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Excursion to Battle and Netherfield
449
E X C U RS ION
TO
BATTLE
S ATU R DAY, M .-l.Y
D irectors: E.
J.
AND N ETH ERFIELD. 19TH, 190 6.
B AILY AN D W. WHITAKER,
.Ex cursion Secretary : Repurt
~I'
ALFRED
C.
F.R. S.
Y OU NG.
\Y. WHITA KER.
ON reaching Bat tle at 11. 15 a.m., a party of 17 drove from the station for som e three mil es northward, then turnin g westw ard to Mountfield and to the office of the Gypsum Work s in Millham Wood. Whilst waiting here so me remarks were made on the general geology of the district , and on the deep borings, made for the purpose of scientific expl oration, and which had resulted in the finding of a large bed of work able gypsum. Some cars had been pr ep ar ed for the use of members by th e kindness of Mr. H. W. K em p, manager of th e work s (who gave every facilit y to th e Association), and in t hese th ey wer e tak en along the Com pan y's railway in the valle y through th e wood s for about a mil e W.S.W. to th e work s, which are in th e mi dst of th e woods on th e left or northern side of th e little Ri ve r Line. A plan of th e unde rground gypsum-mine was sho wn, specimen s of the rock were ta ken fro m the heaps, an d the manufac tu re of plaster of Paris was explained . The details of the two grea t borings of " T he Sub-Wealden E xploration " have been printed in var iou s publicat ions, and on e need on ly refer for t hem to the Geological Survey A:femoir on "The Water Supp ly of Su ssex " (pp . 65-70). The Purbeck Beds here co me to th e sur face, and in th em the gy ps um is found at a depth of o ver 120 ft., som e of th e beds being se veral feet thick. At the d epth of about 170 ft. Portland Bed s ar e reached, and found to be from l0S to 110 ft. thick. Beneath this form ation Ki meri dge Clay comes on, and was found to have th e extrao rd inary thickness of not· far sh ort of 1,3°0 ft., its greatest in the kin gdom. Corallian Beds continue the downward succession, with a thickness of about 240 ft., and then Oxford Clay, in which th e deeper boring ends at the depth of J,906 ft. It was pointed out that th e object of this exploration was not to find coal, as is ofte n sa id, but simply to see what rocks occur red at great dept h beneath th e Purbeck Beds, th e lowest geo logic di vision th at co mes to t he surface in th e whole Wealden ar ea. Of co urse th ere was a hop e that at great depth so me mu ch older rock might be reac he d; but the boring has proved PROC. G EOL. Assoc., VO L. X IX, P ART 10, 1906.] 37
450
EXCURSION TO BATTLE AND NETHERFIELD.
what was not known or even suspected before, namely, that here there is a regular normal sequence downward through the Upper well into the Middle Jurassic, both divisions being well represented, as far as the boring has gone. After thanking Mr. Kemp for all his kind favours the party walked westward to a large quarry by the western end of Counsellor's Wood, and a little south-eastward of Darvell Beech, which is worked for road-metal. Here there are alternations of clay, stone and shells, and many fish-remains have been found. There was here some discussion as to whether the Geological Survey was right in mapping these beds with the Purbecks, or whether they might not be a faulted mass of Wadhurst Clay. It should be remarked of the various beds of the central Wealden area that one of their characteristics is to be somewhat like each other, whereby classification is sometimes made difficult. A fault that would bring Wad hurst Clay into this position would have to be of considerable throw, and to accept the Wadhurst view would need much more evidence than some likeness in the beds to what may be seen in the Wadhurst Clay elsewhere. Walking to N etherfield the party again took to the carriages and drove into Battle, and saw Mr. Baily's fine collection of local fossils found in the Wadhurst Clay and Purbeck Beds. These fossils have all been carefully labelled, showing the quarry from whence they came, and comprise over one hundred bones and over two hundred teeth of the extinct dinosauria of the Wealden Formation, including a splendid skull of Goniopholis Simus from the Purbeck Beds. After viewing the above the party drove to the Black Horse Quarry, Telham Hill, and there saw a somewhat overgrown section of Wadhurst Clay with layers of stone, which latter are now worked for road-metal in bell-pits on the northern side of the old These pits have yielded Mr. Baily many of his best pit. specimens. Thence they walked to Crowhurst village and saw a pit on the northern side of the line about a quarter of a mile W.N.W., showing clay with layers of stone, the latter being thicker in the lower part, the Wadhurst Clay being here again worked for road-metal. Most of the party then walked southward to the village, saw the old church, with a notably large yew tree in the churchyard, and the remains of the Manor House, returning to the Station Hotel for meat tea, where a hearty vote of thanks was accorded the Directors. REFERENCES. Ordnance Map, New Series. 320. Geological Survey Map, Sheet 5. 1827. MANTELL, G. A.-" Illustrations of the Geologv of Sussex." 1836. FITTON, W. H._" On the Strata between the Chalk and the Oxford Oolite in the S.E. of England." Trans. Geoi. Soc., series 2, vol. iv,
EXCURSION T O L EWES.
