388 CRETACEOUS. 



Mr. Carruthers has identified a Tree fern {Caulopten's punctata) 

 from the Upper Greensand of Shaftesbury, Dorset. 



The Upper Greensand is sometimes divided as follows : — 



2. Zone oi Pixten asper. 

 1. „ ,, Exogyra coni'ca. 



The Upper Greensand is somewhat doubtfully represented north 

 of Folkestone with a thickness of less than twenty feet, as the beds 

 here are sometimes grouped with the Chalk Marl ; it rapidly 

 thins away inland.' At Aylesford about eighteen inches of greenish- 

 grey marly sand has been classed as Upper Greensand, but it 

 belongs properly to the base of the Chalk ; at Snodland, near 

 Maidstone, the Greensand beds are also absent, but near Wester- 

 ham they begin to acquire importance. (See sequel.) 



In the neighbourhood of Godstone, Merstham (Merstham Beds), Reigate 

 (Reigate Stone), and east of Dorking, the firestone beds are largely worked. 



Mr. Webster observed that " The quarries of Reygate stone were formerly con- 

 sidered of such consequence that they were kept in the possession of the Crown, 

 and a patent of Edward III. exists, authorizing them to be worked for Windsor 

 Castle. Henry the Seventh's chapel at Westminster was also built of the stone 

 procured from them, as is also the church at Reygate. These ancient quarries 

 were situated between the town of Reygate and the chalk hills to the north, and 

 traces of them may still be seen in several places, as at Gatton park, Colley farm, 

 and Buckland green, which latter place is the most westernly spot where the stone 

 has been found."'- The firestone has been used for the floors of furnaces, for 

 hearths, etc. (hence its name). 



The following section taken in a quarry about a mile and a half 

 east of Merstham was noted by Mr. Whitaker : ^ — 



Chalk Marl, with fossils, the lower part sandy, and ) , . <• . 



passing into beds below ) ■' 



r Greyish-green sand, with calcareous nodules and 

 Upper fossils : the lower part of the rock is a soft 



Greensand. -[ sandstone 15 >) 



I Stone 2 , , 



^ Soft, greenish-grey sandstone 5 ,, 



Near Betchworth beds of hearth-stone are worked ; this rock is a soft calcareous 

 sandstone about eleven feet in thickness, and it occurs above the firestone, and 

 beneath the 'roof-bed.' 



In Sussex the Upper Greensand comprises beds of greenish- 

 grey calcareous sandstone (20 feet), and they may be seen north of 

 Beachy Head, in the neighbourhood of Eastbourne. (See Fig. 66.) 

 The sandstone has been quarried, and was used in the construction 

 of Pevensey Castle. Fossils have been found near Hamsey and 

 Bignor. The malm rock was used and occasionally polished for 

 work in the Roman villa at Bignor ; it occurs also at Hartley and 

 Selborne, south-east of Alton.* 



In the Isle of Wight the Upper Greensand, as described by Mr. 

 Bristow, appears in the cliffs at Compton Bay, and extends across 



^ F. W. Simms, Proc. Geol. Soc. iv. 206. 



- T. G. S. V. 353. 



^ Topley, Geology of the Weald, p. 154. 



* H. W. Bristow, Explan. Sheet 12 (Geol. Surv.), p. 5. 



