The Wealden (non-marine Lower Cretaceous) of the Weald Sub-basin, southern England

The Wealden strata (non-marine Lower Cretaceous) of the Weald Sub-basin outcrop in the Weald district of south-east England; the Wealden type-area. The succession is made up of the mixed alluvial–lacustrine–lagoonal Hastings Beds Group below and the predominantly lacustrine–lagoonal Weald Clay Group above. Deposition was strongly influenced by tectonism amongst surrounding massifs, and the warm to hot, periodically wet Wealden climate. Geological Conservation Review sites within the Weald district are dominated by inland sites, but also include extensive coastal cliff and foreshore exposures near Hastings, East Sussex. The Wealden strata have been documented and interpreted since the earliest days of geological enquiry in Great Britain. Collectively, the selected sites demonstrate the key elements of a depositional model for the Wealden of the Weald, developed and published by Professor Percival Allen FRS (1917–2008) in these Proceedings (Allen, 1975). The sites are documented and interpreted, with special reference to research history, chronostratigraphy, structural context, palaeoenvironments, palaeobiology and palaeoclimatology. New directions for research are proposed, as applicable.