112 MR. F. W. HARMER ON THE GLACIAL DEPOSITS 
county from the coast in a south-south-easterly direction 
towards Suffolk. In this district it seldom attains an 
elevation exceeding ioo feet above sea level. 
Approaching Cromer by road, however, the character of 
the scenery suddenly changes ; a well-marked ridge confronts 
us, crossing the country from W.S.W. to E.N.E., as shown 
on the contour map. The northern slope of this ridge is 
especially steep, the station of the Great Eastern Railway, 
from the picturesque position of which one looks down 
upon the sea, 200 feet below, standing on its seaward edge. 
Looking inland, as one passes by the coast road from 
Overstrand to Weybourne, the clearly defined appearance 
of the bold and continuous line of this ridge is very striking. 
The scenery of this region differs from that of any other 
part of East Anglia, its unique beauty being due to the 
hummocky character of the drift, a feature which disappears 
to the south of the ridge, the contrast between the two areas 
being strongly marked. Some rounded and isolated hills near 
Cromer and Sheringham, moreover (fig. 1), are very significant*. 
Descending now to the beach we are en face with one of 
the most interesting sections of the glacial beds known, 
showing a disturbed accumulation of beds of clay, sand, 
and gravel, containing in places enormous masses of 
chalk or chalky marl. The contour map suggests that the 
Cromer ridge originally extended further to the east-north- 
east. For long ages it must have been exposed to the wasting 
attacks of the sea in that direction, and much of it must have 
been destroyed. 
These facts point to the conclusion that while the brick- 
earths of the region to the south represent the moraine 
profonde of the great Scandinavian glacier, levelled as by 
a gigantic steam roller, the Cromer ridge, piled up and con- 
torted by the pressure of the ice, and attaining in places 
a height of 300 feet above sea level, indicates its terminal 
moraine, not at the period of maximum extension, but at 
some stage, possibly a prolonged one, of its retreat. Had 
* Such knolls are a recognized feature of glaciated areas both in 
North America and in Northern Europe. 
