1XX. BRIDPORT AND LYME REGIS MEETING. 



area of the disturbed land. The scene was visited in the course of the year, it is 

 said, by 60,000 people. They saw one curious spectacle which could not be 

 repeated for future visitors. Some wheat fields had been sown in the autumn of 

 1839, and the following spring this wheat came up in all sorts of extraordinary 

 and inaccessible places, whither it had been removed by the landslip. Another 

 consequence of the great descent of heavy material on the land was the rising up 

 of a considerable reef a short distance out to sea. This formed a small sheltered 

 harbour, very convenient for boats landing passengers to see the show ; and, as a 

 harbour of any sort would be highly valuable on this part of the coast, enquiries 

 were made in Parliament on the subject of utilising this place for the purpose. 

 The reef, however, must have been composed of very loose material ; it had been 

 simply squeezed up by the local pressure, and before any action was taken 

 by Parliament the sea settled the question by washing it all away. Considerable 

 exaggeration has characterised some of the descriptions as to the extent of the 

 subsidence, but the reliable figures, as given in Woodward's Geology of England 

 and Wales, are these : The length of the great chasm caused by the founder was 

 1,000 yards ; breadth, 300 yards ; and the depth varied from 130 to 210 feet ; 

 while 22 acres of land were sunk in the chasm." 



Mr. GROVER, who directs the meteorological observations at 

 Rousdon, said the movement in the land about Rousdon was 

 still going on, and by and bye there would be a further landslip. 

 Opposite Rousdon there had been changes, and thousands of 

 tons of soil had been washed away ; a considerable slip had 

 occurred at Whitlands. 



The actual spot where the cottages used to stand was now a 

 deep pool of water. 



Mr. S. EATON said that last spring there was a considerable 

 fall between the spot on which they were and the Haven 

 Cliffs. 



Leaving Dowlands, the Club continued their journey and 

 dismounted at 



COMBE PYNE. 



Here they were received by the Vicar, who showed them 

 the ancient Communion vessels, said to be of i3th or i4th 

 century date. A bell hanging in the tower bears the quaint 

 inscription, in Lombardic characters, " Sal vet mine Adam qui 

 cunta creavit et Adam." The Adam referred to is supposed to 

 be Adam, Rector of the parish in 1338. 





