Page:VCH Norfolk 1.djvu/31

 GEOLOGY NORFOLK is a tolerably flat county, rising nowhere to a height of 350 feet, but forming an elevated plain which slopes gently from the west and north towards the south-east and east. The diversified scarps which occur in the west are bordered by the levels of the Fenland, and portions of the north coast are fringed by marshlands. Nevertheless, there is much to interest the geologist in the cliffs of Red and White Chalk at Hunstanton, and in the so-called ' mud cliffs ' of Cromer. The Chalk itself is always a hunting-ground for fossils ; while the Norwich Crag, with its abundant shells and remains of mastodon and other mammalia ; the Cromer Forest Bed series, with its rich and varied vertebrate fauna and its interesting plant-remains, have engaged the attention, not only of local observers, but of distinguished geologists from all parts of the country and the Continent. The literature in consequence is copious. If the coast scenery is for the most part monotonous, it is neverthe- less modified by the bold hillocks of blown sand which here and there fringe the shores ; while the inland scenery is rendered pleasant by the intermixture of heath, woodland and common, with the cultivated tracts and their richly-timbered hedgerows. Again, the isolated meres in West Norfolk, and the fine series of freshwater lakes, or Broads, in East Norfolk, offer attractions to the naturalist and to the painter, to say nothing of those who come to the Broads for rest and relaxation. The earliest, and indeed the only independent work on the Geology of Norfolk, was that issued in 1833 by Samuel Woodward (of Norwich). Notes on particular portions of the county had already been published by earlier observers : by William Smith, R. C. Taylor and others, while shortly afterwards Caleb B. Rose (of Swaffham) printed his excellent Sketch of the Geology of West Norfolk. Many a worker has since added to our knowledge, among whom we should not fail to mention Lyell, Joshua Trimmer, John Gunn (formerly rector of Irstead), the late S. V. Wood, jun., and Mr. F. W. Harmer, who is still an energetic worker. During the years 1875 to 1884 Norfolk was examined in detail by the officers of the Geological Survey, from whose memoirs, sections and maps may be obtained a detailed knowledge of the structure of the entire county and full references to the observations of the many other labourers in the field of geology.