14 



NINTH WINTER MEETING.— MARCH loth, 1903. 



'FEATURES OF THE RIVER STOUR.""By Mb. C. BUCKINGHAM. 



Mr. Sidney Harvey, F.I.C., F.C.S., presided on 

 March 10 at a well attended meeting: held at the 

 Beauey Institute, when an interesting paper on 

 " The River Stour " was read by Mr. C. Bucking- 

 ham. His observations were illustrated by means 

 of about one hundred excellent lantern views. 



Having touched upon the natural forces which 

 combiue to produce water and the methods of 

 their working, Mr. Buckingham went on to point 

 to the surprising facttbatthe rivers in the south- 

 east o£ England for the most part cut through the 

 ranges of hills known as the North and South 

 Do^vns, instead of following the valleys. But an 

 examination of the materials and strata which 

 composed the surface of the earth in the Weald 

 went to show that the river Stour, as well as all 

 the others (except the Rother, which no doubt, iu 

 comparison was a modern river) which drained the 

 Weald, must have existed long before the hills. 

 Thelectuier thus proceeded: The causes of our 

 mountain ranges are generally the contraction, 

 due to the general cooling of the earth, causing 

 unequal subsidences, and for those who are not 

 faoiiliar with the Weald I might mention how 

 this upheaval comea about. Starting with the 

 lowest beds, which I have classed as the wealden 

 beds, we learn that possibly many millions of years 

 ago these beds were formed from a fresh water 

 deposit. This stratum alone is 2,(XK} feet thick, 

 at least in one place. Then we learn that the sea 

 gained ground and covered all this part of Eng- 

 land, although notf or the first time, by any means, 

 and thus the greensand, then gault, and finally 

 chalk were deposited. Somewhere about this time 

 one or other or a combine of the internal forces of 

 which heat, water, and pressure take a good part, 

 and which are continually changing the crust 

 of the earth, gradually upheaved, just 

 as gradual upheavements are going on iu some 

 parts of the woildto-day, and nodoubt these strata 

 gradually rose to the surface, in the shape of a 

 dome, the longer axis extending from Hampshire 

 into France. Higher and higher the land rose, 

 and as soon as it reached the surface of the sea, 

 the waves no doubt commenced their work in 

 planing otf its crest. To what extent the sea 

 levelled the highest part it seems impossible to 

 discover ; it may have done very little, or it may 

 have moved the chalk entirely. We may well 

 imagine this erosive action of the sea on the chalk 

 by calling to mind the work going on around our 

 ■coast. So the struggle of upheaval and erosion 

 went on. Finally tlie upheaval won theday.and th« 

 great mound stood high and dry above the level 

 of the sea. If it rose to the great height which it 

 appears io have done, such an elevated land would, 

 of course, cause a great rainfall by lifting the 

 floating masses of vapours into colder regions, 

 or, if high enough, become snow-capped. By this 

 time lain and rivers which had no doubt 



taken advantage of the least inequality in 

 the surface and determined their direction by 

 finding the quickest line of descent, and were busy 

 cutting their furrows. One of these streams was no 

 doubt the stream which man ha.« since named the 

 Stour. If we consider the great rainfall and the 

 steep slope from the crest of the dome we shall 

 imagine a river flowing with great velocity on the 

 site of the North Downs. Some may ask how it 

 is the chalk escarpment has remained while the 

 gault. greensand, and wealden beds have 

 weathered down to so low a level. I think if we 

 bear in mind how lively and tuil of mischief this 

 young river would be, scooping out a groove which 

 it would not be likely to leave, it would cut a 

 valley deep into the surface of the ground. In 

 time the chalk on the crest would be removed, 

 exposing beds of gault and greensand. On these 

 the water would act more rapidly, rain falling 

 near upon the areas would be discharged into the 

 Stour by lateral streams, which would excavate 

 a course for themselves in the soft clay, and so 

 catch- the water from tbe adjacent slopes. Thus 

 the lateral valleys may have been formed, the 

 floors of which would be kept down to the same 

 level as the rivers. As these valleys would 

 descend very gently these beds would 

 be widened by the meandering streams. 

 It is at one of these lateral valleys that the 

 Stour DOW takes the first part of its course. 

 To turn off to the right and take a walk along the 

 brow of the hills above Charing towards the 

 present source of the Stour. is a real pleasure, and 

 it maybe interesting to mention that on the crest 

 of these Downs, and on the northern side, is where 

 Mr. Harrison mentions the finding of water-worn 

 flint implements, which, being watei-worn, and 

 found with water-worn fragments of chert and 

 sandstone, whose parent beds are those of the 

 lower greensand, proves that they have been 

 rolled down from a higher level, difficult at first 

 to realise when they lie on the crest of hills 770 

 feet above the sea level ; still, true, this teaches us 

 also that prehistoric man lived on the wealden 

 heights, and that since they were first chipped by 

 man a great thickness has been removed. This, 

 he states, carries man back very many ages before 

 the time he is supposed to have made his appear- 

 ance. A glance back, and Charing still in sight, 

 we are now in the water-shed of the Stour, and 

 working our way down the slope towards Lenham 

 we find the source of the so-called Great Stour. 

 It may be seen by the map that the Stour flows 

 eastwards in one of the valleys to the south of 

 Ashfoid and there meets the East Stour. It then 

 takes a northward course through the Downs 

 towards Canterbury. When I arrived at the stop 

 where I expected to find the source of our river, 

 I got off my bicycle to find someone who could 

 direct me to it. I saw an old man in his garden, 

 adjoining a cottage, who was able with a certain 



