sand across the north-west Weald, mixing it with 'London' gravel gathered up in passing. But most of the sand, now sparse, was generated by jolts in distant Cornubia and Armorica, rejuvenating the rivers and causing the Wessex alluvia to probe the western Weald. After their Horsham première the movements weakened, the younger sands reaching less far eastwards and becoming more restricted to their channel systems. Least affected by tectonic and marine influences were the eastern parts of the basin. The regional palaeoslope in the Anglo-French area seems to have tilted northeast, away from the ruptured continental margin, preluding increased spreading rates in the mid-Cretaceous Atlantic.
There is no room in the new model for large-scale classical deltaic processes or for the traditional derivation of the immature 'western' detritus from Hercynian granites (or any other granites). The model removes some previous difficulties, e.g. the small sizes of the London catchments, the rapidity of many sedimentological changes and the paradox that both marine and fluviatile invasions appear to come from the same general direction.
In the field, the well-known 'Rocks' (massive sandstone members) become the merged multistorey networks of braided channel-fills formed during climactic phases of uplift and river-rejuvenation on the basin margins.
The structure of the Weald - a review, by R. D. Lake, published 1975 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 86 issue 4, article, pp.549-557) View Online
Abstract:Regional analyses of the structure of sedimentary basins distinguish structures reflecting basement structures from later tensional phase structures within the basin-fill. The effects of overburden-thickness and stratal competence are also considered. In the Weald, discrete structural zones are identified in the strata beneath the Weald Clay which can be related to inferred basement structures, which, in turn, have counterparts in France. Borehole evidence suggests that the Mesozoic structures were initiated at the basement-fill interface rather than forming direct continuations of Palaeozoic structures.
The economic geology of the Weald, by D. E. Highley, published 1975 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 86 issue 4, article, pp.559-569) View Online
Abstract:The major proportion of the minerals of economic importance in the Weald is consumed by the construction industry. These minerals include sand and gravel for aggregate, clay for brick manufacture, chalk for cement, limestone (ragstone) for roadstone, and gypsum for plaster, plasterboard and cement manufacture. In addition the Weald is a major source of silica sand, used in glass-making and for foundry purposes, and also of fuller's earth. The geological distribution of these minerals is described, together with an account of their quality, present exploitation and industrial usage.
The Tertiary deposits at Newhaven, Sussex, by D.A. Bone, published 1976 in Tertiary Research (vol. 1, no. 2, article, pp.47-49)
Aspects of the geomorphology of the sandstone cliffs of the central Weald: Report of an excursion to West Hoathly and Groombridge Saturday, 5 October 1974, by D. A. Robinson and R. B. G. Williams, published 1976 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 87 issue 1, article, pp.93-99) View Online
Abstract:Aspects of the geomorphology of the sandstone cliffs of the central Weald: Report of an excursion to West Hoathly and Groombridge Saturday, 5 October 1974
The Bracklesham Beds (Eocene) of Bracklesham Bay and Selsey, Sussex, by D. Curry, A. D. King, C. King and F. C. Stinton, published 1977 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 88 issue 4, article, pp.243-254) View Online
Abstract:The lithostratigraphy of the Bracklesham Beds (Eocene) of Bracklesham Bay and Selsey on the English South Coast is redescribed and maps of the foreshore exposures are given. The Bracklesham Beds, based on the type section at Whitecliff Bay (I.O.W.) are redefined as a Group comprising four divisions. A correlation between Bracklesham Bay and Whitecliff Bay is presented
Geology around Chichester, by David Bone, published 1980 (pamphlet) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7659] & West Sussex Libraries
Hydrogeological and hydrochemical studies in East Sussex, by S. Beeson, 1980 at U.C.L., University of London (Ph.D. thesis)
The geology and hydrogeology of the Lower Greensand of the Sompting Borehole, West Sussex, by B. Young and R. A. Monkhouse, published 1980 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 91 issue 4, article, pp.307-313) View Online
Abstract:The Sompting Borehole provided the first cored sequences of Lower Greensand sediments beneath the South Downs. The lithologies present closely resemble those at outcrop to the north but the succession is markedly thinner due to the contemporary influence of a westerly extension of the Paris-Plage ridge structure. Hydrogeological studies show that the Lower Greensand here is a potential aquifer. Radiocarbon determinations reveal a surprisingly young age for the groundwater and a significant tritium content indicates the presence of appreciable quantities of recent water.
The Aptian Lower Greensand fuller's earth beds of Bognor Common, West Sussex, by B. Young and D. J. Morgan, published 1981 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 92 issue 1, article, pp.33-37) View Online
Abstract:Exposures of fuller's earth may be contemporaneous with the deposits at Redhill, Maidstone, Woburn, Baulking, Fernham and Clophill. The fuller's earths are considered to be the product of redistribution of wind-borne ash in a shallow marine environment.