451
'18 75. 1 878. 1882.
Ta PLEY, ' V._u Geology of the ' Vea IJ " Geo], SlI" 1'ty Mmlolr. Dlx o N.- ol Geology of Sussex ." N ew Edition. CO,nVAY, ;\I. D._U Rep or t of Ex cur sion of Geologi cal Ass ociat ion to Batt le." Se pt. N o. of A tlantic Mon thly . of Su ssex from U ndergr ou nd Sources " 1 899. " The 'Vate r Supply ( Deta ils of Su b-W eal den Boring s). Geo]. Suruey Mallolr, 3s.
EXCU RS IO N T O LE WE S. SATURDAY, J U N E 2 3 RD, 1 9 0 6.
D irector : G. E.
DIBLEY,
F.G. S.*
(Rfport by THE DIRECTOR.)
THE party, numbering seven, arrived at Lewes in glorious mid summer weath er, and proceeded to th e pits at th e eastern end of the town. Th e first two, locally known as the Navigation Pi ts, are situated in the 111icraster cor-angllinlllll-zone. T he d ust and heat from the facto ry prevented the seco nd being visited. At th e southern end of the first pit a fine layer of su bseq uently form ed tabular flint was not iced cutting th e bed s at about 40 °. A few yard s farther to th e east the celebrated Southerham P it of Man tell exhibited features of special int erest. Upon en ter ing, the Alia'aster cor-anguimon beds revealed the same horizontality as in th e form er pits, but at abo ut 100 ft. from th e Lewes end the chal k dip s northwards, which brings the lower be ds up at nearly 30 °, and thus exposes the whole of th e H olaster planu s and th e greate r part of the T ereoratuiin a gracilis-zones. A very interesting section in the H olaster planus chalk, form erly overgrown with ivy, had been specially cleared for th e pa rty through th e kindn ess of the manager, Mr. Weller. T his sec tion had been not iced by NIr. Stra han, t an d the particu lar ba nd referred to in the prog ramme consisted of an exceed ingly har d layer I ft. 6 in. in thickn ess, very like the Chalk Rock. Overlying this is th e band of distinct ly ph osphat ic chalk of Mr. Strahan. Samp les were taken , but only one fossil- a fragment o f H. planus-was discovered. A few hundred yards to the south-east, owing to th e rapid dip, a pit was reached revealing Lower Chalk. Th e Dir ector had observed a large Amm onit e the previous evening, but owing to extensive blasting opera tion s just prior to the ent rance of the party it had been obsc ured by th e debri s. The Director and certain members have much cause to be thankful, for just before leaving the pit an enormo us mass of • Owing to the un fort un ate Indi spo siti on of Mr. C. Davies Sherborn. F .G .S ., F.Z.S ., w ho had arranged for this excur sion, it was undertaken, at his request. by G. E . D. t "On a Phosph ati c Chal k wilh H olaster planus at Lewes," Quart. j ourn. Geol, Soc., vol. Iii, p. 463.
