Memorial to William Smith, "the father of British geology", in his birthplace, Churchill, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, UK.
"William Smith (1769–1839) "Strata Smith" was the "father of English geology". Smith was born in Churchill on 23 March 1769, the son of a blacksmith. He was educated at the village school until the age of eleven, then went to London for two years. In 1788, when he returned to Churchill, his uncle (a Hook Norton farmer) encouraged his interest in surveying, and together they pursued various schemes for land improvement and drainage. At eighteen he became an assistant surveyor, helping to survey Churchill and Sarsden for the 1788 Enclosure Act. His experience of different rock formations led him to develop the theory that the occurrence of different types of fossil could be used to order the geological sequence of rock strata. Although from 1800 he gained a reputation as a civil engineer, he became famous for preparing and producing a series of detailed geological maps of England. He died on 28 August 1839 in Northampton." Wikipedia
Size: 2415px × 3624px
Location: Churchill, Oxfordshire, UK
Photo credit: © Maurice Savage / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: birthplace, britain, british, churchill, civil, engineer, england, english, father, geologist, geology, memorial, monument, oxfordshire, oxon, small, smith, stone, uk, village, william
