Excursion to Worth. June 30th, 1883 - Geologists' Association excursion

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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: W. Topley, F.R.S. (Report by The Director.) (Proc. Vol. viii. p. 185.)

Note: Sussex: [The last excursion, Excursion to Redhill and Crawley (Northern valley of the Weald). Saturday, May 6th, 1882 - Geologists' Association excursion from Redhill in Surrey, on the Lower Greensand, to Crawley in Sussex, ended at the southern edge of the Weald Clay; this begins on the northern edge of the Hastings-Sands Series in the immediate neighbourhood of Crawley.]

The party assembled at Three Bridges Station early in the afternoon, and walked to Worth Church, passing over the higher beds of the Tunbridge Wells Sand, sections of which are seen in the railway cuttings north of Worth.

Some time was spent in examining the church, an especially interesting example of Saxon architecture, the original ground plan being strictly preserved. The chief architectural peculiarity is in the external upright bands or pilasters of masonry, supporting another band, which runs as a string-course around the church. The "long and short work," so characteristic of Saxon churches, is well seen here. The stone employed is the Wealden sandstone of the neighbourhood.

A walk through Worth Forest brought the party to the summit of Balcombe Down. The forest is partly of modern planting, replacing the trees cut down for the old ironworks; but there are large tracts of the remains of the ancient forest, chiefly of oak and birch. The site of one of the old furnaces was visited at Cinderbanks, where large heaps of slag are seen, but no remains of the furnaces have been preserved. A large pond formerly existed here, to supply water-power to the ironworks; the dam being partly constructed of slag. Large quantities of cannon were cast at these furnaces, some as late as the latter part of the last century.

From the summit of Balcombe Down an extensive view is obtained over the Weald. The North and South Downs are clearly seen, whilst to the north-west the higher lands of the Leith Hill range (Lower Greensand) bound the view.

A MS. section, made in 1806-7 by John Farey, was exhibited, by which the denudation of the Weald was clearly established. The term denudation, in fact, was introduced by Farey with reference to this district.

Mr. J. W. Hulke, F.R.S., then gave an interesting address on the general characters of the Dinosauria, whose remains are found in the Wealden beds, pointing out especially the advances then made in our knowledge of these forms. It was shown that their skeletal characters combined features which in existing reptiles marked different and distinct orders, so that they were generalized types. Their close avian resemblances, hinting at a common ancestry of reptiles and birds, were also touched upon; and allusion was made to the first discovery of the Iguanodon, by Mantell, in the neighbouring Cuckfield Quarry.

From Balcombe Down the party descended to the village of Balcombe, where tea was provided at the Railway Inn.

References

Maps

Ordnance Survey. Geological. Sheets 8, 9. 8s. 6d. each.

New Ordnance Survey. Sheet 302. 1s.

Books

W. Topley. Geology of the Weald. 8vo. London (Geol. Surv.). 1875. 28s.