THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 263 



pleasant ramble was taken in the park, which comprises about 250 acres. It is 

 an undulating expanse with line oaks and cedais, 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-Baptist 3 was visited under the guidance of the 

 Vicar, the Rev. J. B. Plum tree, M.A., who gave a full and interesting account 

 of the building. '1 he 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 Older 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 :— 



(//) 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) 'I he slipping of the subjacent London Clay down the steep slope, 

 thus disturbing the gravels, etc., above. In ihis 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 rluviate 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 lUssex Review tor 

 January, 1893. 



