THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 249
The party was driven back in the evening down the coach road to Ponder's
End, and so to Chingford. The day was beautifully fine, and although the
natural history results were very meagre, the excursion was greatly enjoyed by
all taking part in it.
VISIT TO THE LIGHT RAILWAY BETWEEN KELVEDON
AND TOLLESBURY, ESSEX.
Saturday, July 4TH, 1903.
This meeting was held in conjunction with the Geologists' Association, and
was under the direction of Mr. T. V. Holmes, F.G.S., who has kindly furnished
the following report :—
The visit was to that portion of the railway which lies between Kelvedon and
Tiptree, by the kind permission of Messrs. Walter Scott and Middleton, the
contractors for the line.
Its northern end is close to Kelvedon Railway Station, and its course, for
about the first 300 yards, is close to the G.E.R. line, and on its southern side.
Then the Light Railway crosses Feering Hill about 350 yards south-west of the
junction with the road to Inworth and Tiptree, and ranges in a S.S.E. direction,
westward of that road, as far as Tiptree.
The portion of the railway visited is wholly in Sheet 47 of the map of the
Geological Survey, and near its south-eastern boundary. The first section
observable after leaving Kelvedon Station was where the Light Railway begins
to diverge from the G.E.R., and was in reddish gravel. This gravel was seen
both noltii and south of Feering Hill, though chiefly northward. At one spot,
near the northern end of this gravel-cutting, a little Boulder Clay could be seen
beneath the gravel. This Boulder Clay is evidently a portion of the narrow band
shown on the map of the Geological Survey in the midst of the post-Glacial
gravel of the Blackwater Valley, which is traversed by the Light Railway
at this point. In the Memoir on Sheet 47 Mr. W. H. Dalton thus refers to it
(p. 67) . 1
" Between Feering and Kelvedon the gravel has been denuded in such a
way that the Boulder Clay is exposed as a narrow belt skirting the brow of the
hill."
Between Feering Hill and Domsey Brook this gravel was the only bed visible.
And before leaving it, it may be well to note that on the day of our visit it was
well shown, with the Boulder Clay beneath it, in the cutting on the G.E.R.
Main Line, close to, but west of, Kelvedon Station, as far as Rolleylane
Bridge,
Crossing Domsey Brook the party entered a cutting wholly in Boulder Clay,
which had a length of about 400 yards. From a drain ranging from the northern
end of this cutting to the alluvium of Domsey Brook it became obvious that the
Boulder Clay extended downwards at least as far as the level of the brook. And
the Director, when making some remarks on the local geology from a spot above
this cutting, noted the following statement in the memoir on Sheet 47, bearing
upon the depth probably attained by the Boulder Clay at this part of the new line.
It refers to a brickfield close to the Inworth Road, about 500 yards eastward, and
south of Domsey Brook (p. 62) :—
1 Explanation of Sheet 47 of the Map (1-inch) of the Geol. Survey. By W. Whitaker,
W. H. Penning, W. H. Dalton, and F. J. Bennett.