449 



oblique to the stratification ; the angles of the portion thus formed 

 standing out in the face of the cliff, like splinters in the shattered 

 fracture of a crystal." 



Descending its southern side we meet with a narrow stratum of fire- 

 stone, which " forms a slight projection along the foot of the Hog's 

 Back ; the gait, a corresponding depression along its whole length," 

 varying in breadth from a few hundred yards to a quarter of a mile, 

 towards the eastward, opposite Littleton. Having passed this tract, 

 we approach the principal stratum of the district, which is a portion 

 of " one of the most extensive surfaces of the Shanklin sand in Eng- 

 land. This sand rises rapidly in many places to a considerable ele- 

 vation: at St. Martha's Chapel it equals or out-tops the chalk, though 

 less than a mile from it horizontally." This character extends over a 

 great portion of the district, presenting numerous acclivities, the most 

 conspicuous of which are St. Martha's Chapel, already mentioned, 

 Chinchurst Hill, heights around Godalming, Highdown Heath, Has- 

 comb Beech, and the ridge of hills stretching thence by Burgate, 

 Hambledon, Barnacle and Wormley towards Hindhead, where an ele- 

 vation of upwards of 900 feet above the level of the sea is attained. 



The heights in the immediate vicinity of Godalming offer excellent 

 sections of the Shanklin sand. Holloway Hill affords a good exam- 

 ple of the strata, which are composed of loose sandy materials, and 

 abound in large concretions of chert and of Burgate-stone, "a conglo- 

 merate of quartz-grains and pebbles, held together by a strong calca- 

 reous cement, which is hard and sparry, and much used for the pur- 

 pose of building." 



" The ferruginous concretions termed curstone are abundant on the 

 Witley and Thursley Commons, and from being so compact as to ring 

 under the hammer, are called clinkers by the quarry men. This stone 

 sometimes occurs in plates or flakes, more than a quarter of an inch in 

 thickness, and curved so as to resemble portions of consecutive layers 

 of petrified wood." It furnishes an excellent road-material, and gives 

 that remarkable reddish hue to those roads which are Macadamized 

 with this stone. Fragments of brown haematite, a kind of iron ore, oc- 

 cur in this district. There were anciently several iron-furnaces, of 

 which the only memorials are four large ponds, called the Hammer 

 Ponds. 



The only remaining portion of the district to be noticed is that 

 forming the southern boundary, and which is occupied by the clay 

 formation of the northern limit of the thickly wooded weald of Surrey. 



