2l6 ON THE OCCURRENCE OF WESTLETON BEDS
The next section is that of the gravel pit just north of Great
Saling Church. This exposure is very fine (see figure), and
consists of:—
Brick-earth—Boulder Clay . . 6 feet.
Middle Glacial gravel . . . 0 ft. to 1 ft.
Westleton shingle . . 12 ft. (not bottomed)
The peculiarity of the Brick-earth is that the decalcification of
the chalky Boulder Clay is incomplete, leaving a nodule of Boulder
Clay unchanged about midway in the section. This phenomenon I
believe to be rare. The Middle Glacial gravel thins off to the right
and left, and at a few feet distance is reduced to an inch in
thickness.
It would seem as suggested by Prof. Prestwich that the beds may
be still more developed in the Thaxted direction. The most
northerly point that I could trace was the pit at Park Hall Farm,
Great Bardfield. I saw gravel from this pit which could be at once
identified as Westleton, but was unable to visit the spot. Again, I
am credibly informed that sands precisely similar to those at
Stebbing are developed at Shalford and Wethersfield, that is on
both sides of the Blackwater river at that place.
On the other hand, there is but small chance of examining what
is perhaps but a remnant of the Westleton beds south of the area I
have drawn. The mid-glacial and overlying beds effectually conceal
the Westleton where it exists. In the village of Felstead the drift
deposits attain a thickness of from forty to fifty feet. Yet it is well
known that the lower stratum of gravel varies widely from the mid-
glacial type. It is, in fact, Westleton shingle or sand, and is the
water-bearing stratum into which wells are sunk. The thickness
varies from a few inches to six or ten feet, but I regret that I cannot
as yet speak with precision of any well-section. Apart from this
general remark, which applies to the neighbourhood around, there
does not appear to be a section which can be adduced in further
illustration.3
APPENDIX.
[Letter from Mr. R. Hasler, referred to above (p. 215).]
Mr. J. French, Felstead.
Dear Sir,—The well for Jubilee Pump in this village is twenty-eight feet
deep, and the soil twenty-five feet down was half white or chalky clay, and the
3 Some post-glacial deposits have been mentioned in the above article, and the question will
naturally be asked as to the evidence of their age. As they are all curious I purpose to treat of
them specially in another paper.