II. — Remarks on the Geology of the South Coast of England, from 

 Bridport Harbour, Dorset, to Babhacombe Bay, Devon. 



By H. T. De la BECHE, Esq. f.r.s. f.l.s. and m.g s. 



[Read March 5, 1819.] 



XHE portion of the shore of Dorset and Devonshire, which the following 

 pages are intended to describe, and part of which is represented in the an- 

 nexed section, extends from about three miles west of Bridport Harbour, in 

 the county of Dorset, to Babbacombe Bay on the south-west of Teignmouth. 

 The elevation of the shore within these limits is various. On the west of 

 Bridport the height of the cliffs is not very considerable ; but they rise at 

 Golden Cap, a remarkable cliff five miles east of Lyme, to about six hundred 

 feet above the level of the sea ; and from that point to Axmouth there is a 

 succession of hills of nearly uniform elevation, and about five hundred feet in 

 height. The cliffs near Beer are much lower than at Axmouth, but they rise 

 westward towards Peak Hill and High Peak, near Sidmouth. At the mouth of 

 the Otter the coast is much lower ; but it rises again between that river and 

 the Exe. The cliffs at Dawlish are comparatively low; but they become 

 higher towards Teignmouth, and continue high from the river Teign to 

 Babbacombe Bay. 



Plate 8 is a section of the cliffs from near Bridport Harbour to Sid- 

 mouth, exhibiting the order of the strata, except between Lyme and Axmouth, 

 where subsided masses of chalk and green sand entirely conceal the rocks 

 below. I have in consequence given a representation of these cliffs as they 

 actually appear ; and in the following remarks I shall begin with the supe- 

 rior, and proceed in succession to the inferior beds, advancing in each case 

 from the east towards the west. 



Chalk. 



The chalk, which is the uppermost of the beds observable on this part of 

 the coast, contains many fossils, and an abundance of flints (occasionally in 

 small seams): its first appearance, in the east, is at Ware Cliffs, near Lyme 



