38 
nity for elucidating the general geological character of that portion of 
the land situated between the Downs and sea-shore ; and in offering 
the following remarks on this subject I must express my obligation to 
Mr. W. Munday, jun., of Worthing, who is a careful observer, for 
much information on the geology of the neighbourhood. 
It has been shown in the preceding pages, that for a number of 
years, indeed during the whole of the historical period, the sea has 
been making considerable encroachments on the coast of West Sussex ; 
at the same time alluvial deposits have accumulated, serving m a 
great measure to counterbalance this loss; and the result is, that an 
important change has taken place in its general configuration. The 
land which has been absorbed at Selsey, Bognor, Worthing, &c., by 
the encroachment of the sea, has been regained by the silting up of 
the estuaries of the rivers Adur and Arun, and many smaller inlets of 
the sea, making the coast from Bognor to Worthing almost a straight 
line, which formerly must have been very irregular. That the valleys 
through which these rivers run were occupied by arms of the sea, 
has been clearly proved by Dr. Mantell. Deposits of sand or silt 
containing sea-shells are everywhere found in them. 
The bank of the estuary of the river Adur is very readily traced : 
at Botolph’s church, five miles from the sea, a shingle-beach evidently 
forming part of it is observed, and may be seen in various places in 
the parish of Coombes ; at the Sussex Pad Inn, near Old Shoreham 
Bridge ; and in a south-westerly direction at Lower Lancing, as far as 
Sea Mills Bridge. At this point may be traced a creek or inlet of the 
sea, which must have flowed in a north-westerly direction over the 
meadows between Broadwater and Worthing, converting the site of 
the town into a peninsula, covering a considerable portion of the 
parishes of Lancing, Sompting, and Broadwater. Its extent may be 
easily discerned by its low level, by the character of the soil, which 
