Rabbits, deer, badgers and foxes live wild there and lots and lots of gray squirrels. In April/May the wooded area is a mass of bluebells. The top of the hill has open fields with stunning views to the south
The Chantries sit on the Folkestone Beds which is part of the Lower Greensand group. The Folkestone Beds consist of loosely consolidated sand grains.
This earthcache focuses on the valleys formed in the sandstone beds. The sandstone beds are porous meaning that most streams absorb into the ground quickly so there is normally only flowing water when it has recently rained.
These valleys are called dry valleys because they don’t have any water flowing through them permanently. Dry valleys develop on all kinds of permeable rock or on terrains that don’t regally sustain surface water flow. The valleys in the Chantries were probably formed in a periglacial period where the normally permeable bedrock would have been impervious (due to being full of frozen water) allowing flowing water to erode it. Also there would have been more water from the melting glaciers causing more erosion.
Questions
- How many valleys that are more than 5 meters deep for a 10 meter section on the north side of the Chantries, follow the path from the cache location to Halfpenny Lane, along the path that follows the north side of the top of the hill, going east. (the contours on maps are not accurate enough so there is no point in cheating)
- For each of the valleys, number them from the cache location to Half Penny Lane, state whether a) They have any permanent surface water flowing trough them (even a tiny flow of water that is permeant counts). b) There is any sign of recant natural erosion, like small dry stream beds. c) if human activity has made the valleys deeper. d) If they look like they were formed by meltwater or another way.