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Water Board draws large quantities from (he pumping
station at Crayford.
Above the Chalk lies a thick deposit of fine sand, the
Thanet Sand, of marine origin, and 50 or more feet thick.
It may be seen in pits below Perry Street and Wansunt.
and is extensively worked at Erith for export as a moulding
sand.
The Woolwich Beds above the Thanet Sand are composed
of sands and fresh-water clays. They are not well
exposed, and are of no economic importance. The succeeding
clean sands and thick pebble-beds of the Blackheath
Beds are those which form so much of the surface,
and impart a distinctive character to all the high ground
of the district.
The Chalk, Thanet Sand, Woolwich Beds, and
Blackheath Beds extend under all the district about
Northumberland Heath and Bexleyheath. A shaft sunk
from the surface would pass through Blackheath Beds
50ft., Woolwich Beds 40ft., Thanet Sand 50ft. (the
figures being in each case average values), and would
reach the Chalk at approximately 130 to 150 feet below
the ground level.
The remaining formations are river-deposits of sand,
gravel, and loam. On the high ground about Crayford
Church and Dartf'ord Heath, are ancient river gravels
which have long been worked in great pits on Dartf'ord
Heath. The brickearth pits on the lower ground
between Crayford and Erith have yielded vast quantities
of materials for bricks, and the supply is far from being
exhausted.
1 have reproduced this report in view of its
importance from the point of view of future building
developments. Other things being equal, it behoves the
Council to develop the higher parts of their area for
building sites. In this connection I am pleased to report
that the Council have recently had the sewer laid along
May Place Road and Hills and Holes.
Refuse Tip (Messrs. Rutter's).
The question of the dumping of refuse in the district
from outside areas came prominently before the Council
soon after thev were constituted an Urban Authority in
1920.
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