Loess in the Weald, by P. J. Burrin, published 1981 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 92 issue 2, article, pp.87-92) View Online
Abstract:An investigation into the floodplain and valley fill sediments of the Rivers Ouse and Cuckmere in the southern Weald has shown that the alluvium consists predominantly of silt-sized material. These would normally be interpreted as fluvial sediments produced by the erosion of local rocks. The homogeneity and general characteristics of these deposits are more satisfactorily explained as loessal-derived sediments. This finding provides some insight into the formerly more widespread deposition of loess in the Weald.
The Weald: A Geological Field Guide, by Wes Gibbons, published 11 May 1981 (118 pp., Allen & Unwin, ISBN-10: 0045540047 & ISBN-13: 9780045540044) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
The Geology of Sussex, by R. N. Mortimore, published 1 September 1983 in Sussex Environment Landscape and Society (article, pp.15-32, Stroud: Sutton Publishing Ltd., ISBN-10: 0862990459 & ISBN-13: 9780862990459) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8831] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Molluscan biostratigraphy of Flandrian slope deposits in East Sussex, by Caroline Sarah Ellis, 1985 at Imperial College London (Ph.D. thesis)
Aluminite and other aluminium minerals from Newhaven, Sussex: the first occurrence of Nordstrandite in Great Britain, by R. D. Wilmot and B. Young, published 1985 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 96 issue 1, article, pp.47-52) View Online
Abstract:The aluminous minerals aluminite, basaluminite, gibbsite, bayerite and nordstrandite together with poorly crystalline alumino-silicates occur in collapsed Tertiary sediments filling solution pipes in the Upper Chalk at Newhaven, Sussex. They appear to have formed by the reaction between acid groundwater and the Tertiary clays and the Chalk. Similar occurrences elsewhere on the Sussex coast are described.
The Gault Clay-Folkestone Beds junction in West Sussex, Southeast England, by I. D. Anderson, published 1986 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 97 issue 1, article, pp.45-58) View Online
Abstract:The Iron Grit, a limonitic sandstone developed at the base of the Gault between Midhurst and Washington, is suggested to be a primary deposit which accumulated in lagoonal conditions on the flanks of the newly emergent Portsdown Swell. The underlying Folkestone Beds have a coarsening-upwards profile combined with upward decrease in amplitude of cross-bedding and pass upwards into parallel laminated sands directly beneath the Iron Grit, a sequence interpreted as representing a beachface profile. The Iron Grit represents a drop in sustained depositional energy and removal from the beachface environment. SEM studies of quartz grain surface texture demonstrate an increase in impact textures upwards in the Folkestone Beds, but a decrease in the Iron Grit. Heavy mineral suites of the Folkestone Beds are characteristic for the Weald, but the suite in the Iron Grit is deficient in kyanite. The wide variety of mineral species confined to the Iron Grit illustrates protection from intrastratal solution by early cementation. The iron is suggested to have originated from weathering on the emergent land area. The Portsdown Swell uplift is related to a mid-Leymeriella tardefurcata phase of regional tectonism.
Stratigraphy of the upper cretaceous white chalk of Sussex, by R. N. Mortimore, published 1986 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 97 issue 2, article, pp.97-139) View Online
Abstract:The Middle/Upper Chalk boundary has been removed from the geological maps in the current survey of the Chalk of Sussex by the British Geological Survey leaving an undifferentiated Middle-Upper Chalk. In place of this undivided sequence, six new Members are introduced using Rowe's (1900-1908) term 'White Chalk' for the Formation with stratotypes nominated in the thickest sequences along the Sussex coast between Beachy Head and Brighton and around Lewes.
- The Ranscombe Chalk Member extends from the base of the Melbourn Rock, through a succession 70-100 m thick, to the top of a massively bedded sequence containing conspicuous marl seams that occurs within the Terebratulina lata Zone, terminating with the Glynde Marl. The basal marker is taken as the Foyle Marl at Eastbourne (boundary stratotype), and Gun Gardens Beachy Head is nominated as the holostratotype.
- The Ranscombe Chalk is succeeded by a sequence containing regular seams of nodular chalks and the first regular seams of flint. This sequence of nodular chalks with flints is named the Lewes Chalk Member and persists for some 80 m at Lewes, terminated by the upper of the Shoreham Marls at the traditional boundary between the Micraster cortestudinarium and Micraster coranquinum Zones. The basal marker is the Glynde Marl 1 in Caburn Pit, Lewes, boundary stratotype. Caburn Pit, South Street to Southerham Cliffs Lewes, and Beachy Head are nominated as holostratotype sections.
- Overlying the Shoreham Marls is a thick (60-80 m) sequence of soft, flint bearing, relatively featureless chalks containing seven conspicuous semi-tabular courses of flint; the Seaford Chalk Member. The basal marker is the Shoreham Marl 2 at Seaford Head, the boundary and holostratotype section.
- Flint bearing chalks with marl seams return in the crinoid and Offaster pilula Zones and characterise the 60-80 m thick Newhaven Chalk Member. The basal marker is the Buckle Marl 1 at Seaford Head, boundary stratotype and holostratotype section.
