Chalk Bluffs of Trimmingliarn. 307 



three protuberances of chalk on the coast. It would seem 

 therefore that about this time a third mass made its appear- 

 ance, brought into view probably by the gradual recession of 

 the cliff-line. The site of this third bluff of chalk was a little 

 distance to the south of the two now remaining ; but as no 

 traces of its existence are now to be found, I have endeavoured 

 to collect the records of its brief history and gradual de- 

 struction. 



A description of it is given in the first edition of the 

 ' Principles of Geology ' (1830, p. 180), with an illustration 

 showing the side view of the promontory which it formed, and 

 the relations of the chalk to the glacial beds above. This 

 was repeated in several succeeding editions. 



In 1840 Sir Charles Lyell contributed a paper to the 

 1 Philosophical Magazine,' in which the three chalk masses 

 are thus described * : — " The most southern of the three pro- 

 tuberances occurs near the Beacon Hill, about halfway between 

 Trimmingham and Mundesley ; the mass of chalk is about 

 20 feet high, its extent along the beach about 100 feet, and its 

 thickness from the beach inland a few yards only. It stands 

 up like a narrow wall, which will ultimately be destroyed ; 

 and then the whole face of the cliff will consist of clay, sand, 



and gravel When I visited this spot in 1839 I found 



the cliff nearly in the same state as it remained in 1829 ; and 

 the description which I gave of it in the ' Principles of Geo- 

 logy ' would still be appropriate." 



Five years later Mr. Joshua Trimmer wrote a description 

 of the Norfolk cliff, in which he thus refers to the Trimming- 

 ham chalk f: — "Of the protuberances of chalk near Trim- 

 mingham the northern and middle seem now little changed, 

 but the southernmost has undergone some alteration. Its 

 length is still the same as when visited by Mr. Lyell ; but it 

 is reduced to nearly half its height, and the waves have 

 washed away a portion of the overlying gravel at one extre- 

 mity. The next fall of the cliff will probably bury this end 

 of the protuberance entirely." 



Mr. Gunn mentions the existence of the three chalk masses 

 in his ' Geology of Norfolk,' and observes that a question has 

 arisen as to whether they are detached boulders or part of the 

 solid bed below. He informs me that his remembrance of 

 the third bluff is, that in height it was less than either of the 

 others, that it gradually wasted away under the attacks of 

 winter storms, and finally disappeared in the great storm of 

 January 1863. It was therefore no longer in existence when 



* Phil. Mag. vol. xvi. p. 356. 



t Quart. Journ. Geol. boc. vol. i. p. 218. 



