,„^. THE NORFOLK BROADS. 349 



that the rock foldings in the district will not help in the matter. 

 The Broads do not bear any relation to the general glaciation, nor do 

 they regularly shallow towards their lower ends in the manner 

 characteristic of glacially eroded basins ; there is not a trace of 

 volcanic activity in the district, while the regular distribution of the 

 Broads along the river valleys separate them from the irregularly 

 scattered lakes of the last class, of which there are representatives in 

 the area. The Broads, taken as a whole, therefore, do not fall under 

 any of these six categories. 



Though it is one article in the true geological faith that wherever 

 there is land there is material for geological study, I had entered 

 the district expecting to find much of interest in its flora and fauna 

 but little in its geology ; as far as previous experience went, flat 

 tracts of alluvium, whether peat bogs as of Ireland or Sedgemoor, 

 or deltas as of the Rhine, or river plains as of the Po, were, in spite 

 of one's creed, of but little interest compared with the hills around 

 them. Nor had a perusal of the literature of the area done anything 

 to suggest that it would aff"ord any very exciting problems ; it is true 

 that there had been a fierce and wordy war some 70 years ago, but 

 the warmth of this was due to the fact that while one of the com- 

 batants was a geologist who scoffed at the historical "evidence" of 

 his opponent, the other was an antiquarian who could not understand 

 the scientific arguments of the former. In latter times an interesting 

 lecture by Mr. H. B. Woodward, on " The Scenery of Norfolk," and 

 the remarks in Mr. J. H. Blake's Survey Memoir, are the most 

 valuable contributions, but in neither is the general question of the 

 Broads discussed in any detail. It is to these authors, and to Mr. 

 Clement Reid, that we owe the main part of our knowledge of the 

 geology of the district. 



The Broads themselves occur in a somewhat triangular area, 

 with the coast line from Lowestoft to Horsey as the base and Norwich 

 as the apex. A substratum of chalk occurs over the whole area, 

 covered by the clays, &c., of the Lower Eocene along the eastern 

 margin. Neither of these, however, are here seen at the surface^ 

 which is mainly occupied by gravels, glacial deposits, the alluvium 

 of the old estuary, and the sand dunes that line the coast. Three 

 rivers — the Bure, Yare, and Waveney — traverse the district. At 

 first they flow through fairly steep valleys, which gradually widen 

 out and unite into a broad level plain separated from the sea by a 

 series of sand dunes or " meals," as they are locally called. Seen 

 from the railway or the road the scenery is tame and uninteresting, 

 the hills are low, the soil is heavy, and the valleys appear bare and 

 flat. Viewed from the rivers or the Broads the whole aspect of 

 the country changes ; the hills, in contrast to the marsh that 

 borders the waterways, now appear to stand out in bold relief, their 

 slopes are well wooded, while clumps of fine oaks and elms mark out 

 patches of gravel. The groves of lofty bulrushes that margin the 



