THE ANALYST. 



MEMOIR ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE VALE OP 

 EVESHAM. 



(Read before the Worcestershire Natural History Society^ March 13, 1834.^ 



At the request of several members of the Society, I have been 

 induced to draw up an account of the geology of that part of the 

 county of Worcester with which from personal residence I was best 

 acquainted -, — an investigation which was the more desirable as 

 this district does not appear to have been hitherto very minutely 

 examined by the geologist. 



Before I proceed to examine the subterranean structure of the 

 Vale of Evesham, I will give a short sketch of its more obvious 

 and superficial characters. This district is bounded on the E. 

 by the lofty escarpment of the Cotteswold Range, and on the S. 

 by Dumbleton and Bredon Hills, which constitute outliers of the 

 same geological structure as the Cotteswolds, with which they 

 have doubtless at some period been continuous. To the N. and W. 

 this district has no natural boundaries, and might without im- 

 propriety be extended over nearly all Worcestershire, which is 

 in fact one vast vale, of which the S. E. angle is denominated the 

 Vale of Evesham. 



The Vale of Evesham has an undulating surface, and, in some 

 parts of it, hills occur of considerable steepness, and from 200 to 

 300 feet in height. These hills, however, by no means render the 

 term vale inapplicable to the district, since from the lofty heights of 

 Broadway and Bredon those minor elevations are barely dis- 

 tinguishable from the plain. From its low and sheltered position 

 the average temperature of the district is high, and hence in a great 

 measure, arises the fertility for which it has been perhaps too 

 highly celebrated. In some parts of the district, indeed, tracts of 

 very good land occur. This is chiefly the case where the surface 

 consists of red marl, diluvial sand, or the alluvial deposits of the 

 Avon. But where the lias clays come to the surface without any 

 foreign admixture, as is the case over a large portion of the district 

 we are considering, a wet tenacious soil is the result, requiring 

 great labour and attention on the part of the farmer, and often 

 rewarding him with very inferior crops. It would seem, indeed, 

 that the lias is better suited for garden-ground than for agriculture. 

 Near Evesham and Pershore are some extensive and valuable 



February^ 1835. — vol. ii. no. vii. b 



