INTRODUCTION Xvii 



pursue the easterly direction for any considerable distance, but turns 

 southwards and soon leaves the county. It will thus be seen that the 

 county slopes from west to east, and that three distinct ranges of hills 

 traverse it from the west to the east. South of the Kennet, to the east 

 of the point where the chalk range leaves the county, the country rises 

 in a gentle slope, and separates for some distance the valley of the 

 Emborne^ from that of the Kennet ; but the height of the hilly ground 

 forming the watershed is only about 400 feet on Greenham Common, 

 and this height gradually sinks eastwards, Crookham Common being 

 382, Burghfield 313, and Sulhampstead only 300 feet above sea level. 

 To the south of Reading the watershed of the Blackwater is formed 

 by hilly ground belonging to the Tertiary formations. The river enters 

 Berkshire at a point where the height of the surface of the water 

 is about 200 feet above the sea, its outfall near Twyford, after its junc- 

 tion with the Loddon, being about 100 feet. The hills in this southern 

 part of the county are not arranged in regular lines as are those already 

 mentioned, but are irregularly scattered over the area. In the south- 

 east there is a flat tract between Twyford and Maidenhead, of which 

 a considerable extent is less than 150 feet, and some not more than 

 90 feet above the sea. East of Twyford a rather conspicuous and 

 picturesque group of hills is formed by the London Clay, one of which, 

 Bowsey Hill, reaches an altitude of 454 feet, Ashley Hill being 358, 

 and Crazey Hill 316 feet above the sea. On the south-west the same 

 formation rises into a hilly country, which on Hawthorn Hill is 248, 

 on St. Leonard's 294, and on High Standing Hill and Cranbourn Park 

 is 280 feet above the sea. South-west of Wokingham the ground rises 

 at Finchampstead to 320 feet, and overlooks the valley of the Black- 

 water ; Caesar's Camp near Bracknell attains an elevation of 410 feet, 

 Lodge Hill is 377, and Easthampstead Plain, the highest point of the 

 Bagshot Beds, is 423 feet above the sea. The river at Maidenhead is 

 only 84 feet above the sea. 



Berkshire therefore not only slopes from the west to the east, but 

 there is also a decided slope from the north to the south. It must be 

 borne in mind that the central plateau of the Chalk is by no means 

 a plain, or even an inclined plain ; on the contrary, it is very diversi- 

 fied, and may be roughly divided into two parts ; of these the western, 

 which is on the whole the more elevated of the two, is drained by the 

 Lambourn, its northern side being terminated by the White Horse, 

 and, as has been said already, the country slopes down towards the 

 Kennet. In this part the elevation of Wickham Heath is 477 feet, the 

 river Lambourn near Welford is 329 feet, and at its junction with the 

 Kennet near Shaw is 254 feet above the sea. The eastern side includes 



^ The name of the stream, is written Emborne, that of the parish Enborne 

 on the Ordnance Map. 



b 



