BEDFORDSHIRE, is an inland county of Eng -land, bounded on the S. W. and W. by Buckingham -shire, on the N. W. and N. by Northamptonshire,.on :the N. and N. E. by Huntingdonshire, on the E. by -Cambridgeshire, and on the S. E. • and S. by Hert fordshire. It is situated between the parallels of 51° ^47' and 52° 17' of north latitude, and .between 0° 17' and 0° 46' of west Greenwich. A great part of its bounds are artificial, and strangelrindent -ed, as they are affected the manors and proper ties at its edge, and not by 'rivers or summits of -high land, which are natural divisions. The.whole•of •this county is situated on the eastern side of the wa • tershead or grand ridge of the island,.and the,whole of its surface drains to the Ouse river, with the excep tions of a tract of chalk on the south, about Luton, Sundon, HoughtonzRegis, and Dunstable, which drains to the sea, and a smaller tract.near•Market street, Studham, and Whipsnade, .which drains to the Colne, both of these being branches of the Thames 'river ; a imall tract of clay in Dunton,•,Eyworth, and tWrestlingworth, which .drains . to the Cam ; and a tract of clay and limestone land near .Puddington, Farnditch, and Wimmington,- at the north end Of the county, "which drains to the-Nen.
The highest range of hills in or . near to Bedford shire, is the Chiltern' hills, of the upper chalk, which cross a part, and skirt the remainder of the southern extremity of this county, from Whipsnade near Dun stable, to near Baldock : and no other./and in Bed fordshire approaches near to their height, as appears from the range of hills across Northampton shire from Catesby to Naseberg ; and of limestone and clay from Salsey Forest near Olney, to near Higham Ferrers, being -by .telescopes from the chalk hills across the whole of The next most considerable range in height, is of- clay, cros sing the county near its northern end, which it enters north-west of Harold, .and proceeds by Souldrope, Bletsoe•Park, between 'Keysoe and Colmworth, and leaves the county near Staughton-Parva. -The next most considerable • range, is of sand, and enters the county near A spicy • Guise, passes to Ridgemont, near to Lidlington, Milbrook,. and Ampthill ; and
of clay thence to Hawnes, • and near to Old-Warden. Another range of- alluvial clay principally proceeds from the lower chalk hills-between Houghton-Regis and Sundon, and proceeds. by ;Tuddington, Milton Bryant, Woburn-Park,. and Ridgemont, (crossing here the sand ridge before •described,) by • Brog borough Park, Cranfield, across a neck of.Bucking liamshire, and then near to Turvey, Carlton, and. Pa vingham. From the lower chalk hills,-also near Sun don,•another clay ridge branches, and passes through Harlington, and near to Silsoe and Upper.. Graven burst ; -mid-another alluvial clay leaves the chalk hills east of Baldock, passes near Edworth, Dunton,• Potton, and Cockayne-Hatley, into Cam bridgeshire, spreading there into the wide alluvial range of clay about Caxton, and north-east of it, be tween the Gam and the Ouse.
The -strata of Bedfordshire were examined in the year 1801, under,the patronage of the 4egreat Duke of Bedford," in ,the last year of his weft]] life, by Mr William -Smith of Bath, who was at that time ,(and :still is we,believe) proposing•to subscrip tion, a map of England, spewing the range.of all,the .principal strata across the island, and a volume ex plaining the same : during which examination of Bed fordshire, he ,was accompanied by his Grace's agent, Mr John Farey, and by his ,friend :Mr Benjamin .van, who, as .pupils of -Mr Smith, the former in par ticular, have since.industriously the subject of stratification, . and others connected with it, (Sec Thilosoph..Mag. vol. -xxxiii. p. 258, and vol. xxxv. p. ,1 14.) and the making of mineral surveys, on princi ples which cannot 'fail of success, in making us ac quainted .with the .subterranean.geography of coma tries. ,From what we, have learnt . from Mr Farey, and other sources, we are, enabled to present the fol= lowing sketch of • the -Bedfordshire , strata, ; .far as they are visible or accessible, owing to the vast•mass of alluvial matter, (principally thehroken and ,slightly worn ruins of the chalk and its covering strata,) of .dis tricts to _the ,south-east of the county. Mag. vol..xxxv. p.• 13.5.