In transcribing the following passage from Smith’s text, I have begun with the rough OCR material provided by the Internet Archive and then collated it with the Internet Archive’s page images. If you spot any errors, please notify the webmaster. — George P. Landow
The vast districts of downs and open fields, recently converted into dry arable lands, inclosed with stone walls, sufficiently characterize those strata which, on the Cotswold hills, must be well known to the numerous visitors of Bath and Cheltenham. In some parts of Oxfordshire, these walls, and similar appearances, are common; but in Northamptonshire, and other districts of these strata, where clayey interspersions more frequently occupy the surface, hedges have been more generally planted; but the stone walls, and a similar openness of country and aridity of soil, re-appear in Rutland and in a part of Dorsetshire north and north-east of Sherborm.
Roads mended with freestone, or soft limestone, which readily grinds to a soft whitish paste, dusty in summer, dirty in winter, and generally in a bad state, seem, characteristic of the course of these extensive strata.
The peculiar dryness of the soil, and vast extent of country without water, will enable the traveller readily to distinguish the site of this stratum. [46]
Related material
- A County-by-County Geological Description of England’s Counties
- Smith’s Explanation of His Map of Geological Strata in England and Wales
- The History of the Idea of Geological Strata before William Smith’s Formulation and Map
Bibliography
Smith, William. A Memoir to the Map and Delineation of Strata of England and Wales. London: John Cary, 1815.
Created 11 September 2018