Hertfordshire by Herbert Winckworth Tompkins
page 10 of 256 (03%)
page 10 of 256 (03%)
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(1) From the hill near Boxmoor Station.
(2) From the village of Wigginton, looking S. (3) From the high-road between Graveley and Baldock. (4) From Windmill Hill, Hitchin, looking W. There were medicinal waters at Barnet, Northaw, Hemel Hempstead and Welwyn, but these are now disused. Many other details touching physiographical characteristics are mentioned as occasion arises in the Alphabetical Gazetteer which follows this Introduction. The Geology of Hertfordshire must be here summarised in few words. The predominant formations are the Cretaceous and the Tertiary. CRETACEOUS.--Ignoring the Gault, which barely touches the county, this formation consists chiefly of Chalk-marl, Lower, Middle and Upper Chalk. A series of Chalk Downs, an extension of the Chiltern Hills, stretches, roughly speaking, from Tring to Royston, forming by far the most prominent natural feature of Hertfordshire. The oldest rocks are in the N.W. _The Chalk Marl_ is superimposed upon the Gault and Upper Greensand beds, which are confined to the western portion of the county. Its upper layer passes into a sandy limestone, known as Totternhoe stone, which has furnished materials for many churches in the shire. Ashwell, Pirton and Tring may be named as neighbourhoods where this stratum may be traced. |
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