526 RECENT. 



worked for fuel from the time of the Romans, and probably earlier, while others 

 are of more recent formation. The peat-moors, or 'Turbary lands,' have an 

 irregular distribution ; and the peat, which in places is 14 or 15 feet thick, is due 

 largely to the growth of the common sedge {Carex), whence Sedgemoor derives 

 its name. The following Plants, according to Mr. Alfred Gillett, have assisted in 

 the formation of the Peat in this district : — Cotton grass [Eriophoruni), Bulrush 

 (Scirpus lacustris), Willow herb {Epilobhim angiistifolmm), Sedge {^Carex), Bog 

 moss (Sphagnum pahisire). Heath {Erica), Bog myrtle {Myrica gale) ; and 

 amongst the Ferns, Osmiinda regalis, Lastrea thelypteris, and Ptcris aqitilina. 

 It contains also the Sea Wrack (Zosiera marina)} At Shapwick, where the pits 

 are opened to a depth of about 5 feet, the peat is light on top, and darker, denser 

 and better below. Beneath this there is about 3 feet of soft peaty earth with stools 

 of trees, the wood being well preserved, and below is a pale grey buttery clay. 

 Peat has also been observed on Blackdown (Mendip Hills), and near East 

 Harptree. 



Evidences of a Submerged Forest were noticed long ago at Stolford, near 

 the mouth of the Parret ;" and this may be connected with the peat-beds of the 

 Somersetshire Levels. 



In West Somerset a Submerged Forest has been observed in Porlock Bay, west 

 of Minehead, and there the following order of beds was noted by Mr. Godwin- 

 Austen : ■^ — 



6. vShingle bank. 



5. Marine silt, w'lih. Scrobiailaria plaita. 



4. Surface of Plant-growth, with roots of plants, stumps and trunks of trees. 



3. Freshwater mud-deposit. 



2. Forest-growth. (Oak, and probably Alder.) 



I. Angular detritus. 



In the Teign Valley or Bovey Basin, between Bovey Tracey and Newton 

 Abbot, there are accumulations of sand and gravel locally knovni as * Head,' 

 which rest on the Eocene Bovey deposits. These are for the most part recent 

 fluviatile and estuarine deposits (Scro6icu/aria-c\ay, etc.), and are partly made up 

 of older gravels which border the basin. Near Kingsteignton a bronze spear-head, 

 a wooden doll or idol, and several bones of Ox, Deer, etc., were obtained from 

 one of the pits.* In the same valley above Newton Abbot a canoe has been found 

 in a bed of clay ; and this Mr. Pengelly regards as perhaps of Glacial age. (See 

 p. 494.) 



Numerous Submerged Forests have been noticed on the coasts of Devon ; 

 at Rraunton Burrows, in Barnstaple Bay,* and in Torbay, at Blackpool, at North 

 and South Sands in the Salcombe estuary, and in Bigbury Bay, etc. The Torbay 

 Suljmerged Forest comprises peat-beds that have yielded Roman remains, and 

 these beds rest on clay or estuarine mud, which contains relics of the Bronze 

 period.'' 



On Dartmoor, near Tavistock, etc., there is peat in places 30 feet thick, and a 

 peat-naphtha company was established at Prince Town.' 



In Cornwall Submerged Forests have been noticed at Looe, Fowey, Mounts 

 Bay, etc.* 



The Stream-tin deposits of Par, Pentuan, Carnon, and other localities in Corn- 



^ See Rev. W. Phelps, Proc. Somerset Arch. Soc. iv. part 2, p. 91. 



2 L Horner, T. G. S. iii. 380. 



3 Q. J. xxii. I. 



* Journ. Anthrop. Inst. v. 299 ; Q. J. xxxii, 234 ; Pengelly, Trans. Devon 

 Assoc. 1875, vii. 200; //'id. xv. 368; Brit. Assoc. 1886. 



5 Pengelly, G. Mag. 1869, p. 77 ; T. M. Hall, Q. J. xxxv. (Proc.) 106. 



^ D. Pidgeon, Q. J. xli. 9. See also Pengelly, G. Mag. 1870, p. 64. 



' R. N. Worth, Trans. Devon Assoc, vii. 229. 



® Ussher, G. Mag. 1879, p. 251. 



