BIRCH GROVES OF EPPING FOREST. 71 
under Staples Hill, evidences of a series of springs, thrown out 
on both sides of the valley, were observed. The level at which 
these springs appear is about, or rather below, the 200 feet 
contour and they probably indicate the presence of some per¬ 
meable bed included in the London Clay.” 1 Quite a number 
of springs, marked “ rises ” on the 6" Ordnance Survey Map, 
1921, issue from points at very short distances from either side 
of the Epping Road, which runs roughly parallel to, and within a 
quarter of a mile from, the watershed between the Lea and the 
Roding. The greater number, practically all, of these streams, 
follow a south-eastward course and form part of the drainage 
system of the latter river. They greatly enhance the picturesque 
beauty of the Forest, for several of the more secluded glades, or 
“ slades,” due to their action, afford a delightful variety of 
scene that can be enjoyed only by those who wander from the 
more frequented routes through the upper woodlands. 
The rainfall, in the near neighbourhood of Epping town, based 
on an average of thirty-five years, 1876 to 1910, is the highest for 
Essex. 
“ The higher ridges between the Lea and Roding valleys, 
south of Harlow, extending from north-east to south-west for 
15 miles, and narrowing from 9 miles in width on the north to a 
mere point in the south, includes the highest rainfall of Essex. 
The 25" isohyetal surrounds this area running at an elevation 
of about 150 feet in the south to something over 250 feet in the 
north, while the highest ridge, on which Epping Forest stands, 
appears to have a rainfall exceeding 27.5 ins. at elevations about 
350 feet.”* The following table shows rainfall for the years 
1916-20 at stations on the forest area at different levels, but at 
only a few miles distance from each other. 
Rainfall at Five Stations on or near the Forest for the 
Y Ears 1916- 
O.D. 1916 
—1920 :• 
1917 
1918 
1919 
1920 
Leytonstone High 
Road 
100 
32.91 
29-57 
33-13 
26.81 
24-31 
Buckhurst Hill . . 
275 
32.06 
25.02 
29.18 
25.46 
24.68 
Loughton, High 
Beach 
376 
34-29 
27.23 
29.84 
29.12 
26.60 
Waltham Abbey.. 
66 
34-38 
26.94 
28.78 
28.16 
24.18 
Epping Hemnalls 
345 
38.88 
29-54 
34-94 
31-54 
28.54 
1 Proc. Geol. Assoc., igio, vol. xxi., pt. 8, p. 452. 
2 Whitaker and Thresh, Water Supply of Essex, iyi6, p. 41. 
