RED HILLS.
35
XIX.—Red Hills, etc.
Essex (H. Stopes, E.N., i., 1887, pp. 96-105. map). Describes
their distribution, etc. 290
Fingringhoe (J. C. Shenstone, E.N., i., 1887, p. 181). Records
a Red Hill not marked on the above map. 291
Kent (J. G. Goodchild, E.N., i., 1887, p. 210, 3 figs.). Salting
mounds of clay, not Red Hills, on the S. side of the Thames,
estuary. There are larger bosses of London Clay, but
certain smaller mounds are probably formed of Alluvial
mud. Suggests that they might be formed by crumpling
due to slipping, or more probably by deposition round the
orifice of a temporary spring, like the mud-lumps of the
Mississippi, described in Lyell's "Principles of Geology"
(i., pp. 443-450). 292
Stone Point (H. Laver, E.N., ii., 1888, p. 187). A Red Hill
on the shore, at the beginning of Stone Point, just at the
end of the Naze. [This has now been entirely swept away
by the sea.] 293
Copt Hall Marsh, near Wigborough (E.N., xiii.. 1904, p. 244).
Visit to Red Hills. 294
Burnham and Mersea Island (W. Cole, E.N., xiv., 1906,
pp. 170-183, 5 figs.). Describes excavations in Red Hills
at these localities. The remains found consist of very coarse
saggar material, or "briquetage," T-pieces, and wedge-
shaped bars of soft red earthenware. A little finer pottery
[probably Late Celtic] was also found. It is suggested
that the T-pieces may have been placed in the large vessels
of "briquetage" [as it is now called], to keep them from
falling in. And, further [following the theory of the late
Canon J. C. Atkinson], that these large vessels were for
salt making by evaporation of the salt water. There are
some 200 Red Hills in Essex ; these vary in area from 1/2
acre to 25 acres. Mr. Stopes estimated that one near
Peldon, covering 10 acres, contained 100,000 tons of red
earth. 295.
Sail-Making in Essex (Miller Christy, E.N.. xiv., 1906, pp.:
193-204, 3 plates). This was formerly an important
industry. It certainly dates back to Saxon times, and pro-
bably much earlier. The process of making the salt from
sea water at Maldon, the only place where the industry
survives, is described. Marine salt was formerly called
"Bay Salt" (that is, originally, salt from the Bay of Biscay).
296.-
Marine Salt in China (E.N., xiv., 1907, p. 279). This is a very
extensive industry—the sea water evaporated by the sun
in large fields surrounded by banks 6 inches high. 297