XI. — On the Formation of the Valley of Kingsclere and other Valleys 

 by the Elevation of the Strata that enclose them ; and on the Evi- 

 dences of the original Continuity of the Basins of London and 

 Hampshire. 



By the Rev. W. BUCKLAND, S.T.P. F.R.S. P.L.S. 



president of the geological society^, and professor of mineralogy 

 and geology in the university of oxford, etc. 



[Read February 8th, 1825.] 



11^ may be seen, on referring to Mr. Greenough's Geological Map of Eng- 

 land, and to the map annexed to the paper of Mr. Webster on the Basins of 

 London and Hampshire, that the tertiary formations which occupy the basin 

 of London, become gradually contracted in their progress westward through 

 Berkshire, until they terminate in a point at Savernake Forest, between Hun- 

 gerford and Marlborough. The strata of chalk, on which these formations 

 repose, dip inwardly from the circumference towards the axis of the basin, 

 and sink, nearly on all sides, beneath overlying beds of the Plastic and London 

 clays. 



A remarkable exception, however, to this arrangement occurs near the 

 south-western extremity of the basin, a few miles to the south of Newbury, 

 at Kingsclere and Highclere. It is the chief object of the present communi- 

 cation to describe the appearances attending this exception, and to point out 

 some general conclusions with respect to the origin of certain valleys from the 

 elevation of the strata that now inclose them. The observations on which 

 this paper is founded, were made principally during a visit in the summer of 

 1819 to the Earl of Carnarvon at Highclere. I had then an opportunity of 

 carefully surveying the ground in question, which I had viewed hastily some 

 months before on a journey through the district in company with Mr. Green- 

 ough and Mr. Warburton. But for the more minute details of the limits of 

 the several formations, as they wind along the south-western border of the 

 basin, I am indebted to the exertions of an eminent botanist, Mr. J. R. Gowen 

 of Highclere. 



