and Freshisoater Deposits of Eastern Norfolk. S'tQ 



till between laminated beds of clay and loam are not unfrequent. 

 In 1839, 1 saw at a spot between the two lighthouses, till rest- 

 ing on stratified clay and covered by stratified gravel and 

 white chalk rubble, which latter formed the top of the cliff. 



Owing to the continual dilapidation of the cliffs the details 

 of the sections seen by me in 1829 and 1839 were very dif- 

 ferent. During my last visit the beach at Hasborough was 

 too high to allow me to see the fundamental bed of lignite 

 which exists there, which in June 1829 was exposed at low 

 water, the descending section being then as follows: 1st, sand 

 and loam, 13 feet; 2ndly, unstratified mud or till varying 

 from 8 to 16 feet; 3rdly, laminated sand and clay, one foot 

 and a half, part of the clay being bituminous and inclosing 

 compressed branches and leaves of trees. The clays, which 

 were blackish, greenish or brown, contained occasional layers 

 of small pebbles, rounded and angular, mostly of chalk flint. 

 The entire height of the cliff was about 35 feet. 



This locality has been mentioned by various authors as the 

 principal site of the submarine forest of East Norfolk, which 

 has been described as occurring about the level of low water; 

 and Mr. R. C. Taylor observes of this deposit generally, — 



" That it consists of forest peat, containing fir cones and fragments of 

 bones; in others of woody clay; and elsewhere of large stools of trees 

 standing thickly together, the stems appearing to have been broken off 

 about 18 inches from their base. They are evidently rooted in the clay or 

 sandy bed in which they originally grew, and their stems, branches, and 

 leaves lie around them, flattened by the pressure of from 30 to 300 feet of 

 diluvial deposits. It is not possible to say how far inland this subterranean 

 forest extends ; but that it is not a mere external belt is obvious from the 

 constant exposure and removal of new portions, at the base of the cliffs *." 



A letter of the Rev. James Lay ton is thus cited by Mr. 

 Fairholme : — 



" One remarkable feature in this compact blue clay is a stratum of 

 wood, exhibiting the appearance of a wood overthrown or crushed iii situ. 

 At Paling the stumps of trees seem now to be really standing, the roots are 

 strong, spread abroad, and intermingling with each other ; were a torrent 

 to sweep away the mould from the surface of a thick wood, leaving the 

 roots bare in the ground, the appearances would be exactly the same. 

 This phaenomenon occurs again at Hasborough : the line of crushed wood, 

 leaves, grass, &c., frequently forming a bed of peat, extends just above 

 low-water mark. About this stratum are found numerous remains of 

 mammalia, the horns and bones of at least four kinds of deer, the ox, the 

 horse, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, and elephant. These fossil remains are 

 found at Hasborough and its neighbourhood on the denuded clay shore : at 

 Mundesley they are found in the cliff. The great mine, however, is in the 

 sea, some miles from land, where there is an oyster bed on a stratum of 

 gravel about six fathoms deep. How far this bed of fossils extends, I can- 

 not pretend to say, but in ] 826 some fishermen while dredging for soles 



» Geology of E. Norfolk, p. 21. 



