222 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COTTESWOLD CLUB 



such place-names as Toadsmoor, Tudmoor, Todmore, to 

 be found in our district, received more or less of an 

 English dress to make sense — Anglo-Saxon Tdde, a toad, 

 mere, a pool ; the British original was Taivdd, wetness, 

 niatvr, great. But some of our place-names have been 

 little changed : Maisemore, near Gloucester, is viaes, 

 viaivr, big field ; Wycombe, near Andoversford, is Givy 

 czv?u, water valley. 



We passed on through Leominster, and bore away for 

 Mortimer's Cross. Noticeable on the journey was the 

 escarpment-cutting by the river Lug. Such escarpment- 

 cutting where the river is still engaged in doing the work, 

 gives an interesting clue to the origin of our Cotteswold 

 escarpments, at the base of which no river now flows. 

 For instance may be cited the escar[)ment at Puckham 

 Wood, near Cheltenham. It is plain that a river once 

 flowed at the foot of that, but the action of denudation in 

 decreasing the drainage area, coupled probably with a 

 greatly diminished rainfall, has caused the complete dis- 

 appearance of the river. But the escarpment remains as 

 evidence of its former existence. 



Escarpment-cutting is only another phase of valley- 

 formation ; but the diff"erence may be noted. When the 

 river cuts through inclined strata in the direction of their 

 dip, a valley is formed with, approximately, equally sloping 

 sides : the width of the valley and the steepness of the 

 slope depend in a large measure on the rapidity of the 

 river's fall. When a river cuts through inclined strata at 

 right angles to their dip, then the feature of escarpment- 

 cutting is produced : that is to say, a valley is formed 

 with very unequally-sloped sides. The side with strata 

 dipping towards the river has a long gentle slope ; it has 

 lost more material because of the facility given by the dip 

 for the transport of its rocks to the river ; but the side 

 which dips from the river has a steep slope, and however 



