64 Mr. Fohn Flower. 
16.—ON THE STRUCTURE AND GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE 
WEALD AND OF THE CATCHMENT BASIN OF THE 
RIvER WANDLE. 
By Joun Friower, M.A., F.Z.S. 
[Read Wednesday, May igth, 1880.] 
There are probably but few of our members who have not 
spent more or less time in the district which is commonly 
known as “The Weald.” This district, which comprises a 
large part of Kent, of Surrey, and of Sussex, and also the 
eastern part of Hampshire, has a special interest for those 
who live in Croydon and its neighbourhood. Being easily 
accessible by rail, the great and in some places extreme beauty 
of its scenery, and the great variety of the animals and plants 
which occur in it, have rendered it a sort of natural pleasure 
ground to thousands. And when we add to these natural 
advantages the great interest which attaches to its past 
history, whether historic or prehistoric, we have before us a 
tract of country in every way well deserving of attention, and 
one moreover which, in a sense, may be said to be peculiarly 
our own. And the interest which attaches to the Weald itself 
extends, though perhaps in a less degree, to the districts 
which adjoin it. These, though they do not form part of what 
is technically known as the Weald, are yet in reality integral 
parts of it, and the past history of them all is closely and 
inseparably connected. I propose this evening to describe 
shortly the main physical features of the Weald, then to give 
you the views which are now generally held as to the way in 
which it has been formed, and lastly to show its close connec- 
tion with the Catchment Basin of the Wandle. I have herea 
geological model of the south-east of England, by Mr. Wm. 
Topley and Mr. J. B. Jordan, of the Mining Record Office, and 
published by Mr. Stanford, which will, I think, greatly assist 
me in making a description of the Weald intelligible. 
If any of you were to start from Dover and proceed towards the 
south-west, you would find yourselves, for some five or six miles, 
on the top of high chalk hills, which here take the form of 
cliffs overlooking the sea. Just before reaching Folkstone, 
these hills leave the sea and extend in a north-westerly direc- 
tion, and nearly in a straight line, for some 36 miles, nearly 
up to the City of Rochester. Then, turning again to the 
south-west, they extend for some 60 miles nearly in a straight 
line, down to the town of Farnham, in Surrey. From Farn- 
ham they turn southward for about 17 miles, and then turning 
eastward, they run round the town of Petersfield in Hampshire, 
