Publications
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.