144 REPORT—1883. 
Hitchin.—The town of Hitchin, on the Hiz, a tributary of the Ivel, 
lies at an elevation of about 220 ft. above the sea-level (bench-mark 
on church 216 ft.). On the west and north-west of the town are 
hills capped by thick beds of glacial gravel. From one of these, in 
ancient workings for gravel, the boulders now lying near in the stable- 
ard at The Hermitage have, no doubt, been obtained. They now lie 
about 212 ft. above sea-level, but if derived from the adjacent hill they 
may be estimated to have been originally deposited at a level perhaps 
50 ft. higher. In the large excavations for chalk adjoining the Hitchin 
Railway Station, a good section of sand and gravel is exposed above the 
chalk. Large boulders have been obtained from this gravel, and some 
of these now lying on the floor of the pit are described below. Their 
eriginal elevation above sea-level may be estimated at 240 to 280 ft. 
Boulders lying in the stable yard, The Hermitage. 
1. Long, irregular, rounded,-in shape fairly rectangular; top irregu- 
lar, but in general outline smooth and flat; one end flat, the other un- 
even; whole surface slightly eroded. It is used as a mounting-block. 
Yellow sandy limestone, containing numerous large belemnites, and some 
ostree or gryphew (?). Most probably lias marlstone. 5 ft. x 2 ft. 
5 in. xX 2 ft. 
2. Smooth, slightly pyramidal in shape. Hard, compact sandstone, 
weathering iron-red. 2 ft. 7 in. x 1 ft. 3 in. x 1 ft. 1} in. 
3. Rounded, smoothed, and upper surface scratched (?). Compact 
limestone, containing fragmentary fossils—? spirifere: probably carbo- 
niferous or silurian limestone. 1 ft. ll in. x 1 ft. 7 in. x 1 ft. 1 in. 
4. Trregular, smoothed. Same material as 2. 1 ft.3 in. x 1 ft. x 9 in. 
In addition to the above, about 200 smaller boulders, varying from 
6 in. long up to nearly 1 ft. and 1 ft. 6 in., are used to mark the margin 
of the road. There is also amongst them a block of Hertfordshire 
Pudding Stone, about 2 ft. x 1 ft. 9 in. x 6 in., angular and apparently 
wnworn. 
Boulders lying in chalk pit adjoining railway station. 
5. Rhomboidal, surface smoothed and angles rounded. Faces, par- 
ticularly one of the sides, flat. Brown, compact sandstone. 4 ft, x 2 ft. 
x 1 ft. 10 in. 
6. Rounded and worn, one end broken off. Hard, grey, crystalline 
limestone. 2 ft.2in. x 1 ft. 5 im. x 1 ft. 3 in. 
7. Very much worn and rounded, one side nearly flat. Hard, dark, 
crystalline limestone. 2 ft. 7 in. x 1 ft. x P 
8. Irregular, but little worn fragment. Compact, veined, light-brown 
sandstone. About 1 ft. x 1 ft. 6 in. x 6 in. 
9. Irregularly shaped, worn and rounded, with all angles rounded 
and the surfaces smoothed, hollowed or rounded; no scratches, upper 
surface nearly flat and decomposed, otherwise very hard. Yellowish- 
brown, somewhat crystalline limestone, containing fragments of fossils (?). 
Probably inferior oolite or lias marlstone. 5 ft. 2 in. x 3 ft. 24 im. x 
2 ft. 6 in. ; 
10. Irregularly shaped, somewhat worn and rounded; some parts of 
surface much worn, very hard, and rather inclined to split on lines of 
