362 ON THE SALT SPRINGS OF WORCESTERSHIRE. 



the sandstone rock at Rosebury — 2ndly, from that of the Clent 

 Hills, and 3rdly, from the sandstone of Ombersley, Martley, &c. 



It is of consequence to understand the situation of the town of 

 Droitwich, in relation to the Red Marl formation in its immediate 

 vicinity. The borough of Droitwich is built in the very lowest 

 part of a vale whici) runs nearly east and west for about a mile and 

 a half, viz. — from Hanbury Wharf to some little distance beyond 

 the western end of the borough. The valley then takes a south- 

 westerly course, through Salwarp and near Westwood : the high 

 grounds of the latter place rising on its western side, and the 

 line of country through which the road passes from Worcester 

 to Droitwich forming its eastern boundary. The valley from 

 thence is continued to Hawford Bridge, and soon after it termi- 

 nates at the bank of the Severn. Through this vale runs a small 

 river called the Salwarp, which evidently takes its name from the 

 Latin word Sal — Salt. This river, commencing at Bromsgrove 

 Lickey, takes a southerly direction, passing by Stoke Prior and 

 near Rashford, soon after which it enters the valley of Droitwich, 

 about half a mile to the east of the town. The stream then 

 runs westerly, and passes directly by the town, at the western 

 extremity of which its course is altered, and it thence pursues 

 nearly a south-westerly direction, through the bottom of the 

 valley before described, until it empties itself, passing under 

 Hawford Bridge, into the Severn near to Bevere. Advantage 

 of this valley has also been taken by art to cut through it the 

 Worcester and Droitwich canal, for the purpose of conveying 

 salt to Worcester; the canal following nearly the course which 

 nature has pursued in carrying the river into the Severn. The 

 river has, throughout its course, a gravelly bed, and the pebbles 

 are principally of quartz. 



It may be worth while to point out that rivers or rivulets 

 passing through a country, are often connected with vallies 

 or concavities, which they seem once to have formed or occu- 

 pied. This may be the case with the small rivulet which 

 now runs through the valley of Droitwich. A great lake may 

 formerly have filled the valley, and the gravel, sand, clay, and 

 loam which are now found in every part of it, may have been 

 mechanical deposits from water, the action of which may have 

 rolled and rounded the pebbles. This circumstance it is of im- 

 portance to keep in view, because it has a relation to the mode 

 by which the salt is by some geologists supposed to have been 

 produced. 



Examples, on a large scale, of such concavities as the valley 

 of Droitwich are frequently found. They are met with in the 

 course of the Rhine, the Rhone, the Elbe, and the Danube. 

 The Vallais, and the concavity in which the lake of Geneva is 

 situated, shew this appearance in the line of the Rhone; the 

 lake of Constance in that of the Rhine. 'I'hey occur in Scot- 

 land in Dumfriesshire, Perthshire, and Aberdeenshire. The 



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