Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 May 2009
The deposit to be described is situated at Orleigh Court, in the parish of Buckland Brewer, some four miles west of south from Bideford, where it rests unconformably on the steeply dipping Upper Culm sandstones. Its greatest extent is from Orleigh Mill to Yeo Bridge, a distance of about three-quarters of a mile in a northwest to south-east direction, and from this line it extends to the south-west for an average distance of about one-third of a mile, only exceeding that amount to the south of the Higher Lodge. The only extensive section was seen in the Rookery, where 25 feet of material rest on a yellow clay. The highest point reached by the deposit, to the south-west of the Higher Lodge, is about 400 feet above O.D. From this point it slopes to the north-east, extending down to about the 100 ft. contour on the left bank of the River Yeo. It is possible that the north-eastern boundary does not reach such low levels as those indicated on the map, Text-fig. 1, for it is difficult to distinguish the original gravel from relatively recent hill wash; and, without a good deal of trenching or augering, it would not be possible to determine the boundary more closely than has been done in the present work.