66 



I have already mentioned the river gravels of the 

 Darenth at high levels South of the chalk. But there are 

 places here and there high up on the Chalk Downs where 

 river worn gravels may be detected. There is a patch of 

 such near South Ash, over 500 feet O.D., another is found 

 on the hills above Eynsford ; but between the 300 and 400 

 feet contours, there is generally an increase of waterworn 

 materials which cover the hills, indicating the former 

 presence of rivers. There is a particularly good example 

 in the Ravensbourne area, North of Hayes, somewhat 

 above the 350 feet contour, Southward of Gates Bottom. 

 On the hill about half-a-mile S.E. from the farm called 

 Upper Nash is a spread of red and coloured stones, flints, 

 and tertiaries, extending along the brow of the hill towards 

 West Wickham. There is little difficulty in procuring 

 from the weathered surface of the patch old triturated 

 " wasters," and Mr. Clinch has a collection of good 

 paloeolithic implements gathered from land on Rowes 

 Farm (see Archaeologia Cantiana, Vol. XV). 



The crest of the tertiary escarpment of Hayes Common 

 now rises nearly to this level, and the remains of gravel 

 were once the bottom of a stream when the intervening 

 area of Gates Bottom was still occupied by the tertiary 

 strata, shewing a retreat of nearly a mile Southward and 

 100 feet of vertical excavation of the valley. 



The patches of gravel on either side of the Darenth, 

 South of Eynsford, which are suggestive of river deposits, 

 may have belonged to the Darenth at a period not far 

 removed from those lying at a high level on the green- 

 sand already mentioned. 



There is river gravel on the chalk on the Eastern side of 

 the Medway valley, but I have not seen a section there. 

 On Strood Hill, however, there is a patch containing 

 abundant remains from the Hastings beds. From this 

 level 288 O.D., down to the lowest, the gravels of the 

 Medway are formed, of debris similar to that above-men- 

 tioned, and containing remains derived from most of the 



