. Proceedings - Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society. of considerable interest, which has affected to a very largeextent the chalk formation, which obtains so large a develop-ment in the county, and consequently in the physical featuresand scenery of the district. There is a further reason whyRidgway Hill suggested itself as an object for an excursionthis afternoon. For some time past I have been trying to collectmaterials for the description of the various features of the chalkof Dorsetshire, and at Ridgway Hill I thought the opportunityoffered itself of noticing one of the most
. Proceedings - Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society. of considerable interest, which has affected to a very largeextent the chalk formation, which obtains so large a develop-ment in the county, and consequently in the physical featuresand scenery of the district. There is a further reason whyRidgway Hill suggested itself as an object for an excursionthis afternoon. For some time past I have been trying to collectmaterials for the description of the various features of the chalkof Dorsetshire, and at Ridgway Hill I thought the opportunityoffered itself of noticing one of the most striking features of thegreat chalk formation of the county. From here one of the finestviews of the surrounding country is obtainable. North and east-wards the heath districts of Moreton and Wareham are visible,resting on the Bagshot sands and gravels, reproducing the minorescarpment lines, and characteristic scenery of the Hampshire andLondon basins of the Tertiary age. Beyond the chalk downs spreadfar and wide. Standing on the edge of Ridgway Hill and looking. 56 THE KIDGWAY FAULT. southwards a second minor escarpment is visible parallel to the first,formed by the harder beds of Kimmeridge clay. The steep andcoombe-shaped valleys are a feature of this district, bearing ontheir sides, in various places, and especially near Bincombe, severalterraces clearly cut and parallel to each other, the indications of aprevious state of the cultivation of the soil. Further south liesthe low ground occupied by Lodmoor and the tract surrounding theWeymouth Backwater, which consists geologically of a remarkableanticlinal axis formed of the various beds of the Forest marble,Kimmeridge clay, Oxford clay, Portland sand and stone successively,to which I shall refer more fully further on. Across the sea onour right hand lies that curious physical problem of the ChesilBeach, resting on its bed of Oxford clay, bounded beyond by thesteep cliff of the Isle of Portland. On our left we see the finecoa
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