- Email: [email protected]
Field meeting at Maidstone and Sutton Valence, Kent
FIELD
MEETING AT MAIDSTONE SUTTON VALENCE, KENT.
AND
SATURDAY, 27TH MAY, I933.
Director: R. W. STOTT, M.A. [Received 1St July, 1933,]
TWENTy-FOUR members of the Association and two guests assembled at Maidstone West Station and then proceeded by motor-coach to the pit of the Aylesford Pottery Company. This pit is in the Upper Gault [1]*. Having explained the general lie of the country and pointed out the outcrops of the Chalk, Gault, Folkestone Sands, and Hythe Beds, the Director took the party to the top of the section. Here a portion of the face had been cleared away in order to show the relation between the Gault and the overlying Drift. It has been stated [2, pp. 86-8] that this section shows the junction between the Gault and the Lower Chalk, the base of the latter being said to be a band of glauconitic sand. However, at several points along the face of the section the junction has been examined, and in each place pebbles of Kentish Rag have been found both above and below the sand. Large flints also are abundant. This evidence proves conclusively that there is no junction of Gault and Chalk at this pit. There was some discussion as to the nature and possible origin of the Drift deposits, after which the party descended to the lower part of the pit, Where a fairly representative collection of fossils Was obtained. The party then proceeded to Postley Quarry, near Maidstone, where there is a very typical section in the Kentish Ragstone, the local facies of the Hythe Beds. Despite the shortage of time in this quarry, members were able to collect some good specimens, since a very fossiliferous portion of the rock happened to have been recently exposed. Arriving at the old caves in the Mote Park near to the Forge Lodge, the Director gave a short explanation of the probable origin of the system of swallow-holes and caves in the surrounding district [3]. In spite of the rain the party walked through the Mote Park to Willington. First the springs at the bottom of the valley were inspected, and then the caves in the Willington Valley. The route now lay through the woods in the bottom of the Willington Valley. This valley has been formed by subsidence, and in its floor is a series of swallow-holes, one of which still contains water. Owing to the heavy rain it was decided not to go all the way up the valley, and the party rejoined the coach * For list of References, see p. 416.
416
FIELD MEETIXG AT l\IAIDSTOXE AXD SUTTOX VALE"CE.
and went to Sutton Valence for tea. Unfortunately the rain continued, and the proposed visit to Sutton Valence School to see the general view of the Weald from the tower had to be omitted. Mr. W. L. Turner very kindly acted as Field Meeting Secretary. 1.
2.
3.
REFERENCES. DlBLEY, G. E., and SPATH, L. F. 1926. Report of an Excursion to Burham and Aylesford, Kent. Proc. Geol, Assoc., XXXYii., pp. 43 2-3. ]UKES-BROWNE, A. ]., and HILL, \V. 1900. The Cretaceous Rocks of Britain. Vol. 1., The Gault and Upper Greensand of England. Meni. Geol, Surv. Ct. Brit. BENNETT, F.]. 1909. Excursion to Maidstone, and the Willington and Loose Valleys. Proc. Geol, Assoc., xxi., pp. 240-3, pl. ix. ; also (1908) Formation of Valleys in Porous Strata. 1. SolutionSubsidence Valleys and Swallow-holes within the Hythe Beds area of \Vest Malting and Maidstone. Ceog. [ourii., xxxii., pp. 277-288.
MEETING AT MAIDSTONE SUTTON VALENCE, KENT.
AND
SATURDAY, 27TH MAY, I933.
Director: R. W. STOTT, M.A. [Received 1St July, 1933,]
TWENTy-FOUR members of the Association and two guests assembled at Maidstone West Station and then proceeded by motor-coach to the pit of the Aylesford Pottery Company. This pit is in the Upper Gault [1]*. Having explained the general lie of the country and pointed out the outcrops of the Chalk, Gault, Folkestone Sands, and Hythe Beds, the Director took the party to the top of the section. Here a portion of the face had been cleared away in order to show the relation between the Gault and the overlying Drift. It has been stated [2, pp. 86-8] that this section shows the junction between the Gault and the Lower Chalk, the base of the latter being said to be a band of glauconitic sand. However, at several points along the face of the section the junction has been examined, and in each place pebbles of Kentish Rag have been found both above and below the sand. Large flints also are abundant. This evidence proves conclusively that there is no junction of Gault and Chalk at this pit. There was some discussion as to the nature and possible origin of the Drift deposits, after which the party descended to the lower part of the pit, Where a fairly representative collection of fossils Was obtained. The party then proceeded to Postley Quarry, near Maidstone, where there is a very typical section in the Kentish Ragstone, the local facies of the Hythe Beds. Despite the shortage of time in this quarry, members were able to collect some good specimens, since a very fossiliferous portion of the rock happened to have been recently exposed. Arriving at the old caves in the Mote Park near to the Forge Lodge, the Director gave a short explanation of the probable origin of the system of swallow-holes and caves in the surrounding district [3]. In spite of the rain the party walked through the Mote Park to Willington. First the springs at the bottom of the valley were inspected, and then the caves in the Willington Valley. The route now lay through the woods in the bottom of the Willington Valley. This valley has been formed by subsidence, and in its floor is a series of swallow-holes, one of which still contains water. Owing to the heavy rain it was decided not to go all the way up the valley, and the party rejoined the coach * For list of References, see p. 416.
416
FIELD MEETIXG AT l\IAIDSTOXE AXD SUTTOX VALE"CE.
and went to Sutton Valence for tea. Unfortunately the rain continued, and the proposed visit to Sutton Valence School to see the general view of the Weald from the tower had to be omitted. Mr. W. L. Turner very kindly acted as Field Meeting Secretary. 1.
2.
3.
REFERENCES. DlBLEY, G. E., and SPATH, L. F. 1926. Report of an Excursion to Burham and Aylesford, Kent. Proc. Geol, Assoc., XXXYii., pp. 43 2-3. ]UKES-BROWNE, A. ]., and HILL, \V. 1900. The Cretaceous Rocks of Britain. Vol. 1., The Gault and Upper Greensand of England. Meni. Geol, Surv. Ct. Brit. BENNETT, F.]. 1909. Excursion to Maidstone, and the Willington and Loose Valleys. Proc. Geol, Assoc., xxi., pp. 240-3, pl. ix. ; also (1908) Formation of Valleys in Porous Strata. 1. SolutionSubsidence Valleys and Swallow-holes within the Hythe Beds area of \Vest Malting and Maidstone. Ceog. [ourii., xxxii., pp. 277-288.