A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



inasmuch as it brings us nearer to the historic period. It consists of a second plain formed entirely 

 liy the deposition of marine or estuarine sands, muds, and clays. These beds nearly all lie below the 

 25-feet contour and are the mixed detritus and sediments brought down by the Mersey, Ribble, and 

 Lune, which have been sorted and deposited on the coast between the mouths of these rivers. 

 The lands over which the Liverpool and Southport Railway runs are part of this plain of deposition, 

 which has added many square miles to what is now the county of Lancaster. 



The muddy sediment, of which these ' Form by and Leasowe Marine or Estuarine Beds' are 

 composed, is crowded with Foraminifera, as was proved by borings at Altcar, recently made by the 

 Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway .1 The mollusc Scrobicularia piperata, in a vertical position as it 

 lived, also occurs, showing that some of the beds were laid down between tide marks. 



Perhaps the most interesting deposit of all is the peat and forest bed, which was known over a 

 century ago. A description and plate of it appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine in I79^> P" 549- 

 This bed underlies the moss lands, and upon it the sand-dunes previously described in the chapter on 

 Geology have been built up by the wind. They occupy an area between Liverpool and Southport 

 of 22 square miles. 



The outcrop of the peat and forest bed at and south of the Alt mouth is still to be seen, but it 

 has of late been much destroyed by the inroads of the sea.' 



Geologically the most interesting fact in connection with the extensive post-glacial deposits is 

 the proof they afford that oscillations of the land with respect to the sea level have taken place in 

 very late — probably miocene time (see Dawkins' Prehistoric Man) — geological times. The peat and 

 forest bed with stools of oak, birch, and pine are washed by the tide now at the Alt mouth, 

 and elsewhere they have been proved by dock and other excavations to occur below low-water 

 mark — situations where it would be impossible for trees to grow now. 



This belt of alluvial deposits extends northwards with little interruption past the Fylde country 

 to the mouth of the river Lune, and with some intervals extends to the river Duddon. Here 

 knolls of boulder clay rise through the moss lands and are distinguished by their greenness. 

 Excellent sections of the deposits and underlying boulder clay and rocks were disclosed in the 

 excavations of the Midland Railway dock at Heysham, and are described in the Proceedings of the 

 Liverpool Geological Society, session 1 90 1 -2 (Reade). 



All the fringes to the solid land of south-west Lancashire are but parts of an extensive belt of 

 deposition, remains of which occur all round the British Islands. Still more extensive plains form a 

 large part of Belgium, and the excavations for the Bruges Ship Canal presented excellent sections 

 showing a similar series of estuarine and peat beds with the remains of trees.* 



Before artificial drainage and pumping was resorted to, much of the land was little better than 

 a series of marshes, and many meres, such as Martin Mere, near Southport, existed, but on a smaller 

 scale. The land is now under cultivation, excepting where built upon, as at Southport and Birkdale, 

 and is peculiarly favourable to the growth of potatoes, which are produced in great quantities. The 

 more sandy portions are in some cases used for growing asparagus, which seems to like the soil and 

 saline surroundings. 



The mean rainfall at Park Corner, Blundellsands, for twenty-nine years, 1876-1904, is 

 29*95 inches. 



Enough has been said to show that this desolate-looking coastal plain abounds in lessons of the 

 greatest interest from a geological, historical, and a human aspect, lessons of a kind that are absent in 

 more beautiful landscapes. 



1 Proc. of the Liverpool Geol. Soc. 1903-4. 



* A full account illustrated with maps and sections of the geological and physical feaures will be found in 

 the Proc. 0/ tie Liverpool Geol. Soc., Session 1 87 1-2, by T. Mellard Reade. 

 8 Q.J.G.S., iS9S,pp. 575-581. 



30 