E X C U RS ION
TO
BATTLE
S ATU R DAY, M .-l.Y
D irectors: E.
J.
AND N ETH ERFIELD. 19TH, 190 6.
B AILY AN D W. WHITAKER,
.Ex cursion Secretary : Repurt
~I'
ALFRED
C.
F.R. S.
Y OU NG.
\Y. WHITA KER.
ON reaching Bat tle at 11. 15 a.m., a party of 17 drove from the station for som e three mil es northward, then turnin g westw ard to Mountfield and to the office of the Gypsum Work s in Millham Wood. Whilst waiting here so me remarks were made on the general geology of the district , and on the deep borings, made for the purpose of scientific expl oration, and which had resulted in the finding of a large bed of work able gypsum. Some cars had been pr ep ar ed for the use of members by th e kindness of Mr. H. W. K em p, manager of th e work s (who gave every facilit y to th e Association), and in t hese th ey wer e tak en along the Com pan y's railway in the valle y through th e wood s for about a mil e W.S.W. to th e work s, which are in th e mi dst of th e woods on th e left or northern side of th e little Ri ve r Line. A plan of th e unde rground gypsum-mine was sho wn, specimen s of the rock were ta ken fro m the heaps, an d the manufac tu re of plaster of Paris was explained . The details of the two grea t borings of " T he Sub-Wealden E xploration " have been printed in var iou s publicat ions, and on e need on ly refer for t hem to the Geological Survey A:femoir on "The Water Supp ly of Su ssex " (pp . 65-70). The Purbeck Beds here co me to th e sur face, and in th em the gy ps um is found at a depth of o ver 120 ft., som e of th e beds being se veral feet thick. At the d epth of about 170 ft. Portland Bed s ar e reached, and found to be from l0S to 110 ft. thick. Beneath this form ation Ki meri dge Clay comes on, and was found to have th e extrao rd inary thickness of not· far sh ort of 1,3°0 ft., its greatest in the kin gdom. Corallian Beds continue the downward succession, with a thickness of about 240 ft., and then Oxford Clay, in which th e deeper boring ends at the depth of J,906 ft. It was pointed out that th e object of this exploration was not to find coal, as is ofte n sa id, but simply to see what rocks occur red at great dept h beneath th e Purbeck Beds, th e lowest geo logic di vision th at co mes to t he surface in th e whole Wealden ar ea. Of co urse th ere was a hop e that at great depth so me mu ch older rock might be reac he d; but the boring has proved PROC. G EOL. Assoc., VO L. X IX, P ART 10, 1906.] 37
450
EXCURSION TO BATTLE AND NETHERFIELD.
what was not known or even suspected before, namely, that here there is a regular normal sequence downward through the Upper well into the Middle Jurassic, both divisions being well represented, as far as the boring has gone. After thanking Mr. Kemp for all his kind favours the party walked westward to a large quarry by the western end of Counsellor's Wood, and a little south-eastward of Darvell Beech, which is worked for road-metal. Here there are alternations of clay, stone and shells, and many fish-remains have been found. There was here some discussion as to whether the Geological Survey was right in mapping these beds with the Purbecks, or whether they might not be a faulted mass of Wadhurst Clay. It should be remarked of the various beds of the central Wealden area that one of their characteristics is to be somewhat like each other, whereby classification is sometimes made difficult. A fault that would bring Wad hurst Clay into this position would have to be of considerable throw, and to accept the Wadhurst view would need much more evidence than some likeness in the beds to what may be seen in the Wadhurst Clay elsewhere. Walking to N etherfield the party again took to the carriages and drove into Battle, and saw Mr. Baily's fine collection of local fossils found in the Wadhurst Clay and Purbeck Beds. These fossils have all been carefully labelled, showing the quarry from whence they came, and comprise over one hundred bones and over two hundred teeth of the extinct dinosauria of the Wealden Formation, including a splendid skull of Goniopholis Simus from the Purbeck Beds. After viewing the above the party drove to the Black Horse Quarry, Telham Hill, and there saw a somewhat overgrown section of Wadhurst Clay with layers of stone, which latter are now worked for road-metal in bell-pits on the northern side of the old These pits have yielded Mr. Baily many of his best pit. specimens. Thence they walked to Crowhurst village and saw a pit on the northern side of the line about a quarter of a mile W.N.W., showing clay with layers of stone, the latter being thicker in the lower part, the Wadhurst Clay being here again worked for road-metal. Most of the party then walked southward to the village, saw the old church, with a notably large yew tree in the churchyard, and the remains of the Manor House, returning to the Station Hotel for meat tea, where a hearty vote of thanks was accorded the Directors. REFERENCES. Ordnance Map, New Series. 320. Geological Survey Map, Sheet 5. 1827. MANTELL, G. A.-" Illustrations of the Geologv of Sussex." 1836. FITTON, W. H._" On the Strata between the Chalk and the Oxford Oolite in the S.E. of England." Trans. Geoi. Soc., series 2, vol. iv,
EXCURSION T O L EWES.