- Marl seams cease to be a significant lithology in the Gonioteuthis quadrata Zone where the chalk is generally very soft and featureless but contains several conspicuous courses of flint. This part of the succession is named the Culver Chalk Member and is between 60-100 m thick. The basal marker is the upper Castle Hill Marl at Seaford Head (boundary stratotype) and the only reasonably accessible, complete section through this chalk at Whitecliff Isle of Wight, is nominated as the holostratotype section.
- Marl seams return in the uppermost part of the G. quadrata Zone and persist into the lower part of the Belemnitella mucronata Zone. These beds are found in the highest chalk on the Isle of Wight, Portsdown and the Sussex coast east of Bognor Regis and form the Portsdown Chalk Member. The basal marker is the Portsdown Marl at the Farlington British Gas Store and Whitecliff (boundary and holostratotype sections).
The stratigraphy and palaeontology of the Lower Greensand of the Hoes Farm Borehole, near Petworth, Sussex, by C. R. Bristow, A. A. Morter and I. P. Wilkinson, published 1987 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 98 issue 3, article, pp.217-227) View Online
Abstract:The Hoes Farm Borehole provides a cored sequence through the Atherfield Clay, Hythe Beds and the lowest part (Fittleworth Beds) of the Sandgate Beds. Macrofaunas and ostracods have been collected from many levels and, for the first time, the Ostracoda from the English Aptian have been examined over an extended sequence with good macropalaeontological control. A 0.7 m seam of fuller's earth, recorded near the base of the Hythe Beds, yielded an ostracod fauna of bowerbanki Zone age. A new stratal unit, the Hoes Farm Member, mainly of deshayesi Zone age, has been defined at the base of the Hythe Beds.
Geology of the country around Hastings and Dungeness: memoir for 1:50000 geological sheets 320 and 321, by Robert Denis Lake, published 1 January 1987 (89 pp., British Geological Survey, ISBN-10: 0118844113 & ISBN-13: 9780118844116) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Geology of the Country Around Brighton and Worthing: Memoir for 1:50,000 Geological Sheets 318 and 333, by B. Young, published 1988 (116 pp., British Geological Survey, ISBN-10: 0118844075 & ISBN-13: 9780118844079) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Holocene evolution of the gravel coastline of East Sussex, by S. Jennings and C. Smyth, published 1990 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 101 issue 3, article, pp.213-224) View Online
Abstract:The East Sussex coastline has been a sedimentary sink during the Holocene. Therefore, variations in the type and quantity of sediment transported within the coastal system may have been the principal factors determining stratigraphie sequences. The variations in sediment supply have found a morphological expression in periodic prograding and retrograding of coastal barriers. An examination of the origin and development of the present gravel barrier beaches indicates that much of the beach sediment probably has its origin in the Pleistocene, while during the Holocene, variations in the littoral drift system and associated changes in geomorphic processes, especially between reflective and dissipative domains, have exerted a major control upon coastal evolution in East Sussex.
Phosphatic concretions in the Wealden of South-East England, by Kevin Taylor, published 1991 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 102 issue 1, article, pp.67-70) View Online
Abstract:Phosphatic concretions are reported from several locations in the Wealden sediments of South-east England. The occurrence of such concretions in the Wealden sediments has not previously been recognised and in some cases in the past they may have been mistaken for siderite concretions. The predominant mineral in these concretions, as determined by X-ray diffraction analysis, is francolite, a hydroxy-carbonate apatite. Both primary concretions from the Weald Clay and reworked examples in the Hastings Beds have been recognised.
Edmond Martin Venables, 1901-1990: a Sussex Geologist, by David A. Bone, published 1992 (article) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 11852] & West Sussex Libraries
Dinosaur footprints in the Wealden at Fairlight, East Sussex, by A. S. Parkes, published 1993 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 104 issue 1, article, pp.15-21) View Online
Abstract:Dinosaur footprints were found in coastal exposures of the Lower Cretaceous (Valanginian) Ashdown Beds at Fairlight, near Hastings, East Sussex during 1991-92. A total of 23 footprints were recorded of which 19 were attributed to iguanodonts and four to theropods. Four short (one- and two-'step') trackways were included, representing both dinosaur groups. Assessments of dinosaur speed and type of gait have been determined from the trackway data.
