THE 



WIL TSHIRE MAGAZ INE. 



"MTJLTOBUM MANIBTJS GEANDB LETATUfi ONUS." — Ovid. 



\ 



By the Rev. G. S. Masteb (Bector). 



Situation. 

 I^HE parish of West Dean^ to which is annexed the tything 

 or chapelry of East Grimsteadj lies upon the border-line of 

 the counties of Hants and Wilts, near the south-eastern corner of 

 the latter, and includes portions o£ both. In shape somewhat like 

 an elongated triangle, with its apex pointing north, and its broad 

 base resting upon Dean Hill on the south, it occupies the central 

 portion of a broad valley underlying that steep chalk ridge, and 

 extending to a similar one which overlooks a wide expanse of un- 

 enclosed down country towards the north. In length about five 

 miles and a half, by three in breadth, it includes the summit and 

 northern slopes of Dean Hill, and, between these and the chalk of 

 the further range, a basin of London clay, a mile or more in width, 

 with fringes of plastic clay. Lower Bagshot sands and clays occur 

 at East Grimstead upon its western edge, and there is some alluvium 

 in its south-eastern corner. The Wiltshire parishes of Winterslow, 

 Farley, and West Grimstead bound it on the west ; that of White- 

 parish on the south ; the Hampshire parishes of West Ty therley 

 and East Dean on the east. 



Natural Features. 



The natural features of the parish are suflBciently picturesque. 

 The steep gray slopes, beneath which the village and its hamlet lie, 

 are dotted with an indigenous growth of yews and junipers, con- 

 trasting pleasantly with the rich stretches of arable and the vast 



VOL. — XXU. — NO. LXVI. S 



