106 MB. A. J. JEEES-BBOAYXE OX THE AGE AND [May I907, 



7. The Age and Origix of the Plateaus around Toeqttay. By 

 Aeeeed Johx Jeees-Beowxe, B.A., F.Gr.S. (Bead Peb- 

 ruary 6th, 1907.) 



Hayixg lately paid special attention to the hills and valleys of the 

 Torquay district, I have been struck with the fact that the hills 

 fall into two categories : first, those which rise above the level of a 

 certain inclined plain or plateau ; secondly, those which seem to 

 have been carved out of this plateau. In the first category are the 

 Yv'arberry and Lincombe Hills, and the high ground above Kilmorie 

 which bears no special name, but may, for the sake of convenience, 

 be called ' Kilmorie Hill.' In the second category are nearly all 

 the other hills within the Torquay watersheds ; few of these hills 

 rise much above 300 feet, and many of them are flat-topped, such 

 as Daison Hill and Lummaton Hill. 



Besides these flat-topped eminences, there are also definite 

 plateaus which cannot be called ' hills,' but are obviously portions of 

 one or more ancient plains. As instances of these, I need only 

 mention the Babbacombe Downs, and the smaller tract which is 

 known by the rustic appellation of Daddy-Hole Plain. 



The plateaus around Torquay, and the problems which they offer 

 to the student of physical geography, did not escape the notice of 

 ATilliam Pengelly, who referred to them in 1864 as 'terraces of 

 denudation.' He seems to have regarded them as submarine 

 platforms produced by the planing action of sea-waves at a time 



' not very remote geologically — when the entire district was below the sea- 

 level.' 1 



In 1866 he developed the idea still further in a paper on 

 1 Lithodomous Perforations ... in the Limestone-Rocks of South- 

 Eastern Devonshire.' 2 In this he notices the different levels at 

 which the ' terraces ' occur at Babbacombe, Torquay, and Brixham, 

 and admits that they might be portions of a single inclined plane, 

 and that this would be a natural conclusion unless there were 

 evidences of distinct pauses at three different levels. Such evidence 

 he believed to exist on Daison Hill, of which he says the top 



' is a well-marked platform at the 280-feet level : and on its slopes there are two 

 indentations or shelves at the requisite heights of about 240 and 200 feet.' 

 {Op. cit. pp. 90-91.) 



jSTow, if three well-marked terraces or platforms do occur on one 

 and the same hill, Pengelly's inference that they indicate three 

 distinct periods of planation would be correct ; hence it is necessary 

 to examine these supposed terraces. 



The summit of Daison Hill is a platform, and undoubtedly corre- 

 sponds with the St. Marychurch plateau, although both are higher 



1 Trans. Devon. Assoc, vol. i (1864) pt. iii, p. 51. 



2 Ibid. pt. v, p. 82. 