A Ficron Handaxe from Walberton, West Sussex. Its Geological and Prehistoric Context, by Paul Graves, published 1993 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 131, archaeological note, pp.193-195) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12210] & The Keep [LIB/500300] & S.A.S. library
Geology of the country around Horsham : memoir for 1:50 000 geological sheet 302 (England and Wales), by R. W. Gallois and B. C. Worssam, published 1 January 1993 (130 pp., London: H.M.S.O., ISBN-10: 0118844806 & ISBN-13: 9780118844802) accessible at: British Library & West Sussex Libraries
The stratigraphy, sedimentology and palaeontology of the Lower Weald Clay (Hauterivian) at Keymer Tileworks, West Sussex, southern England, by Elizabeth Cook and Andrew J. Cook, published 1996 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 107 issue 3, article, pp.231-239) View Online
Abstract:The stratigraphy of the Weald Clay of Sussex in the region of Burgess Hill is summarized. The Hauterivian/Barremian boundary, using ostracod evidence in the Ripe borehole, appears to lie at the top of a red clay bed just below BGS Bed 3c2. Detailed sections of the sediments exposed in Keymer Tileworks clay pit are given. BGS Bed 3a is exposed at the top of the pit, indicating that the sediments below belong to the Lower Weald Clay and are late Hauterivian in age. The pit has yielded a diverse non-marine fossil fauna and flora consisting of insects, dinosaurs, crocodiles, turtles, sharks, bony fish, crustaceans, molluscs, ferns, conifers and a new herbaceous, aquatic or marsh-dwelling plant. The insects include the first Wealden records of the family Sciaridae (fungus gnats) and of the superfamily Coccoidea (scale insects). The sediments exposed and their fossil content indicate changes from terrestrial conditions through fluvial, culminating in a lacustrine environment.
Boxgrove, West Sussex: Rescue excavations of a Lower Palaeolithic Landsurface (Boxgrove Project B, 1989-91), by M. B. Roberts, S. A. Parfitt, M. I. Pope and F. F. Wenban-Smith, published January 1997 in The Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society (vol. 63, article, pp.303-358) View Online
Abstract:In 1988 an area of 12,000 m2 in Quarry 2 at Boxgrove, West Sussex, was identified as being under threat front gravel and sand extraction. It was decided to sample the threatened area in 1989 with a series of 6 m2 test pits. The results of this survey identified two areas that merited further investigation, and area excavations were carried out at Quarry 2/C and Quarry 2/D in 1990 and 1991 respectively. These concentrated on the main Pleistocene landsurface (Unit 4c) and revealed spreads of knapping debris associated with the production of flint handaxes. Two test pits and area Q2/C produced handaxes, over 90% of which had tranchet sharpening at the distal end. A small amount of core reduction and only a few flake tools were found: these were all from Quarry 2/C. Faunal remains were located in the northern part of the excavations where Unit 4c had a calcareous cover. In Quarry 2/C the bones of C. elaphus and Bison sp. exhibited traces of human modification.
The project employed two methods of artefact retrieval: direct excavation in metre squares and bulk sieving of units within them. Comparison of the results from these methods suggests that, when on-site time is limited, the integration of these methods is a valid technique in both qualitative and quantitative terms for data recovery. The excavated areas are interpreted as a tool-sharpening and butchery site that may have been a fixed and known locale in the landscape (Q2/C), and a location on the periphery of an area of intensive knapping reduction (Q2/D). Sedimentological and microfaunal analyses demonstrate that Unit 4c was formed as a soil in the top of a marine-lagoonal silt, the pedogenic processes being similar to those observed after draining Dutch polder lakes. The palaeoenvironment is interpreted as an area of open grassland with some shrub and bush vegetation. In places the surface of the soil supported small ephemeral pools and flashes. This area of grassland is seen as a corridor for herds of ungulates moving east and west between the sea to the south and the relict cliff and wooded downland block to the north. Within this corridor these herds were preyed upon by various carnivores, and hominids.
The temperate sediments at Boxgrove were deposited in the later part of the Cromerian Complex and immediately pre-date the Anglian Cold Stage; they are therefore around 500,000 years old. The archaeological material from these and overlying cold stage deposits is broadly contemporary with that at High Lodge, Suffolk and Waverley Wood, Warwickshire.
The project employed two methods of artefact retrieval: direct excavation in metre squares and bulk sieving of units within them. Comparison of the results from these methods suggests that, when on-site time is limited, the integration of these methods is a valid technique in both qualitative and quantitative terms for data recovery. The excavated areas are interpreted as a tool-sharpening and butchery site that may have been a fixed and known locale in the landscape (Q2/C), and a location on the periphery of an area of intensive knapping reduction (Q2/D). Sedimentological and microfaunal analyses demonstrate that Unit 4c was formed as a soil in the top of a marine-lagoonal silt, the pedogenic processes being similar to those observed after draining Dutch polder lakes. The palaeoenvironment is interpreted as an area of open grassland with some shrub and bush vegetation. In places the surface of the soil supported small ephemeral pools and flashes. This area of grassland is seen as a corridor for herds of ungulates moving east and west between the sea to the south and the relict cliff and wooded downland block to the north. Within this corridor these herds were preyed upon by various carnivores, and hominids.
The temperate sediments at Boxgrove were deposited in the later part of the Cromerian Complex and immediately pre-date the Anglian Cold Stage; they are therefore around 500,000 years old. The archaeological material from these and overlying cold stage deposits is broadly contemporary with that at High Lodge, Suffolk and Waverley Wood, Warwickshire.
