The book will cover most aspects of pure geology and its various applications in the county, with the following provisional list of chapters and authors:

Chapter 1. Introduction by J.A.Catt

Chapter 2. Concealed bedrock geology by J.A.Catt

Chapter 3. The Cretaceous by C.J.Wood and H.Bailey

Chapter 4. The Palaeogene by J.A.Catt and J.C.Doyle

Chapter 5. The Neogene by J.A.Catt

Chapter 6. The Quaternary by J.A.Catt and A.Cheshire

Chapter 8. Prehistoric archaeology by J.A.Catt, B. Perry and A.G.Rook

Chapter 10. Building Stones in Hertfordshire churches by C.P.Green

The aim is to provide a definitive and fairly comprehensive account of the county’s geology, which will be useful for HCC Planning Department, local schools, colleges and museums, environmental organizations such as the Herts. & Middlesex Wildlife Trust, and local scientific societies, such as the Hertfordshire Natural History Society and St. Albans and Hertfordshire Architectural and Archaeological Society. It should also appeal to geologists and geographers with professional, educational and amateur interests in other parts of S England.

Several other English counties (e.g. Yorkshire, Wiltshire, Devon, Oxfordshire) have produced descriptions of their geology, but there has never been any attempt to do the same for Hertfordshire. We are using the opportunity to explain how knowledge of basic local geology (Chapters 1-6) can be widely applied in an interdisciplinary way within the county (Chapter 7-10). Other county and regional geology books have not attempted the latter, and we hope Hertfordshire will show the way in this important aspect.

Because of the size of detailed county maps and some complex figures, it will be published in A4 format with a two-column layout to save space when including smaller, simpler figures.

All chapters drafted so far are being reviewed individually by experts known to us, and Dr Peter Banham (Chairman of Herts. Geol. Soc., retired member of RHUL geology staff and editor of several volumes of Natural England’s Geological Conservation Review), Dr. Eric Robinson (retired member of UCL Geology Department and past Secretary of the Geologists’ Association) and Dr Peter Hopson (officer of British Geological Survey and main author of the recently published BGS Hitchin Memoir) have agreed to review the whole book.

At present, information on the county’s geology is dispersed in numerous local, national and international scientific journals, and this will be brought together by the various experts involved in writing each chapter. There are also recent detailed accounts for certain limited parts of the county in publications of the British Geological Survey: Geology of the country around Hitchin (Hopson et al., 1996), Geology of the country around Epping (Millward et al., 1987) and Geology of London (Ellison et al., 2004), but these leave large gaps. Other BGS publications describing the remainder of the county were published in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries and are now almost completely out of date. Two volumes of Natural England’s Geological Conservation Review (British Upper Cretaceous Stratigraphy by R.N.Mortimore, C.J.Wood and R.W.Gallois, 2001; Quaternary of the Thames by D.R.Bridgland, 1994) are in part relevant to Hertfordshire, but describe only a few key sites for conservation within the county. The relevant details from all these publications will be brought together and their importance explained for readers with little or no training in geology.

There are a few brief accounts of Hertfordshire geology in books on the history and natural history of the county, such as:

Niblett, R. 1995. Roman Hertfordshire. Dovecote Press, Stanbridge.

Shirley, D. (Ed.) 1978. Hertfordshire – a guide to the countryside. Egon Publishers, Letchworth.

Rook, A.G. 1997. A history of Hertfordshire (2^nd ed.). Phillimore & Co, Chichester.

However, many are out of date and all lack sufficient detail for the users listed above. Also they do not adequately link geology to other sciences (plant ecology, agriculture, ecology, hydrology, archaeology) in the way we propose through the chapters on local applications.

The soils of Hertfordshire are strongly linked to geology on the one hand and agriculture and plant ecology on the other in ways that have novel implications for all four subjects. They are described in some publications of the Soil Survey of England and Wales (now National Soil Resources Institute at Cranfield University), but only one (Hodge et al., 1984, Soils and their use in Eastern England, Soil Survey Bulletin 13) uses the current soil classification system for England and Wales (Avery, 1980; Clayden and Hollis, 1984), and that covers the whole of eastern England, so the limited details relevant to Hertfordshire land use are very dispersed and mixed with information on other counties. Our Chapter 7 draws together selected information from this publication and other knowledge relevant to the county’s geology, landscape, history, agriculture and plant ecology in a novel way not previously attempted for any part of Britain.

The main market for the book will be local authorities, societies and residents of the county with an interest in its history, natural history, resources and environment. Local schools and colleges may form a small additional market, but the book is not aimed at any particular level of education such as GCSE or degree courses. Amateur geologists and natural historians in other parts of the country will probably buy copies, as many of them have interests in interdisciplinary links that could be relevant to their own region. There will also be a small international market among the learned libraries of universities and scientific societies in Britain and abroad.

Reviews should be sought among local periodicals (e.g. Hertfordshire Countryside), educational newspapers (e.g. Times Higher Education Supplement), and geological periodicals (e.g. Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association, London; Geology Today, Blackwells).

The Geologists’ Association, London Geological Society, Hertfordshire Geological Society, Amateur Geological Society, Open University Geological Society, Hertfordshire Natural History Society, Herts. and Middlesex Wildlife Trust and the St Albans and Hertfordshire Architectural and Archaeological Society could all distribute fliers to their members with newsletters or advertise the book on websites. Some, though not all, may charge for this, but the cost would easily be recouped in increased sales.

The bookshops at British Geological Survey (Keyworth, Notts.), Geological Museum (S. Kensington), County Hall Hertford and in the main towns of Hertfordshire should all sell some copies.

The international academic market should be reached by advertising on the HNHS and HGS websites, and by an advert in Geoscientist (London Geological Society’s Newsletter), which is distributed to >8000 members worldwide.

The main author and primary editor (J.A.Catt) worked on soil research at Rothamsted Experimental Station (Harpenden) between 1963 and 1999, and is currently Honorary Professor of Geography, UCL. 

C.J.Wood was born in Ware and has retired from the British Geological Survey; he was their specialist in Chalk Stratigraphy and Palaeontology. 

H. Bailey runs a successful company based in Potters Bar, which specializes in micropalaeontological work for the UK oil and other industries. 

A. Cheshire has retired from the staff of the University of Hertfordshire, where he previously lectured in geology. 

B.W.Avery is deceased but before retirement was Deputy Director of the Soil Survey of England and Wales. 

B. Perry is on the Administrative Staff of the University of Hertfordshire and has done archaeological research in the county 

C.P.Green is retired from the Geography Department at Royal Holloway University of London, and is currently Chairman of the St. Albans Diocesan Advisory Committee. 

A.G.Rook is a well known Hertfordshire archaeologist and has made contributions to local television and radio.