©n tbe lErosion of tbe Sboues of tbe 
Severn Estuari?, 
By Sidney H. Reynolds, M.A., F.G.S. 
W HILE the wearing away of the shores of the broader part of 
the Severn estuary is due mainly to ordinary marine erosion, 
that of the narrower part is more dependent on the scour of the tides. 
For purposes of description the coast line may be divided into 
six sections. 
1 . — From Burnham to Clevedon. 
The coast from the mouth of the Bure at Burnham to the neigh- 
bourhood of Clevedon is, in the main, a flat alluvial tract of very 
recent origin geologically speaking, and is generally bordered by 
a considerable stretch of blown sand. The four prominent limestone 
ridges of Brean Down, Worle Hill, Middle Hope, and Clevedon, 
break its monotony and divide it into a corresponding number of 
sections, which closely resemble one another. 
These sections are — 
[a) From the mouth of the Bure to Brean Dov/n. 
(b) From the mouth of the Axe to Worle Hill. 
(c) From Kewstoke to Middle Hope. 
(d) From the mouth of the Yeo to Clevedon. 
Sections (a), (6), and {d) resemble one another almost precisely. 
Each commences with the mouth of a river, and consists of a nearly 
straight strip of flat coast bordered by a shallow sea and terminated 
by a prominent limestone ridge. Section (c) differs in being without 
any considerable stream at its commencement. In sections {a) (6) and (c), 
blown sand plays a prominent part in the formation of the coastline, 
while in section {d) the coast is formed by alluvium. The biggest 
sand-hills occur in the neighbourhood of Berrow, where the church 
is surrounded by lofty examples, and would long ere this have been 
buried were not further encroachments artificially prevented. Blown 
sand is strongly banked up against the southern margin of Brean 
Down, and is thickly spread over the lower slopes of the Down. 
No marine erosion takes place on the flats between the limestone 
ridges, and very little on the ridges themselves, such erosion as 
there is being mainly subaerial. Each ridge consists of naassive 
limestone striking east and west; but while in the case of Middle 
Hope and W orle Hill the dip is in a southerly direction at an angle 
of about 35®, in the case of Brean Down the dip is northerly. In 
■each case the scarp side is steeper than the dip slope side, but this 
is specially noteworthy in the case of Brean -Down, where the 
■southern margin is formed by a lofty precipitous cliff. The point of 
Brean Down beyond the Fort has the highly-dipping limestone beds 
planed off so as to afford a small but excellent example of a shore 
jplatform or plain-of-marine-erosion. 
