Horace B. Woodward— The North Cliff, Southwold. 357 



somewhat similar feature in a peaty bed overlying Boulder-clay at 

 Kelsey Hill, which, he has attributed to the subsidence of the 

 Boulder-clay through the slipping of underlying sand. 1 In the 

 present instance it is possible that subterranean erosion may have 

 produced the syncline. 



The junction between the fresh- water bed and the Boulder-clay is 

 marked by an irregular band of bedded loam, with chalk stones, 

 flints, and other gravelly materials, and this junction-bed is from 

 one to nearly four feet thick on the northern side. 



The section of the fresh-water bed may be noted thus : — 



ft. in. 



Laminated peaty bed 2 6 



Brown, grey, and greenish micaceous loam, with much ferruginous "") 



matter ... | 



Greyish loam, with fresh-water shells ; and irregular pebbly layers }• 8 

 of rolled aud subangular flints (cemented into an iron pan), 2 \ 

 with ochreous pebbles, bits of carbonaceous shale and lignite J 



With regard to the Crag, sevei-al questions arise. Is it part 

 of the true Norwich Crag, or does it belong to the Southwold 

 Pebble-beds, which were regarded as of subsequent age by the late 

 Sir Joseph Prestwich. Are the Southwold Pebble- beds the same 

 as the Westleton Shingle ? 



The shells in this exposure at Southwold are mostly broken or 

 comminuted. I could only recognize Cardium edule, Cyprina 

 islandica, Mya, and Littorina littorea. 



The general character of the strata, and their position, led me 

 to group them as part of the Norwich Crag; and in this opinion 

 I find support in Mr. Whitaker's description of the section formerly 

 seen near by, but a little to the south, being about 250 yards 

 NNE. of the coastguard station at Southwold ; and support 

 is also given in the list of shells there obtained by Mr. S. V. 

 Wood, jun., and Mr. W. M. Crowfoot. 3 



The occurrence of shelly patches in the pebbly gravels elsewhere near 

 Southwold has been noted by Sir Joseph Prestwich and Mr. Whitaker, 

 and the subject has been further discussed by Mr. Clement Keid 

 and Sir Henry Howorth. 4 In no case has any evidence been 

 brought forward to show that these shell-beds do not belong to 

 the Norwich Crag. No shells have been found in the Westleton 

 Shingle of Westleton ; and those which have been found near 

 Southwold usually occur low down in the pebbly gravels, and 

 may in all cases belong to the true Norwich Crag. I do not feel 

 confident that the Southwold pebble-gravels, so well shown on 

 Southwold Common and in the adjacent railway-cutting, belong 

 to the horizon of the Westleton-beds of Westleton. They may 

 well belong to the pebbly sands of the Crag seen in the north 



1 "Geology of Holderness," p. 74. 



2 Some masses of modern beach-shingle, plastered against the fresh-water bed, 

 have also been cemented into an iron pan. 



3 " Geology of Southwold," 1887, pp. 61, 81, etc. 



4 Reid, "Pliocene Deposits of Britain," 1890, pp. 101, 201, etc.; Howorth, 

 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. li, p. 498. 



