Greensand Ridge
The Greensand Ridge, also known as the Wealden Greensand,
About 51 per cent of the Wealden Greensand is protected as the
Geology and soils
Geological history
The Greensand Ridge, formed of
The Weald dome consists of a series of geological strata laid down in the
Geology
The Lower Greensand is a predominantly
The Lower Greensand is composed of alternating mudstones (sandy, with clay particles such as smectite) and sandstones, up to a maximum thickness of about 400 metres (1,300 ft), and is composed of a number of distinct formations, namely the Folkestone Beds, Sandgate Beds, Bargate Beds, Hythe Beds and Atherfield Clay.[5]
Soils
The soil of the Greensand is quite varied, ranging from fertile to fairly sterile. On the fertile soils we see
Relief and drainage
Broadly speaking, the Greensand Ridge runs along the northern edge of the Weald in a west-east arc from Surrey into Kent, just south of and parallel to the chalk escarpment of the North Downs. The ridge is separated by a mixed deep and shallow, fertile depression from the North Downs referred to as the 'Vale of Holmesdale', formed on Gault Clay, and a narrow band of Upper Greensand that outcrops at the foot of the chalk scarp (ridge). In some places the clay vale is very narrow: for example at Oxted the gap between summits of the Greensand Ridge and the North Downs is less than 2 kilometres (1.2 mi).
The Greensand Ridge, capped by the resistant sands and sandstones of the Hythe Beds, reinforced by bands of
In the area around Haslemere local anticlinal features are superimposed on the main axis of the Wealden anticline, causing the outcrop of resistant Hythe Beds to widen from 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) to more than 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) and to produce an escarpment that is particularly marked between Haslemere and Midhurst, where Blackdown rises to 280 metres (920 ft), the highest point in Sussex. South of here the Vale of
In many places along the escarpment of the Greensand Ridge erosion by wind and rain, landslips on the steep scarp face, and solifluction in glacial times have further combined to create steep-side coombes, and low hillocks below the scarp.
Relationship to the Weald
The Greensand Ridge is sometimes associated with the Weald; the ridge forms the high border of area of the Weald.
The Jutes and Saxons who settled in south-east England in the centuries following the collapse of the Roman empire applied the term Weald (a Germanic term for woodland) to the very large, heavily wooded forest that they found lying inland of the coastal lands and river valleys that they initially settled. This forest, difficult to penetrate and settle, and difficult to exploit agriculturally, in due course became an essential part of a system of transhumance whereby each autumn swine would be driven, sometimes over long distances, from the longer-settled areas on the periphery into the Wealden forest to feed on acorns of oak trees and beech mast. For these peoples the term Weald did not include the land cleared of forest and settled earlier, such as the fertile Vale of Holmesdale (which separates the North Downs from the Greensand Ridge), nor the more lightly wooded and open hills found on the sandstones of the Greensand Ridge, which also seem to have been settled earlier.[8] Local people regarded the hills of the Greensand Ridge as overlooking the Weald, rather than forming a part of it, and hence a distinction came to be made between the settlements on the Greensand Ridge, such as Sevenoaks, Sundridge Upland and Boughton Malherbe Upland, and those formed during the later medieval colonisation of the Wealden portion of these parishes, called today Sevenoaks Weald, Sundridge Weald and Boughton Malherbe Weald.[9]
A practice of treating the Greensand Ridge regularly as part of the Weald arose in geology when natural scientists, starting in the late 18th century, began to include it in their analysis of the geological history of the Wealden dome. Geology still confuses by using interchangeably the Weald and the "Wealden Anticline" that embraces all the land bounded by the chalk escarpments of the North and South Downs, including the Greensand hills.
Economic exploitation
The Folkestone Beds consist of seams of pebbles and sand. It is from here that the stone known as chert is found, familiar in the High Chart hills around
Fuller's earth, which lies interbedded between the Bargate and Sandgate Layers, was much quarried for the cloth industry. The seam, which lies about 20 to 30 feet below the surface between Nutfield and Bletchingley, was considered the best in the country and for several centuries large quantities were excavated. Resources are now running low and little is now extracted.[10]
Settlements
Principal settlements lying on the southern part of the Greensand in Sussex, adjacent to the South Downs, include
Recreation
Much of the ridge in Surrey and Kent is followed by a long-distance walking route, the Greensand Way. Extending for 108 miles, it starts in the west at Haslemere and ends in the east at Ham Street, Kent, on the edge of Romney Marsh. The route passes through or close to Godalming, Cranleigh, Dorking, Reigate, South Nutfield, Oxted, Westerham, Sevenoaks, Maidstone and Ashford.
Statutory designations
The south-west part of the Greensand ridge and hills is in the
Principal summits
Hills on the Greensand Ridge at least 200 metres high and with 30 metres or more of topographical prominence are here listed, along the range from west to east.
Hill | Height (m) | Prominence (m) | OS grid reference |
---|---|---|---|
Telegraph Hill | 207 | 130 | SU870264 |
Marley Heights | 216 | 53 | SU890302 |
Hatch Farm Hill | 211 | 43 | SU898298 |
Black Down | 280 | 191 | SU919296 |
Gibbet Hill | 272 | 125 | SU899359 |
The Warren | 251 | 33 | TQ076424 |
Pitch Hill | 257 | 85 | TQ082423 |
Holmbury Hill | 261 | 107 | TQ103429 |
Leith Hill | 295 | 246 | TQ139431 |
Crockham Hill | 216 | 41 | TQ445514 |
Toy's Hill | 248 | 117 | TQ469520 |
Wheatsheaf Hill | 218 | 42 | TQ490516 |
Raspit Hill | 207 | 34 | TQ577548 |
References
- ^ "NCA Profile:120 Wealden Greensand (NE465)". Natural England. Archived from the original on 1 October 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
- ^ "NCA Profile:120 Wealden Greensand". Natural England. Archived from the original on 10 July 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
- ^ Friend (2008), p.171.
- ^ Gallois (1965), p.30.
- ^ Gallois (1965), p.4.
- ISBN 1-873010-23-0
- ^ Friend (2008), pp. 171-172.
- ^ Brandon (2003), pp.13-14.
- ^ Brandon (2003), p.3.
- ^ Cowan (1997), p.41.
Bibliography
- Brandon, Peter (2003). The Kent & Sussex Weald. Phillimore & Co Ltd. ISBN 1-86077-241-2.
- Cowan, Bea (1997). Along and Around the Greensand Way (2nd edition). Kingston upon Thames: Surrey County Council. ISBN 1-899706-35-6.
- Friend, Peter (2008). Southern England. Looking at the Natural Landscapes. London: Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-724743-1.
- Gallois, R.W., ed. (1965). British Regional Geology: The Wealden District. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 0-11-884078-9.