The Late-Glacial Stage of the Lea Valley (Third Report)

Abstract

Shortly after the publication of the later of the previous papers on this subject, I discovered another exposure of the Late-Glacial deposits of the Lea Valley. It was found under rather unsatisfactory stratigraphical conditions, during some small secondary digging in a practically abandoned gravel-pit of large size. The sides of the pit are sloped down and overgrown, and in part built over, so that the stratigraphical relations of the deposit in question are obscure. The site is on the higher margin of the 50-foot, or Taplow, Terrace, immediately below the 100-foot contour, east of the New River, and north of the road which runs through Barrowell Green, between Winchmore Hill and Palmers Green, Edmonton. On the first visit, I noticed a bed of clav, about a foot thick, of which several yards could be seen. As it was clearly in place, and had been left as unprofitable during the digging, I took a sample home, and found it to yield seeds, but comparatively little vegetable debris apart from the seeds, so it was unusually easy to work for the purpose in hand. A few days later I spent an afternoon in the pit, washing out as much of the clay as I could in the time, and forwarded the results to the late Mr. Clement Reid. He sent me a preliminary list and statement, which were not intended for publication until the identifications had been checked; this work Mrs. E. M. Eeid & Miss M. E. J. Chandler have now