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SUPERFICIAL GEOLOGY
Superficial deposits making up the area of the Borough of
Greenwich are found to be (a) alluvium, a damp clay soil, impervious
to water and generally not more than about 15 feet thick and (b)
gravel and sand of various ages, highly permeable to water and not
usually more than 20 feet thick. These two series are in the Post
Pliocene or tertiaries or drift series, whilst of the Eocene tertiary
formations we have (1) the London clay, a stiff bluish clay impervious
to water of not more than 450 feet doep; (2) the lower London
tertiary consisting of pebble beds, sands, clay and loam, more or
less permeable and of a thickness not exceeding 190 feet and (3)
chalk, permeable, highly absorbent and about 800 feet thick.
These various deposits are found distributed roughly as follow:—
The alluvium stretches along the River bank, commencing towards
the east at a point on the Riverside in the Royal Dockyard premises,
Woolwich; thence roughly following the Woolwich Road and keeping
parallel to it on the north side, at a distance of about one hundred
yards, until Blackwall Lane is reached, where the line of Pelton
Road is followed up to the River Bank, the alluvial deposits finishing
off at this point altogether and commencing again on the River Bank
at a point near Greenwich Pier: thence crossing Creek Road, near
St. Peter's Schools, the Southern Railway, near the siding, between
Greenwich Station and the Deptford Creek, very nearly along the
line of Norman Road, crossing the Greenwich High Road almost in