A Brief Guide to the Geology and Fossils of Bognor Regis, by David Bone, published 1998 (pamphlet) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 13837]
Geology, by Rendel Williams, published 1 January 1999 in An Historical Atlas of Sussex (pp.2-3, Chichester: Phillimore & Co. Ltd, ISBN-10: 1860771122 & ISBN-13: 9781860771125) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14026][Lib 18777] & The Keep [LIB/501686][LIB/508903] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
The two states of Mantell's Illustrations of the geology of Sussex: 1827 and c. 1829, by R.J. Cleevely, S.D. Chapman, published 2000 in Archives of Natural History (vol. 27, part 1, article, pp.23-50)
Concerns Gideon Mantell.
Coleoptera from the upper peat bed at Horton Clay Pit, Small Dole, near Upper Beeding, West Sussex, by G. Russell Coope and John A. Cooper, published 2000 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 111 issue 3, article, pp.247-252) View Online
Abstract:In 1913 a series of beetle fossils were recovered from a peaty bed in the overburden of a clay pit near Small Dole, Upper Beeding in West Sussex. These remains were preserved in the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, though no attempt was made to identify them. This paper presents the results of a recent study of these fossils. Altogether, 38 taxa of Coleoptera have been recognized, enabling a detailed picture to be built up of the local environment, namely of a rather sour pool in largely open heathland with a sparse growth of coniferous trees. Mutual Climatic Range analysis of the coleopteran assemblage shows that, although mean July temperatures were only a degree cooler than those of the present day, mean January temperatures were about 6°C cooler than today. It is likely that these deposits date from the Brørup Interstadial near to the start of the last (Devensian, Weichselian) Glaciation.
Geology and Fossils of the Hastings area, by Ken Brooks, published 1 May 2001 (60 pp., published by the author, ISBN-10: 0954051300 & ISBN-13: 9780954051303) accessible at: East Sussex Libraries
The distribution and petrology of sarsens on the eastern South Downs and their relationship to Palaeogene and Neogene sediments and palaeoenvironments, by J. Stewart Ullyott, 2002 at University of Brighton (Ph.D. thesis)
Geology of the Chichester and Bognor district : a brief explanation of the geological map sheet 317/332 Chichester and Bognor, by D. T. Aldiss abridged from the sheet description by A. A. Jackson, published December 2002 (ii + 30 pp., British Geological Survey, ISBN-10: 085272425X & ISBN-13: 9780852724255) accessible at: British Library & West Sussex Libraries
3-D visualization as an aid to the hydrogeological conceptualization of the central South Downs, by N.S. Robins, S. Dumpleton and M.J. Packman, published 2003 in Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology (vol. 36, no. 1, article, pp.51-58) Download PDF
A definitive allosauroid (Dinosauria; Theropoda) from the Lower Cretaceous of East Sussex, by Darren Naish, published 2003 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 114 issue 4, article, pp.319-326) View Online
Abstract:A partial proximal tibia (estimated total length of tibia 550 mm) from a large theropod was discovered in the Samuel Beckles collection of Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, East Sussex. It was probably collected from the Hastings Group of the Wealden Supergroup. Derived character states show that it can be referred to the Allosauroidea but it is more robust than are the tibiae of Neovenator salerii, the only well-known Wealden allosauroid, and the two differ in the morphology of the fibular crest, cnemial crest and proximal articular condyles. The Hastings specimen, therefore, probably belongs to another Wealden allosauroid, possibly Becklespinax altispinax (a taxon based on dorsal vertebrae). Large theropod material from the Hastings Group has been reported before but generally lacks characters that allow it to be identified beyond Tetanurae.
Coastal cliff geohazards in weak rock: the UK Chalk cliffs of Sussex, by R. N. Mortimore and others, published 2004 in Engineering geology special publication (no. 20, article, pp.3-32) accessible at: British Library
Sussex stones : the story of Horsham stone and Sussex marble, by Roger Birch, published 1 October 2005 (64 pp., published by the author, ISBN-10: 0955125901 & ISBN-13: 9780955125904) accessible at: British Library & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
The Geology of Rudgwick Parish Church, by Roger Birch, published 2007 (Rudgewick Preservation Society)
Abstract:16 page booklet documents the many different types of stone used in the construction of the Holy Trinity Church (including the Sussex Marble font). The booklet reviews the building of the church and takes the reader on a tour of the geological features of each of the stones used and where they may have been quarried locally.
A collection of Early Upper Palaeolithic artefacts from Beedings, near Pulborough, West Sussex and the context of similar finds from the British Isles, by Roger Jacobi, Nick Debenham and John Catt, published January 2007 in The Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society (vol. 73, article, pp.229-326) View Online
Abstract:This paper provides a first formal description of a collection of lithic artefacts unearthed during the building of a house called Beedings on a scarp crest near Pulborough in West Sussex.The discovery was probably made in 1900. The collection is very obviously multi-period, but it includes the largest group of Early Upper Palaeolithic artefacts from south-eastern England. Attributed to this time are leaf-points, end-scrapers, and burins. While recent selection has much reduced the collection it also appears to contain contemporary cores and debitage and evidence for the production of bladelets. In a British context this find is unique and in a European perspective it is one of the richest assemblages attributable to the Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician technocomplex. The age of this technocomplex is poorly constrained, but in this paper it is argued to belong to the earliest part of the Upper Palaeolithic, starting earlier than the local Aurignacian. The Upper Palaeolithic material from Beedings is interpreted as having come from a hunting camp situated so as to exploit the extensive views across the western Weald.
