YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS AT MARKET WEIGHTON. 



281 



Mr. Samuel Chadwick, one of the secretaries. Upon our arrival the 

 line to Beverley was traversed until, upon the south side of the 

 cutting, those beds of the Lower Lias, belonging to the zone of 

 Ammonites angulattis^ or the 'grey stone,' were examined. They 

 were extremely fossiliferous, and, had time permitted, the wallets 

 might have been filled at the beginning of the day's work. The line 

 was still continued until we arrived at a fine section of the grey or 

 upper division of the lower chalk. Here ample work was found for 

 the hammers, and some good results ensued. Among the fossils 

 found were Terebratula gracilis^ T. biplicata, T. semi-globosa^ Rhyn- 

 conelloe, Inocerami, a tooth of Otodus, etc. Reddish bands were 

 observed in this chalk. This chalk is denoted by the Government 

 geological surveyors as flintless, but numerous specimens of a whitish 

 flint were obtained in situ (of quite a different character to those of 

 the middle chalk), a circumstance which occasioned much incredulity 

 and speculation. Of course, some were strongly inclined to be 

 orthodox in believing the lower chalk to be flintless, whilst the 

 discoverers of the flints, fresh with their spoils from the living 

 rock, triumphantly refuted this idea. The way was now taken by 

 a gentle and pleasant ascent to the ancient village of Goodmanham, 

 the ' Godmundingaham' of the venerable Bede, where, according 

 to tradition, some most remarkable events in connection with the 

 introduction of Christianity into our island have taken place. Some 

 extensive earthworks were carefully walked over and examined, but 

 the general opinion was that although some parts may have been 

 due to the perseverance of our forefathers, yet they were really the 

 debris of a modern chalk-pit. The pleasant gardens of the palatial 

 rectory were then passed through to the village, and a little detour 

 made from the geological track to inspect the venerable church, 

 which displayed in its chancel arch and doorway its Early Norman 

 origin. This church was viewed with great interest, as, with the 

 greatest probability, it stands upon the site of ' the place where the 

 idols were ' of Bede, or the ancient heathen temple. There was 

 always an idea in those early days to efface Paganism by erecting 

 upon the site of the destroyed heathen temple a Christian church. 

 And now a long walk was taken in the direction of Enthorpe to view 

 the cutting now being made on the new railway intended to connect 

 Market Weighton and Driffield. This new line has a peculiar interest 

 to West Riding people, as, when completed, the necessity of travel- 

 ling from Leeds to Bridlington either by way of Hull or Seamer will 

 be at an end, and a more direct route secured, which will shorten 

 the journey by about twenty miles. An immense embankment is 

 being formed from the material obtained from the deep cutting 



Sept. 1888. 



