39 
is in some places mere shingle, and by the presence of marine shells 
of existing species, such as the Lutraria Listert, Pullastra decussata, &c. 
Similar inlets may be seen at Goring, Ferring, and other places; and 
if they were contemporaneous, as is probable, the coast must have 
then nearly resembled that to the westward of Selsey Bill. 
The examination of the strata afforded by the digging of wells at 
Worthing and several miles westward, along the ridge of land situated 
near the shore as far as Selsey, producing such fine crops of wheat, 
presents very nearly the same geological characters ; good water being 
procured at from eighteen to twenty-five feet. At Worthing is found 
from four to ten feet of surface soil, containing from two to three feet 
of good mould ; the rest is an indifferent loamy brick-earth more or less 
mixed with rolled flint stones ; below this is a stratum of brownish 
sand and pebbles, of varied extent and thickness from one to ten feet, 
and extending in a less or greater degree to Selsey*. This may be the 
remains of an old beach, but as it contains no shells it is impossible 
to determine its geological period, though evidently very modern. 
Underneath this stratum lie broken chalk and flints, provincially called 
‘marl,’ in which water is found, but in most cases it is penetrated 
seven or eight feet in order to get a good supply. The stratum of 
sand and pebbles does not extend far beyond the ridge, and the marl 
gradually thins out as we approach the Downs. 
At Broadwater, a mile from Worthing to the north, m digging a 
* A pit was dug in 1845 three hundred yards to the east of Lower Lancing, and a good 
opportunity afforded of viewing a section of twenty-four feet of this stratum; it is here raised 
at least twenty feet above the level of the sea, and consists of three or four feet of common mould 
and broken flints, no loamy earth fit for making bricks, and twenty feet of rolled flint pebbles 
with sand varying from a dark ferruginous colour to white, containing no shells. In digging a 
well a short distance from this spot in the level, the result was eight or ten feet of these rolled 
flints and sand, ten or twelve feet of chalk marl, and five or six feet of genuine upper chalk with 
unrolled or unmoved flints, in which was an excellent supply of water. 
