IV. PHYSICAL FEATURES AND GEOLOGY


There is a prevalent belief that the picturesque part of the West of
England begins with Devon and ends with Cornwall, to which Somerset
is merely a stepping-stone. This opinion is no doubt fostered by the
impression which the tourist derives of the county through the carriage
windows of the "Cornishman." But the considerations that appeal to
the railway engineer are mechanical rather than aesthetic; and,
unfortunately for the reputation of Somerset for scenery, the line of
least resistance is the line of least interest--the dead level skirting
the coast between Bristol and Taunton. As a matter of fact, there are
few districts which afford such a variety of physical features as
Somerset. Hill and valley, cliff and chasm, moor and seaboard, are all
to be found there; and, in addition to its wealth of scenery, Somerset
is rich in antiquities of different kinds; whilst it has also been the
theatre of some of the most stirring events in English history.

The physical skeleton of the county may be roughly described as
consisting of three parallel ranges of hills running transversely
across it--the Mendips and their outliers in the N.E., the
insignificant Poldens in the centre, and the Quantocks and Exmoor in
the W., with the Blackdowns occupying the S.W. corner. The intervening
basins are filled with a rich alluvial deposit washed down from the
hills or left by the receding sea. The _Mendips_ spread themselves
across the E. end of the county in a N.W. direction from Frome to
Weston-super-Mare, where they lose themselves in the Channel, to