In the Footsteps of Time: Geology and Landscape of Cuckmere Valley and Downs, by Monty Larkin and illustrated by Gabrielle Vinyard, published 12 September 2007 (82 pp., Uckfield: Ulmus Books, ISBN-10: 0955336805 & ISBN-13: 9780955336805) accessible at: British Library & East Sussex Libraries
Abstract:This illustrated well-received book published in 2006 provides a readable, in-depth source of knowledge on the geology and landscape of an area centred on the Cuckmere Valley in East Sussex. The text concentrates on an area broadly bound by Eastbourne, Newhaven, Lewes and Hailsham, with limited reference to features outside those margins. It is written at an intermediate level for country lovers, students and all those with an enquiring mind. It is not intended as a substitute for the standard reference books and sources on the subject.
The layout of the book attempts to keep to the principle of a 'timeline,' presenting processes and events in chronological order. The book begins with the area's basic geology starting with its main constituent - chalk, followed by the lesser components: enquiring into their origin, structure and development into today's landscape. This is followed by chapters on key periods and landscape forms. Key terms are highlighted with further facts provided in numbered text boxes, with a list of further reading at the end of the book. It is illustrated with 20 black and white images and 11 line drawings.
The focus of this book, is seated within the long spine of the South Downs, part of the English southern chalk uplands. The undoubted `stars' of these geological formations are the spectacular white chalk cliffs between Eastbourne and Seaford including Beachy Head and the Seven Sisters.
The layout of the book attempts to keep to the principle of a 'timeline,' presenting processes and events in chronological order. The book begins with the area's basic geology starting with its main constituent - chalk, followed by the lesser components: enquiring into their origin, structure and development into today's landscape. This is followed by chapters on key periods and landscape forms. Key terms are highlighted with further facts provided in numbered text boxes, with a list of further reading at the end of the book. It is illustrated with 20 black and white images and 11 line drawings.
The focus of this book, is seated within the long spine of the South Downs, part of the English southern chalk uplands. The undoubted `stars' of these geological formations are the spectacular white chalk cliffs between Eastbourne and Seaford including Beachy Head and the Seven Sisters.
The Piltdown Skull Site: the rise and fall of Britain's first geological National Nature Reserve and its place in the history of nature conservation, by Colin Prosser, published 2009 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 120 issue 1, article, pp.79-88) View Online
Abstract:The Piltdown hoax is one of the best known cases of scientific forgery in the world and has been the subject of hundreds of papers, books, articles, press reports and web-pages. Whilst the story of the hoax has secured a place in history, the pioneering role played by the site of the Piltdown 'finds', the Piltdown Skull Site, in the early days of British nature conservation has been forgotten. This paper describes how the Piltdown Skull Site in East Sussex, England, a site now known to be of little or no scientific importance, almost became Britain's first National Nature Reserve (NNR), and how, in 1952, it did become Britain's first geological NNR. It describes how the newly formed Nature Conservancy (NC) and the British Museum (Natural History) (BM(NH)) worked together at Piltdown to undertake innovative site management that played a part in exposing the hoax and describes what happened to the NNR as the details of the forgery emerged. Although the NC was clearly embarrassed by the NNR once the hoax was revealed, it is argued here that there was little to be ashamed of and much to be commended.
Rev Charles Wilton and his pre-emigration geological investigation in West Sussex, by Wolf Mayer, published 2009 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 77, article, p.21) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/77] & The Keep [LIB/500501]
Herbert Toms and the geological folklore of Sussex, by Christopher Duffin, published 2009 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 77, article, p.57) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/77] & The Keep [LIB/500501]
Fossil hunting at Bracklesham & Selsey: a geological guide, by David Bone, published 21 March 2009 (27 pp., Chichester: Limanda Publishing, ISBN-10: 0956201806 & ISBN-13: 9780956201805) accessible at: British Library
The non-marine Lower Cretaceous Wealden strata of southern England, by Jonathan D. Radley and Percival Allen, published 2012 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 123 issue 2, article, pp.235-244) View Online
Abstract:The non-marine Lower Cretaceous Wealden strata of the Wessex-Weald Basin (southern England) are introduced, with reference to the depositional model developed by Professor Percival Allen FRS (Allen, 1975). To demonstrate this model and the development of Wealden palaeoenvironments through time, Wealden sites have been selected for the Geological Conservation Review programme. Site selection rationale is briefly outlined.
