THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 263
pleasant ramble was taken in the park, which comprises about 250 acres. It is
an undulating expanse with fine oaks and cedars, and parts of the estate are
covered with virgin woodland.
The party then ascended the hill to the well-known hostelry the "Griffin"
(mentioned in the introduction to "Waverley" and in Strutt's romance of
"Queenhoo Hall"), where lunch was served.
This was the fourth visit of the Club to this notable district, and many
particulars of Danbury will be found in our publications. The remains of the old
Danish Camp were described by Mr. F. C. J. Spurrell, F.G.S., in the Essex
Naturalist, vol. iv., p. 138, and there a plan of the relic was given. Many notes
on the natural history of the district may be read in the reports referred to. The
botany has been celebrated since the time of Gibson's Flora of Essex. As may
be gathered from our President's book, the bird fauna is exceptionally rich, while
many rare insects have occurred in the old days on these upland commons, now,
alas, so woefully diminished by "land-grabbers"—the fate of nearly all open
land in our county.
The Church of St. John-the-Baptist3 was visited under the guidance of the
Vicar, the Rev. J. B. Plumtree, M.A., who gave a full and interesting account
of the building. The church occupies the highest point in the village, and its
tapering spire is a well-known landmark over a large part of the county.
Danbury Common, 300 ft. O.D., was then crossed in order to view the large
excavations for gravel which are to be seen there. Dr. Salter showed that
Danbury Hill owed its existence to the sheet of gravel which capped it, and
which had resisted denudation while the softer clay land around had disappeared.
The gravel, sand, and clay were much contorted, and the Director pointed out
that these might be due to one or more of the following causes :—
(a) The former presence of calcareous beds below the gravels, which,
on being dissolved away by the water percolating through the gravel and
sand, caused the superincumbent insoluble beds to fall in. This explana-
tion is not probable, as the only calcareous beds likely to occur would be
Crag, and of this there is no sign.
(b) Earth-movements of a wide-spread character.
(c) The slipping of the subjacent London Clay down the steep slope,
thus disturbing the gravels, etc., above. In this connection it is note-
worthy that an important spring occurs close by at a rather lower level.
(d) The impact of an ice-sheet. Mr. F. W. Harmer, F.G.S.,
writing to the Director regretting his inability to attend the excursion,
wished him to state that he believes "the mounds of gravel, etc., at
Danbury and Tiptree Heath represent the terminal moraine of the Essex
ice-sheet, rather than the denuded remnants of a once more widely-spread
deposit."
Dr. Salter pointed out that the constituents of the gravel showed it belonged
to the same series of deposits as are found at Beggar Hill, around the Stevenage
Gap, and along the northern slope of the Lower Thames Valley at various
localities, which he regarded as of fluviate origin. The time allowed did not
permit of a thorough examination of all the interesting points connected with this
important deposit, and it is to be hoped that in the near future another
opportunity for doing so will arise.
3 For a description of the church consult Mr. Chancellor's paper in the Essex Review tor
January, 1893.