By MORTON G. STUART, Esq., M.A., F.G.S. 



UR custom of holding the annual business meet- 

 ing of the year at the County Museum at 

 Dorchester renders it difficult to find a suitable 

 object for an excursion in the afternoon. In 

 the case, however, of the Ridgway Fault 

 to-day, we have before us a geological problem 

 of considerable interest, which has affected to a very large 

 extent the chalk formation, which obtains so large a develop- 

 ment in the county, and consequently in the physical features 

 and scenery of the district. There is a further reason why 

 Ridgway Hill suggested itself as an object for an excursion 

 this afternoon. For some time past I have been trying to collect 

 materials for the description of the various features of the chalk 

 of Dorsetshire, and at Ridgway Hill I thought the opportunity 

 offered itself of noticing one of the most striking features of the 

 great chalk formation of the county. From here one of the finest 

 views of the surrounding country is obtainable. North and east- 

 wards the heath districts of Moreton and Wareham are visible, 

 resting on the Bagshot sands and gravels, reproducing the minor 

 escarpment lines, and characteristic scenery of the Hampshire and 

 London basins of the Tertiary age. Beyond the chalk downs spread 

 far and wide. Standing on the edge of Ridgway Hill and looking 



