202 
HASTINGS STRATA. 
of the Hastings cliffs, above described.* The rock 
on which Winchelsea is built, is surrounded by an 
alluvial marsh, and presents a cliff more or less 
abrupt on every side. In a quarry, near the 
ancient gateway leading towards Rye, a layer of 
the Tilgate stone, nearly five feet thick, occurs in 
ferruginous sand ; and in a cliff considerably lower 
than the base of this quarry, another bed is seen 
in situ. The mound on which Rye is situated 
presents a similar arrangement of the strata. The 
Tilgate stone, in these places, contains casts of the 
small cyclas, which occur in such abundance at 
AVhite Rock. 
HASTINGS BEDS IN THE INTERIOR OF THE COUNTRY. 
From the coast to the westernmost point of this 
formation, the Tilgate grit is but sparingly distri- 
buted near the surface, except in the immediate 
vicinity of the forests. The arenaceous strata, and 
tlie lower ferruginous sands and clays, occupy the 
whole country, and in some localities form romantic 
groups of rocks, as at Maresfield, Uckfield, Buxted, 
and Fletching, where large masses lie bare, as when 
left by the waters of the ocean. 
* The occurrence of the Tilgate stone, in these localities, was first 
described by Mr. Lyell ; vide “ Notice on tlie Iron-sand Formation of 
Sussex,” by the author; and it maybe remarked, that although this 
Notice appeared in the Geological Transactions for 1826, it was read 
before the society so long since as June 14th 1822. The same volume 
contains a memoir on the strata at Hastings; with a drawing of the 
coast, by Mr. Webster. 
