WESTLETON BEDS TO THOSE OF NOKFOLK, ETC. 107 



It is on this part of the coast that the Forest Bed attains its 

 greatest development. Mr. Gunn had a bore-hole driven into it at 

 Happisburgh to a depth of 12 feet without reaching its base ; while 

 Mr. C. Reid, from observations made by dredging beyond low water- 

 mark, concludes that its thickness is not less than 60 feet *. What 

 may form the base of the Forest Series is at present a matter of 

 conjecture. From the presence of drifted peat and plant-remains 

 at its outcrop near Cromer, Mr. Reid infers the presence of another 

 freshwater bed, beneath the main bed, and below that he places the 

 "Weybourn Crag. 



The flora of the Forest Series has been admirably worked out by 

 Mr. C. Eeid and Mr. Carruthers t, and the fauna by the late 

 Dr. Hugh Falconer J, Professor Boyd Dawkins§, and Mr. E. T. 

 Newton ||. I need not further allude to them here, except to 

 mention their extreme interest and importance. 



The relation of the Westleton Beds to the Glacial Series above 

 and to the Forest Beds beneath is extremely well shown on the 

 coast at Mundesley, although it is only occasionally that the tree- 

 stumps can be seen. Mr. Dix informed me that on the south side of 

 Mundesley the greenish sandy clay of the Forest Bed crops out 

 beneath the beach. Bones and teeth have often been dug out of it, 

 and shortly before my last visit he had seen at low water the large 

 erect stump of a tree, with, he said, all its roots branching from it. 

 On another occasion, at very low water, a number of tree-stumps were 

 seen with a mass of clotted leaves and branches. The best general 

 section is that presented by the cliff on the north of the village (fig. 7). 



Little of the Forest Bed is seen in this section, but in the gravel- 

 bed (m) are occasionally found a few bones Avashed out of it. To 

 this succeeds in places a grey clay, which to the south of Mundesley 

 contains numerous freshwater shells, above which is a gravelly clay 

 with Mytilus and Succinea. The sand and shingle i contain marine 

 shells and fragments of wood. In bed h drifted wood occurs, while 

 in the sand and fine shingle (g) freshwater shells arc common. In 

 the overlying laminated clay (/) are some wood and plant-remains. 

 This section differs a little from those of Mr. Reid, owing to the 

 variability of the beds, there having been an interval probably of 

 some 20 years between our observations. The following is a list 

 of the marine shells obtained from bed 7c : — 



Cardium edule, L. 

 Mytilus edulis, L. 

 Pholas crispata, L. 

 Balanus, sp. 



Littorina littoi'ca, L. 



rudis, Naf. 



Purpura lapillus, L. 

 Scalaria groenlaudica, Chcmn. 



* It would be very desirable to have a deep boring made at Happisburgh or 

 Mundesley. 



t 'Geology of the country around Cromer,' p. 02 (1882). See also a paper bj 

 Mr. Eeid in the ' Annals of Botany,' vol. ii. p. 178 (1888). 



:|: ' Palaeontological Memoirs,' vol. ii. cha])tor ii. and pp. 470-480. 



§ Quart. Jouru. Geol. Soc. vol. xxxvi. p. 89."), and other jinpers. 



II Gcol. Mug. dec. ii. vols. vii. & viii., and Survey Memoir. 