The Wealden (non-marine Lower Cretaceous) of the Weald Sub-basin, southern England, by Jonathan D. Radley and Percival Allen, published 2012 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 123 issue 2, article, pp.245-318) View Online
Abstract:The Wealden strata (non-marine Lower Cretaceous) of the Weald Sub-basin outcrop in the Weald district of south-east England; the Wealden type-area. The succession is made up of the mixed alluvial-lacustrine-lagoonal Hastings Beds Group below and the predominantly lacustrine-lagoonal Weald Clay Group above. Deposition was strongly influenced by tectonism amongst surrounding massifs, and the warm to hot, periodically wet Wealden climate. Geological Conservation Review sites within the Weald district are dominated by inland sites, but also include extensive coastal cliff and foreshore exposures near Hastings, East Sussex. The Wealden strata have been documented and interpreted since the earliest days of geological enquiry in Great Britain. Collectively, the selected sites demonstrate the key elements of a depositional model for the Wealden of the Weald, developed and published by Professor Percival Allen FRS (1917-2008) in these Proceedings (Allen, 1975). The sites are documented and interpreted, with special reference to research history, chronostratigraphy, structural context, palaeoenvironments, palaeobiology and palaeoclimatology. New directions for research are proposed, as applicable.
Geological controls on tunnelling in the chalk of Southwick Hill, Brighton, by Andrew J. Bowden, published 2013 in Quarterly journal of engineering geology and hydrogeology (vol. 46, no. 2, article, pp.203-213)
The Southwick Hill Tunnel is a 490-metre twin-bore road tunnel in Shoreham-by-Sea. The tunnel was opened in early 1996 as part of the A27 Brighton bypass.
The Geology and Scenery of the South Downs National Park, by David Robinson, published July 2013 (104 pp., Sussex Archæological Society, ISBN-10: 0904973247 & ISBN-13: 9780904973242) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Abstract:This book provides an introduction to the origin and characteristics of the rocks that underlie the South Downs National Park. It describes how the scenic features of different parts of the Park are related to the geological history of the region and to the processes of weathering and erosion that have acted on the rocks in the past, and those which continue to modify the landscape today.
Bognor's rocks: a geological guide, by David Bone, published 2014 (25 pp., Chichester: Limanda Publishing, ISBN-10: 0956201822 & ISBN-13: 9780956201829) accessible at: British Library
First Valanginian Polacanthus foxii (Dinosauria, Ankylosauria) from England, from the Lower Cretaceous of Bexhill, Sussex, by William T. Blows and Kerri Honeysett, published 2014 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 125 issue 2, article, pp.233-251) View Online
Abstract:A new partial skeleton of the armoured ornithischian dinosaur Polacanthus found in the Wadhurst Clay Formation (Valanginian stage) of Bexhill, Sussex is the oldest recorded occurrence of this taxon. Previous discoveries suggested that at least two armoured ornithischians occur in the Wealden succession: Polacanthus, which was mostly restricted to the Barremian, and Hylaeosaurus, which was recorded as present only in the Valanginian. The new discovery extends the stratigraphic range of Polacanthus into the Valanginian. Although these two taxa appear to be closely similar anatomically, their osteology now suggests they are not synonymous. The new specimen includes the first known jugal as well as a comparatively rare polacanthid plate/spine (splate) which probably comes from the shoulder (pectoral) area of these animals.
Building Stones of West Sussex, by Roger Birch and Roger Cordiner, published December 2014 (349 pp., privately published by the authors, ISBN-13: 9780955125911) accessible at: R.I.B.A. Library & West Sussex Libraries
Abstract:Stone building was introduced into West Sussex first by the Romans, and later on a grand scale by the Normans. From the 11th to the mid 19th century, before the advent of easy transport by railway some 30 different types of vernacular building stones were quarried, and over 20 different types were imported by sea. The authors are both experienced geologists who have spent many years studying the rich heritage of the stone buildings of the West Sussex. With the growing awareness of the need to conserve our stone buildings the authors present the first detailed, authoratitive and lavishly illustrated account of all the building stones used in ancient buildings of the county. Each of the main building stones is described in detail under the headings of; Geology, History, Quarrying and Places to see the building stone. Building Stones of West Sussex includes comprehensive glossaries and an extensive bibliography.
This is an indespensable guide for all those interested in our building stone heritage. It will particularly appeal to geologists, historians, archaeologists, geographers, building conservators and those who wish to learn more about the rich building stone heritage of West Sussex.
Review by David Bone in Sussex Past & Present no. 135, April 2015:This is an indespensable guide for all those interested in our building stone heritage. It will particularly appeal to geologists, historians, archaeologists, geographers, building conservators and those who wish to learn more about the rich building stone heritage of West Sussex.
The Building Stones of West Sussex by Roger Birch and Roger Cordiner is a book that has been long awaited, self-published by the authors. Superbly illustrated with examples of some 32 building stones, both as specimens and in use, this book will undoubtedly become the standard reference book for the county. The style of presentation is good and easy to follow. Each building stone is described with a section on its geology, building and history, quarrying, and places to see. Occasional snippets of text from historic sources add interesting diversions from the relatively staid academic content. My only real issue with the presentation is the random use of drop shadows around the illustrations, which distracts and is unnecessary in most cases.
