Excursion to Redhill. Saturday, 26th June, 1880 - 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: C. J. A. Meyer, F.G.S. (Report by The Director). (Proc. Vol. vi. p. 373).

Redhill, Nutfield and Crawley.

[The first excursion to the above district took place on April 9th, 1861 (Proc., vol. i. p. 149). The second in 1868, during the cessation of any issue of Proceedings. A report of the third—to Redhill and Nutfield—is given below]

The Fuller's-earth beds in the Lower Greensand in the vicinity of Redhill and Nutfield formed the principal point of interest in this excursion. The strata yielding Fuller's-earth in workable quantity occupy the northern slope of the sand-ridge between Redhill and Bletchingley. The position in the Cretaceous series of these particular Fuller's-earth beds has been long a matter of uncertainty amongst geologists, some observers placing them in the Hythe Beds, others in the Sandgate Beds of the Lower Greensand. It was on this occasion pointed out and explained to the members present that the Fuller's-earth Beds of Nutfield really belonged to, and represented in position, a part of the Folkestone Beds of the Lower Greensand. It was explained that the typical Folkestone Beds, as existing at Folkestone and between Folkestone and Sandgate, consisted throughout their whole thickness of alternations of stone, sand, and sandy clay. These Folkestone Beds proper westward of Folkestone took on, however, in their upper part, a constantly increasing thickness of pure sand beds. These sand beds, which consisted of white and iron-stained sand, with "carstone" and occasional thin partings of Fuller's-earth, had a thickness near Maidstone of about 30 feet. Near Reigate their thickness was about 90 feet. Further westward, near Guildford, their thickness was not less than 130 feet. At Shanklin, in the Isle of Wight, their thickness probably exceeded 200 feet. Unlike the typical Folkestone Beds, these overlying sand beds were unfossiliferous. Wanting at Folkestone, they were, westward of that place, interposed between the Gault and the Folkestone Beds proper. The Fuller's-earth and accompanying stone beds occupying the northern slope and crest of the sand-ridge between Redhill and Bletchingley were thus shown to represent the true Folkestone Beds, and it was pointed out that representatives of the Sandgate Beds and Hythe Beds of the Lower Greensand occupied the southern escarpment only of the same sand-ridge.

On May 21st, 1887, there was an excursion to Merstham, Redhill, and Reigate, W. Topley, F.R.S., Director, of which there is a full report in Proc., vol. x. p. 154.]