451
'18 75. 1 878. 1882.
Ta PLEY, ' V._u Geology of the ' Vea IJ " Geo], SlI" 1'ty Mmlolr. Dlx o N.- ol Geology of Sussex ." N ew Edition. CO,nVAY, ;\I. D._U Rep or t of Ex cur sion of Geologi cal Ass ociat ion to Batt le." Se pt. N o. of A tlantic Mon thly . of Su ssex from U ndergr ou nd Sources " 1 899. " The 'Vate r Supply ( Deta ils of Su b-W eal den Boring s). Geo]. Suruey Mallolr, 3s.
EXCU RS IO N T O LE WE S. SATURDAY, J U N E 2 3 RD, 1 9 0 6.
D irector : G. E.
DIBLEY,
F.G. S.*
(Rfport by THE DIRECTOR.)
THE party, numbering seven, arrived at Lewes in glorious mid summer weath er, and proceeded to th e pits at th e eastern end of the town. Th e first two, locally known as the Navigation Pi ts, are situated in the 111icraster cor-angllinlllll-zone. T he d ust and heat from the facto ry prevented the seco nd being visited. At th e southern end of the first pit a fine layer of su bseq uently form ed tabular flint was not iced cutting th e bed s at about 40 °. A few yard s farther to th e east the celebrated Southerham P it of Man tell exhibited features of special int erest. Upon en ter ing, the Alia'aster cor-anguimon beds revealed the same horizontality as in th e form er pits, but at abo ut 100 ft. from th e Lewes end the chal k dip s northwards, which brings the lower be ds up at nearly 30 °, and thus exposes the whole of th e H olaster planu s and th e greate r part of the T ereoratuiin a gracilis-zones. A very interesting section in the H olaster planus chalk, form erly overgrown with ivy, had been specially cleared for th e pa rty through th e kindn ess of the manager, Mr. Weller. T his sec tion had been not iced by NIr. Stra han, t an d the particu lar ba nd referred to in the prog ramme consisted of an exceed ingly har d layer I ft. 6 in. in thickn ess, very like the Chalk Rock. Overlying this is th e band of distinct ly ph osphat ic chalk of Mr. Strahan. Samp les were taken , but only one fossil- a fragment o f H. planus-was discovered. A few hundred yards to the south-east, owing to th e rapid dip, a pit was reached revealing Lower Chalk. Th e Dir ector had observed a large Amm onit e the previous evening, but owing to extensive blasting opera tion s just prior to the ent rance of the party it had been obsc ured by th e debri s. The Director and certain members have much cause to be thankful, for just before leaving the pit an enormo us mass of • Owing to the un fort un ate Indi spo siti on of Mr. C. Davies Sherborn. F .G .S ., F.Z.S ., w ho had arranged for this excur sion, it was undertaken, at his request. by G. E . D. t "On a Phosph ati c Chal k wilh H olaster planus at Lewes," Quart. j ourn. Geol, Soc., vol. Iii, p. 463.