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CHAPTER XV. 
SCENERY AND AGRICULTURE. 
Form of the Ground 
THE general easterly and south-easterly arrangement of the 
rocks, modified though it be by local flexures, and by denudation 
at different period", has caused the Oolitic rocks to outcrop in 
aline trending to the north and north-east. 
The results of denudation on strata of varying durability have 
led to the production of a series of long and diversified ranges of 
hills separated by vales the former being marked by the outcrop 
of the stone-beds (Stonebrash Hills) and the latter by the clays. 
The outcrop being as a rule on the west or north-westerly slopes 
of the hills, there we find scarps, and comparatively steep slopes, 
while in the opposite direction, the dip-slopes incline very gently 
towards the outcrop of the succeeding formation. The Midford 
Sand and overlying Inferior Oolite, the Northampton Sand and 
Lincolnshire Limestone, the Fuller's Earth Rock, the Forest 
Marble limestone, and (to a minor extent) the Cornbrash, form 
the ridges, hills, and escarpments; while the Lias clays, the 
Fuller's Earth clay?, the Estuarine and Forest Marble clays, the 
Oxford Clay, &c. occupy the vale?. 
It is important to note that while each great division of stone- 
beds forms a marked feature, this varies much in importance in 
the same formation when traced across the country. The differ- 
ence is partly owing to variations in the nature and thickness of 
the beds, to the amount of inclination, and to the breadth of out- 
crop : but of course it is mainly dependent on elevation and 
denudation. Thus various divisions in turn form the dominant 
heights. 
In Dorsetshire the Forest Marble forms the most prominent of 
the Jurassic escarpments ; near Bath the Great Oolite is the main 
feature ; further north the Inferior Oolite above Cheltenham ; and 
still further north the Marlstone at Edge Hill forms the dominant 
features. (See Fig. 134.) Thus in going northwards, we find 
the lower beds standing out more and more prominently, and we 
may trace evidence of a great plain of denudation, such as must 
have been formed during Neocomian or Lower Cretaceous times, 
and have been modified and extended in Upper Cretaceous times. 
The Cotteswold Hills, varying in elevation from 700 to a little 
over 1,000 feet, may be said to extend from Bath to Chipping 
Campden, a distance of about 50 miles, although nearer 60 if we 
allow for the varying direction of the range. 
Near Bath the Great Oolite forms the dominant heights as at 
Lansdown, and this formation further north, although attaining 
