Excursion to Hendon and Finchley. June 22nd, 1872 - Geologists' Association excursion

From: A record of excursions made between 1860 and 1890. Edited by Thomas Vincent Holmes , F.G.S. and C. Davies Sherborn, F.G.S. London: Edward Stanford [For the Geologists’ Association], 1891. Source: Cornell University copy on the Internet Archive (Public domain work)

Director: Dr. Henry Hicks, F.R.S. (Proc. Vol. III. p. 115.)

[Finchley and neighbourhood. The first excursion to this district was made in 1866, and was unrecorded in the Proceedings.]

The party assembled at Hendon station, and proceeded to the village of Hendon, upon the high ground, to the east. The London Clay is here capped by Glacial deposits, which form the summits of the eminences lying between the Bagshot outliers of Hampstead and Highgate and the elevations of London Clay extending along the borders of Middlesex and Hertfordshire.

Dr. Hicks led the way to some recently excavated pits, where good sections were exposed. Here he pointed out the very marked resemblance of the beds at this place to the Thames low-level sands and gravels of Post Glacial age. Luncheon was kindly provided by Mr. James Campbell, of The Grove, Hendon.

The members then proceeded to the residence of Dr. Hicks, who had arranged his collection of Cambrian and Lower Silurian fossils on tables in his grounds for the inspection of his visitors. The large trilobites Paradoxides Davidi and P. Hicksi, from the Menevian rocks of St. David's, attracted great attention, and the number, variety, and good preservation of the Cambrian fossils surprised many of the visitors.

The party, on leaving, followed for a short distance the lane leading to Finchley, and then turned aside to some extensive excavations where the Glacial beds were exposed to a great depth, and the underlying London Clay was seen in a sinking at the bottom of the pit. Here the "Middle Glacial" of Searles Wood is seen underlying the Chalky Boulder-Clay, which forms the upper portion of the section. Mr. Caleb Evans and Mr. C. J. A. Meyer briefly described the geology of the district, and discussed the origin of Sarsen stones, some of which masses of sandstone were lying around.

After a walk of about a mile Finchley was reached, and the exposures of Glacial deposits near the village were examined. These are described in Henry Walker's paper " On the Glacial Drifts of North London " (Proc. Geol. Assoc., vol ii. p. 289). Derived fossils, especially Gryphæea incurva, from the Lower Lias, are abundant, and some time was spent in obtaining specimens of these suggestive memorials of great terrestrial changes.