Unfortunately, the book is flawed in a number of ways, full details of which cannot be presented in this short review. Of most concern are various unsupported and sometimes dubious historical or archaeological details that are presented as unqualified facts (references in the text are few). Some illustrations are incorrectly labelled and a number of churches as example locations either do not have the stone that is being discussed or the stone is so difficult to locate that they should not have been used. At least one of the minor building stone identifications appears to be incorrect.
Also, although written by geologists, some of the terminology ignores established geological usage and new terms have been introduced, such as Chichester Greensand (incorrectly implying greensand from Chichester) and Nettlestone. The latter, from the Isle of Wight, is akin to calling a Kent building stone simply Folkestone. It should be Nettlestone Rock. Unfortunately, the obvious errors cast doubt on the accuracy of the remaining content.
An excellently produced book, but does appear to suffer from inadequate peer review. Do buy it, as there won't be anything better, but treat with caution and don't quote from it without checking the facts first.
Unfortunately, the book is flawed in a number of ways, full details of which cannot be presented in this short review. Of most concern are various unsupported and sometimes dubious historical or archaeological details that are presented as unqualified facts (references in the text are few). Some illustrations are incorrectly labelled and a number of churches as example locations either do not have the stone that is being discussed or the stone is so difficult to locate that they should not have been used. At least one of the minor building stone identifications appears to be incorrect.
Also, although written by geologists, some of the terminology ignores established geological usage and new terms have been introduced, such as Chichester Greensand (incorrectly implying greensand from Chichester) and Nettlestone. The latter, from the Isle of Wight, is akin to calling a Kent building stone simply Folkestone. It should be Nettlestone Rock. Unfortunately, the obvious errors cast doubt on the accuracy of the remaining content.
An excellently produced book, but does appear to suffer from inadequate peer review. Do buy it, as there won't be anything better, but treat with caution and don't quote from it without checking the facts first.
Malmstone: A reused Roman building stone around medieval Chichester?, by David Bone, published December 2014 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 134, article, p.6, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/507923] & S.A.S. library View Online
Preview:On many of my guided walks to look at historic church building stones, I refer to unpublished research that I've been working on since 2005. The following note records one of the more interesting areas of study, which started after I prepared building stone distribution maps for West Sussex in 2006.
Malmstone is a pale-grey, almost white, to dark grey calcareous siltstone, the local equivalent of the Upper Greensand. It is not the best material for a building stone, but is used extensively in the area of its geological outcrop through South Harting, Cocking, Duncton, Bury, Amberley, Storrington, Washington and Steyning.
Malmstone is a pale-grey, almost white, to dark grey calcareous siltstone, the local equivalent of the Upper Greensand. It is not the best material for a building stone, but is used extensively in the area of its geological outcrop through South Harting, Cocking, Duncton, Bury, Amberley, Storrington, Washington and Steyning.
Geology and Fossils of the Hastings area, by Ken James Brooks, published 2015 (second edition, 76 pp., published by the author, ISBN-10: 0954051335 & ISBN-13: 9780954051334) accessible at: Old Hastings Prervation Society & East Sussex Libraries
Abstract:This second edition has been extensively revised, updated and expanded with many new colour images. Not only does this book give an overview of the Geological History of the area but also contains a couple of field trips.
A field guide to Charles Dawson's discredited sites implicated in the Piltdown hoax, by Stephen K. Donovan, published 2015 in The Proceedings of the Geologists' Association London (no. 126 issue 4-5, article, pp.599-607) View Online
Abstract:Charles Dawson, FSA, FGS (1864-1916), was discoverer and presumed forger of Piltdown Man and the less well-known Barcombe Mills Man in East Sussex. Although the fossils were either fakes or salted from elsewhere, Dawson's geology was accurate apart from his over-estimate of the height of the Piltdown terrace above the River Ouse, leading to it being correlated with the 100 ft (30 m) terrace of the River Thames. This was corrected by Francis Hereward Edmunds, MA, FGS (1893-1960), who recognised it as a 50 ft terrace, but this determination was largely ignored until the detection of the forgery in 1953. Subsequently, Piltdown has been the subject of palaeoanthropological speculation ad nauseum - essentially, who dunnit? - but the historical interest taken in the geology has been minimal. A field guide to Dawson's false hominin sites follows the valley of the River Ouse and its terraces. The so-called Piltdown Man II site near Sheffield Park was probably at Netherhall Farm. The type locality of Piltdown Man, Eoanthropus dawsoni, is marked by a memorial stone, but is on private property. The third site, on a hill above Barcombe Mills railway station (closed) and erroneously called Piltdown Man III in the literature, is a younger terrace and produced remains not considered to be E. dawsoni. The total length of the walk is about 16.4 km on flat to gently undulating topography in a Quaternary landscape carved by the River Ouse.
Trans-Tethyan correlation of the Lower?Middle Cenomanian boundary interval: Southern England (Southerham, near Lewes, Sussex) and Douar el Khiana, northeastern Algeria, by William J. Kennedy and Andrew S. Gale, published 2017 in Acta Geologica Polonica (vol. 67, no. 1, article, pp.75-108)