Vol. 6^.~\ ORIGIX OF THE PLATEAUS AROUND TORQUAY. 



109 



Barton, reaching on the west side to Clennon Lane, and on the east 

 side including the summit of Mincent Hill, or rather what is left of 

 it, to the east of the extensive quarries (see fig. 2). This platform 

 slopes southward from a level of about 360 feet to about 340 feet. 



On the western side it is 

 connected by a slightly lower 

 ridge with Lummaton Hill, the 

 summit-level of which is not 

 indicated on the Ordnance-map, 

 but is probably about 340 feet. 

 The top is very flat, and has 

 evidently formed part of the same 

 plateau, partly separated by the 

 hollow or combe which has been 

 excavated out of the intervening 

 strip of Permian clay. 



Lummaton Hill slopes grad- 

 ually south-westward into the 

 narrow valley which is occupied 

 by the hamlet of Hele ; but the 

 ground rises again to the south 

 of this into another flat- topped 

 eminence, which is generally 

 known as ' Windmill Hill,' al- 

 though its ancient and proper 

 name is ' Yeadown ' or ' Yaddon ' 

 Hill. East of this, across the 

 narrow gorge of ' Combe Valley/ 

 we find Daison Hill with a 

 similar flat top (see fig. 3, p. 110), 

 the altitude of which is prac- 

 tically the same as that of 

 Yeadown (about 320 feet). 



If these hills are viewed from 

 any height to the north or south 

 of them, they present the ap- 

 pearance of a single mass of 

 limestone which has been cleft 

 in twain. A century ago the 

 cleft would have been attributed 

 to ' some convulsion of Nature ' ; 

 to-day we know that it has been 

 effected by the gradual action 

 of the little stream which runs 

 through the ravine, and has cut 

 its way down from the summit of the ancient plateau during the 

 upheaval of the whole country. 



East of Lummaton and Daison Hills lies the St. ITarychurch 

 and Babbacombe plateau, the northern part of which is more than 

 330 feet above sea-level, but slopes gradually southward through 



