S68 Mr. 'LyeW on the Boulder Formation, 



The most singular and important circumstance connected 

 with the great outlier of chalk at Old Hythe is the fact of its 

 being perfectly disunited from the subjacent horizontal chalk. 

 I could not myself positively determine this point either in 

 1829 or 1S39, because there was a talus at the base of the 

 vertical cliff resting on the projecting ledge of chalk and con- 

 cealing the junction; but when the whole was cleared away 

 by the waves in March 184-0, after a storm, Mr. Simons vi- 

 sited the spot, and ascertained the continuity and infra-posi- 

 tion of the crag which I had before inferred. My inference, 

 previously announced to tiie Geological Society, was drawn 

 from a comparison of the state of the cliff in 1839, with my 

 sketches and memoranda made ten years before. At both 

 periods I was able to trace the horizontal crag to within 5 

 feet of the base of the precipice, composed of vertical beds 

 of drift enveloping the chalk; and as the sea had advanced 

 greatly in the inierval of ten years, the pan, had it not been 

 continuous, must have been entirely removed before my last 

 visit, in which case nothin<)- could have been visible but chalk 

 on the ledge immediately o})posite the pinnacle. 



From the summit of Old Hythe point the land slopes down 

 to Old Hythe gap with a rapid descent. It also slopes, though 

 at a less angle, directly inland, so that as the sea advances the 

 cliff at this point will become less elevated. In 1829 the two 

 masses of chalk appeared much more equal in size, and wrap- 

 ped round as it were both on their sides and at the top with 

 strata of shingle and drift. 



Another included mass of pure chalk was also observable 

 in 1839 between Cromer and Lower Runton near the bottom 

 of the cliff. It was traversed by several rents, and alternating 

 beds of laminated clay and sand were bent round it, as in the 

 annexed diagram (fig. 14), which represents a perpendicular 

 section 23 feet in height. 



Fiir. 14. 



; ij 



drift. fisb-ured chalk. di ift. 



Section 25 feet high, west of Cromer. 

 This mass, although on a smaller scale, may be compared to 



