THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 

 FOLKESTONE 



CONTRIBUTED BY 



FOLKESTONE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 



A^UCH of the charm of Folkestone lies in its attractive physical 

 -'■"-'- setting, including such distinctive features as the sandstone cliffs 

 of the Leas and the confused terrain of the Warren landslip, with the 

 steep chalk scarp breaking the skyline behind the town as a dominant 

 backcloth to the scene. To appreciate fully the beauty and variety of 

 the many landforms it is essential to examine the basic geology of the area 

 and the way in which it fits into a broad structural pattern. 



As layers of Cretaceous sedimentary rocks in southeast England 

 were folded into an anticline or arch, marine action removed the crest 

 of the dome to expose bands of older underlying rocks (Diag. 1). The 

 relief as we know it today, that of an eroded core surrounded by the inward 

 facing scarps of the Chalk Downs, is a direct result of the varying powers 

 of these rocks to resist continued sculpturing by rain and rivers. When 

 the Strait of Dover later cut across one end of this denuded dome, the 

 coastline of southeast Kent and that of France, which can be seen from 

 Folkestone, became in effect neat cross-sections of this fascinating 

 geological region. 



POLKeSTON£ 



NORTH BOWNS 



SOUTH DOWNS 



/^STINC« 



iflOtT ' 



LOWER. 

 CReENSAHP 



Diagram 1 



Clearly visible, from west to east, are a series of strata each dipping 

 in turn beneath younger beds forming the northern slopes of the Wealden 

 dome. From Lympne towards Dover, if we take the old cliff line and 

 temporarily turn our backs on the more recently added Levels of Romney 

 Marsh, we can see the Wealden Clay, the Lower Greensand, geologically 

 divided in this area into the Hythe, Sandgate and Folkestone Beds, the 

 bluish clay of the Gault, and finally, most resistant of all, the towering 

 clifTs of Chalk (Diag. 2). 



