CANTO 4
LONDON
“A FAR CRY”
‘Body 115′ emerges from the dank underworld…
NOTES:
“HIDING NOW IN THE BASIN’S CLAY”
The London Basin is an elongated, roughly triangular sedimentary basin approximately 160 miles long which underlies London and a large area of south east England. The basin formed as a result of compressional tectonics between 40 and 60 million years ago.
The younger sedimentary bedrock layers of the London Basin (Palaeogene sediments) are mainly composed of clay, with some sand and localised layers of gravel. The sequence is dominated by London Clay, which is up to 150 m thick in the Greater London area.
Where the London Basin is deepest, the London Clay is covered by younger layers of sands and silts clays which are up to 140 m thick. Commonly water percolates between the grains of the sand and gravel deposits in sufficient quantity to be useful as a local drinking water supply. Deposits like this are known as aquifers.
“CHILLING IN THE COOLING KILN”
A large brick and tile works was established in the King’s Cross area in the late eighteenth century. The kilns’ distinctive profiles were a prominent feature of the topography until the 1820s.
BODY 115 