7.
a cold, wet period. Perrin, Davies and Fysh (Nature
1973) looked at the mineral and grain size composition
of the various Tills in Eastern England and found that
the Gipping and Lowestoft Tills of Suffolk were in no
significant way different from one another and so
regard them as one and the same deposit. In Essex,
all the Tills they looked at corresponded to the
Lowestoft type of Till and none to the Cromer Till, so
confirming the work of Baker.
Thus, we could now summarise the glacial history of
Essex as in the final column of Fig. 2, but it must be
stressed that there is still great diversity of opinion
among workers in the field, particularly Bristow and
Cox who feel that the glacial deposits are Wolstonian
rather than Anglian in age. It should also be stressed
that there are still many problems yet to be solved.
If the Hanningfield Till, found on the hills, is a head
(mud flow deposits), it is rather unusual in its
position, as mud flows move from hills down their
flanks. So that is one deposit that needs to be inves-
tigated further. Another problem is that of the nature
and distribution of the Maldon Till; very little is
known about this deposit, so we know very little about
that part of the glacial history of Essex. Thirdly,
the various sands and gravels in the Chelmsford, Danbury
and Tiptree areas need to be studied closely for they
occur at various altitudes, vary in composition and seem
to have various relationships with the Maldon and Spring-
field Tills, They need to be described and interpreted
accurately. Finally, having decided there was no ice
advance into Essex during the Wolstonian, what did
happen then? A long cold period must have had some
affect on the landscape.
Peter Allen______
Oaklands , Park, Chelmsford,Nature Trail booklet is now
available from the Chelmsford and Essex Museum, Moulsham
Street, Chelmsford, price 10p. A short trail and a
longer trail point out the natural history of the park.
Ron Allen