214; Notices respecting New Booh. 



sive. In the year 1665, twent^'-two tenements imdcr the cliiF 

 had been destroyed, among which were twelve sliops, and 

 tliree cottages, with land adjohiing them. At that period 

 there still remained imcler the clijf 113 tenements ; and the 

 whole of these were overwhelmed in 1703 and 1705. Since 

 that time, an ancient fort called the Block-House, with the 

 Gun-garden, wall, and gates, have been completely swept 

 away, not the slightest trace of their ruins Imving been per- 

 ceptible for the last 50 years *- 



" At the present time, the whole line of coast, between the 

 embouchure of the Arun, and Emsworth harboul", is visibly 

 retreating, and the means adopted for its prevention have 

 hitherto been attended with but little success f. 



"The process by which this destruction of the coast is ef- 

 fected, is sufficiently obvious. By the incessiant action of the 

 waves the cliffs are undermined, and at length fall down, and 

 cover the shore with their ruins. The softer parts of the 

 strata, as chalk, marl, clay, &c., are rapidly disintegrated and 

 Avashed away; while the flints, and more solid materials, are 

 broken and rounded by the continual agitation of the water, 

 and form those accumulations of sand and pebbles that con- 

 stitute the beach, and which serve, in some situations, to pro- 

 tect the land from further encroachments. But when the cliffs 

 ai'e entuely composed of soft substances, their destruction is 

 very rapid, unless artifici/il means are employed for their pro- 

 tection ; and even tliese, m many instances, are but too fre- 

 quently ineffectual." 



Petworth in Sussex is celebrated for its marble ; the quarries 

 are nearly four miles from the town, and the marble is found 

 in a horizontal bed of blue clay at the depth of twentj'-five 

 feet It is divided by fissures into large slabs, fit for tables 

 aiid otlier purposes, varying in thickness from twelve to twenty- 

 two inches. These beds of marble traverse the country in a 

 N.N.W. direction, extending from Kirdford in Western Sussex 

 to Laughton, six miles N.E. from Lewes, whence it jiroceeds 

 eastwardly, and is lost in the alluvial marshes of Pevensey 

 levels. Of this marble Mr. Maatell gives the following ac- 

 count : 



" This limestone is of various shades of blueish grey, mottled 

 with green, and ochraceous yellow, and is composed of the re- 

 mains of fresh water univalves, formed by a calcareous cement 

 into a beautiful compact marble. It bears a high polish, and 

 is elegantly marked by the sections of the shells which it con- 

 tains. The shells belong to the genus Vivipara of Montfort, 



* Let's Hist, of Lewes and Brighton. 



f Dallawy^'s Wcsttin Sussex, vol. i. p. 55. 



{Helix 



