644 



ME. J. Y. BLSDBN 0!N T THE SEPEEFICIAL GEOLOGY OP 



height of 30 feet above the river, with angular and subangular flints 

 and Yery imperfect traces of stratification ; and again south of 

 Steyning railway-station the 50 feet contour is covered with a similar 

 deposit. These gravels contain chiefly flints, W T ealden sandstone, 

 and a little ironstone, and differ totally in composition from the 

 gravels in a similar position with respect to the Arun valley. 



Crossing to the eastern side of the Adur valley, a long narrow 

 ridge of gravel and flinty loam is found extending from the river- 

 side at Catsfold, past Henfield to Bilsborough and Blackstone Farms. 

 The flints are thickest above the 50 feet contour, and small sections of 

 gravel are to be seen at Henfield in the pond at Henfield Place, and 

 also near Parsonage Parm. The highest points reached by this drift 

 are 103 feet at Turner's Farm and 100 feet at Wantley Farm, thus 

 nearly corresponding with the highest gravel on the opposite side 

 of the river at Ashurst (see section, fig. 13, p. 656). The influence of 

 drift loams on the stiff soil of the Weald-clay is well seen at Park 

 Tarm, where the fields on the southern bank of the stream have a 

 light, friable soil, contrasting strongly with the bare Weald-clay on 

 the northern bank. Smaller patches of flint}' loam occur at Sibb's 

 Farm and also at Chates, where it is strongest on the isolated 50 feet 

 contour. The long ridge of detritus just mentioned borders and 

 faces the stream running due west from Hurstpierpoint. To the 

 south of a line drawn from Henfield to Blackstone between these 

 points and the chalk escarpment scarcely a flint is to be met with, 

 although a good deal of the ground lies above the 100 feet contour. 



Going eastward from Blackstone the ground rises considerably, 

 and between Albourne and Hurstpierpoint we approach the sources 

 of the small tributary streams which drain into Cutler Brook from 

 the south. These streams have cut small valleys into a plateau 

 covered with angular flint drift. This is especially well seen at 

 Albourne Place, where the flints are most numerous on the highest 

 level, 136 feet above the sea ; and again at Sandpit Cottage, Calves 

 Wood, and thence to Danny Park and Hurstpierpoint, where sections 

 of gravel may be seen above the 200 feet contour at Tott's Farm (see 

 section, fig. 12, p. 656). Throughout the whole of this district the 

 tops of the plateau are drift-covered and the valleys almost com- 

 pletely free. This spread of drift can be traced along New Lane 

 to Stonecroft Copse and thence to Ockenden's Wood, intruding into 

 the Upper Greensand almost to the very foot of the chalk escarpment. 

 Around Clayton the drift is absent, but a small patch of flint-covered 

 soil is again seen on the new road, near the Halfway-house, resting 

 upon the Upper Greensand. These spreads of angular flints can 

 scarcely be referred to the existing streams, since they occupy the 

 highest contours, and are very near the main watershed. 



From this plateau-drift, however, true river-gravel and flinty 

 loam have been formed on the left bank of the stream which flows 

 from Hassock's Gate to Danworth Farm and Hickstead. Near 

 Hickstead Bridge the Weald-clay is covered with a thick deposit of 

 angular flints, which are almost entirely absent on the right bank, 

 thus proving their derivation from the higher grounds around Hurst- 



