﻿Vol. 
  53.] 
  DEPOSITS 
  OF 
  THE 
  CLEEVE 
  HILL 
  PLATEAU. 
  625 
  

  

  the 
  Snowshill 
  Clay 
  becomes 
  of 
  considerable 
  economic 
  importance. 
  

   Its 
  presence 
  has 
  governed 
  the 
  situation 
  of 
  farmhouses 
  and 
  cottages. 
  

  

  The 
  Snowshill 
  Clay 
  is 
  the 
  bed 
  which 
  throws 
  off 
  water 
  for 
  a 
  

   cottage 
  just 
  north 
  of 
  Puckham 
  Farm, 
  and 
  the 
  water 
  from 
  this 
  

   spring 
  is 
  taken 
  to 
  the 
  farm 
  itself, 
  although 
  that 
  farm 
  is 
  situated 
  

   not 
  very 
  far 
  above 
  ' 
  Upper 
  Lias.' 
  The 
  Clay 
  also 
  throws 
  off 
  water 
  

   for 
  the 
  gamekeeper's 
  cottage 
  immediately 
  west 
  of 
  Puckham 
  Wood. 
  

   Moreover 
  it 
  furnishes 
  the 
  sole 
  water-supply 
  for 
  Wontley 
  Farm. 
  

   All 
  these 
  places 
  are 
  on 
  the 
  Cleeve 
  Hill 
  plateau, 
  and 
  the 
  supply 
  is 
  

   said 
  to 
  be 
  constant. 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  Seven 
  Wells, 
  about 
  1| 
  mile 
  south 
  of 
  the 
  Fish 
  Inn, 
  

   Broadway, 
  and 
  about 
  the 
  same 
  distance 
  north-eastward 
  of 
  Snows- 
  

   hill, 
  there 
  are 
  copious 
  springs 
  of 
  water 
  thrown 
  out 
  by 
  the 
  Snowshill 
  

   Clay, 
  used 
  for 
  the 
  supply 
  of 
  the 
  farmhouse. 
  These 
  ' 
  Seven 
  Wells 
  ' 
  

   are 
  said 
  never 
  to 
  have 
  failed, 
  and 
  the 
  people 
  of 
  the 
  locality 
  claim 
  them 
  

   as 
  'the 
  source 
  of 
  the 
  Thames.' 
  Mr. 
  H. 
  B. 
  Woodward 
  1 
  apparently 
  

   considers 
  that 
  these 
  springs 
  issue 
  from 
  the 
  Upper 
  Lias 
  ; 
  but 
  there 
  is 
  

   in 
  the 
  field 
  below 
  them 
  a 
  quarry 
  of 
  sand, 
  which 
  would 
  be 
  in 
  

   the 
  position 
  of 
  the 
  Harford 
  Sands, 
  and 
  this 
  again 
  accords 
  with 
  the 
  

   general 
  lie 
  of 
  the 
  beds 
  in 
  the 
  district 
  round. 
  

  

  No 
  doubt 
  many 
  other 
  farms 
  in 
  the 
  Northern 
  Cotteswolds 
  owe 
  their 
  

   water-supply 
  to 
  the 
  impervious 
  character 
  of 
  the 
  Snowshill 
  Clay. 
  

  

  X. 
  Ancient 
  Geogeaphy 
  of 
  the 
  Cleeve 
  Hill 
  Plateau. 
  

  

  There 
  are 
  many 
  dry 
  valleys 
  intersecting 
  the 
  Cleeve 
  Hill 
  plateau. 
  

   Some 
  of 
  them 
  point 
  to 
  a 
  time 
  when 
  the 
  plateau 
  was 
  covered 
  by 
  an 
  

   impervious 
  bed 
  of 
  Pullers' 
  Earth 
  Clay, 
  upon 
  which 
  reposed 
  perhaps 
  

   a 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  Great 
  Oolite 
  ; 
  the 
  valleys 
  were 
  excavated 
  by 
  

   streams 
  thrown 
  off 
  by 
  the 
  Clay. 
  2 
  When 
  the 
  capping 
  of 
  Pullers' 
  

   Earth 
  Clay 
  was 
  removed 
  these 
  valleys 
  became 
  dry. 
  Others, 
  how- 
  

   ever, 
  may 
  have 
  become 
  only 
  partially 
  dry 
  then, 
  because 
  streams 
  

   may 
  have 
  issued 
  from 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  the 
  Snowshill 
  Clay. 
  But 
  the 
  

   Snowshill 
  Clay 
  has 
  in 
  its 
  turn 
  been 
  removed, 
  and 
  then 
  the 
  valleys 
  

   became 
  dry 
  down 
  to 
  the 
  outcrop 
  of 
  the 
  Upper 
  Lias. 
  3 
  

  

  On 
  Sevenhampton 
  Common 
  a 
  stream 
  issues 
  from 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  Pullers' 
  

   Earth 
  Clay 
  from 
  beneath 
  Great 
  Oolite. 
  Several 
  of 
  the 
  dry 
  valleys 
  

   above 
  Whittington 
  commence 
  just 
  about 
  where 
  Fullers' 
  Earth 
  Clay 
  

   would 
  be 
  if 
  it 
  were 
  present, 
  and 
  so 
  they 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  excavated 
  by 
  

  

  1 
  ' 
  Lower 
  Oolitic 
  Eocks 
  of 
  England,' 
  Mem. 
  Geol. 
  Surv. 
  : 
  Jurassic 
  Rocks, 
  

   vol. 
  iv. 
  (1894) 
  p. 
  504. 
  

  

  2 
  E. 
  Witchell, 
  ' 
  On 
  the 
  Denudation 
  of 
  the 
  Cotteswolds,' 
  Proc. 
  Cottesw. 
  

   Nat. 
  Field 
  Club, 
  vol. 
  iv. 
  (1868) 
  p. 
  227. 
  

  

  3 
  With 
  a 
  rainfall 
  of 
  very 
  much 
  greater 
  magnitude— 
  beyond 
  the 
  absorption- 
  

   power 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  pervious 
  Cotteswold 
  strata 
  — 
  the 
  idea 
  of 
  a 
  former 
  clay- 
  

   capping 
  may 
  not 
  be 
  necessary. 
  Then 
  the 
  rain 
  would 
  flow 
  as 
  surface-water 
  off 
  

   the 
  water-logged 
  pervious 
  strata, 
  and 
  in 
  so 
  doing 
  would 
  cut 
  channels, 
  which 
  

   would 
  in 
  time 
  become 
  valleys 
  — 
  much 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  principle 
  as 
  the 
  channels 
  

   cut 
  in 
  a 
  wide 
  gravelled 
  courtyard 
  by 
  heavy 
  rain 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  day. 
  This 
  

   surmise 
  would 
  fit 
  in 
  with 
  the 
  idea 
  that 
  the 
  flat 
  top 
  of 
  the 
  Cotteswolds 
  is 
  a 
  

   line 
  of 
  marine 
  denudation. 
  

  

  Q.J.G.S. 
  No. 
  212. 
  2t 
  

  

  