THE DRIFTS OF SOUTH-WESTERN ESSEX. 173
Southend arterial road N. of Martins, and 1.6 mile N.E. of the
railway cutting. This shows a loamy deposit exceeding 20 feet
in thickness in the middle, of an apparently synclinal form,
resting upon Boulder Clay. At the western end the loam overlies
ferruginous sand and gravel (perhaps re-arranged Glacial gravel),
but the section here shows confusion, which is probably the result
of slumping towards the bed of the Ingrebourne at the foot of
the slope, as suggested in the Memoir. The E end of the
channel (Fig. 2) showed :—1. Rainwash. 2 Reddish loam.
3. Interstratified light and dark loams. 4. Fine gravel, passing
to grey clayey sand in mid-channel, with flint implements and
burnt flints. 5. Dark clayey sand with small sub-angular flints.
6. Reddish loamy sand. 7. Pebbly gravel. 8. Transported
Warley Gravel. 9. Chalky-Jurassic Boulder Clay.
The contemporary flint industry in 4 showed that there had
been a living and working site on the bank of the former Ingre-
bourne. The best implement is of cordate form, slightly unsym-
metrical in outline, short, broad and thin, and without "twist."
It agrees in style and technique with the industry of Combe
Capelle, or the final Acheulian tradition found in the Lower
Mousterian of France. There is also a trimmed flake that is
in harmony with the same association.
The Furze Platt Stage and the Grays-Clacton Stage.—I
have long advocated the adoption of Treacher's [1909] Furze
Platt Stage as a recognised subdivision of the Thames terraces,
and I am glad that it is coming into use. In the Maidenhead
district it occupies a clearly defined position between the Boyn
Hill Terrace above and the Taplow Terrace below. It is charac-
terised by the Mid Acheulian industry (the Grays Inn Lane type)
and thus constitutes a datum line for defining the relative age of
other deposits. The fauna, which includes the advanced variety
of Elephas antiquus, suggests a somewhat warm climate.
The Furze Platt Stage does not occur at the same level at all
localities. At the key site for the Lower Thames at Swanscombe
it is the celebrated "Middle Gravel" of the 100-foot terrace.
In the Stoke Newington district it is the "12-feet stratum of
gravel" of Worthington Smith [1894] ; and it is here the river-
bed or basement gravel of the 50-ft. Terrace, falling within a
lateral range of level from 40 to 90 O.D.
We are thus beginning to meet complexities with contemporary
gravels on different terraces, but worse is to come. I am in
agreement with Oakley [1939] that the lower deposits (gravel
and loam) at Barnfield were followed by rejuvenation and a very
deep down-cutting. And at this phase of the story the interest
shifts to our side of the Thames. Astonishing as it may seem, it