2 
[LETT. 
view, being an assemblage of liill, dale, woodlands, heath, and 
water. The prospect is bounded to the south-east and east by 
the vast range of mountains called the Sussex downs, by Guild- 
down near Guildford, and by the downs round Dorking, and 
Eyegate in Surrey, to the north-east, which altogether, with the 
country beyond Alton and I'arnham, form a noble and exten- 
sive outline. 
At the foot of this hill, one stage or step from the uplands, 
lies the village, which consists of one single strao-o-hnor street, 
three-quarters of a mile in length, in a sheltered vale, and run- 
ning parallel with the Hanger. The houses are divided from 
the hill by a vein of stiff clay (good wheat land), yet stand on 
a rock of white stone, little in appearance removed from chalk ; 
but seems so far from being calcareous, that it endures extreme 
heat. Yet that the freestone still preserves somewhat that is 
analogous to chalk, is plain from the beeches which descend as 
low as those rocks extend, and no fartlier, and thrive as well on 
them, where the ground is steep, as on the clialks. 
Tiie cart-way of the vilhage divides, in a remarkable manner, 
two very incongruous soils. To the south-west is a rank clay, 
that requires the labour of years to render it mellow ; while the 
gardens to the north-east, and small inclosures behind, consist of 
a warm, forward, crumbling mould, called black malm, which 
seems highly saturated with vegetable and animal manure ; and 
these may perhaps have been the original site of the town; 
while the woods and coverts might extend down to the opposite 
bank. 
At each end of the village, wliich runs from south-east to 
north-west, arises a small rivulet : that at the north-west end 
frequently fails ; but the other is a fine perennial spring, called 
Well-head, little influenced by drought or wet seasons, inas- 
much as it produced on the 14th September, 1781, after a severe 
hot summer and a preceding dry spring and winter, nine gal- 
lons of water in a minute, at a time when many of the wells 
failed, and all the ponds in the vales were dry. 
This spring breaks out of some high grounds joining to N"ore 
Hill, a noble chalk promontory, remarkable for sending forth 
tw^o streams into tw^o different seas. The one to the south 
DSI 
