105 



TJie Submerged Forest, Holly Hazle, Sharpness. By W. C. Ltjct, 

 F.G.S., F.A.S.L. Read at Gloucester, March 6, 1873. 



In the paper on " the Gravels of the Severn, Avon, and Even- 

 lode, and then- extension over the Cotteswold Hills," which I 

 read before the Club in April, 1869, I referred briefly to the 

 evidence in the estuary of the Severn of the occun-ence of Peat 

 Beds, more particularly at the Eoyal Di'ough near to Sharpness 

 Point. Since then, in forming the new Docks at Holly Hazle, a 

 continuation of this bed has been cut through, shewmg a well 

 exposed section, and I now propose to give the result of the 

 observations made during the progress of the work. 



As the subject of Peat Beds and submerged forests generally 

 is new to the members of the Club, I have thought it best, in 

 order to enable them to form a clearer opinion upon it, to enter 

 somewhat fully into the details at present in my possession. 



They occur mostly at the mouths of rivers, and are to be seen 

 at low ^water mark, more particularly after storms, when the 

 action of the water, from high winds or land-floods, removes 

 the silt which often covers them up. Indeed the whole of 

 the coast line of Great Britain is more or less fringed with 

 submerged forests, and they have been observed along the coast 

 of Northern France, at the mouth of the Somme, at Sangatte, 

 and Wissant, near Calais, and they also occur very extensively 

 on the coast of Holland, extending far into the interior of that 

 country. 



