Brown End Quarry is a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

of the

Staffordshire Wildlife Trust The Staffordshire Wildlife Trust is a wildlife trust covering the county of Staffordshire, England. Organisation and activities It is one of 46 Wildlife Trusts; each is a registered charity and is a member of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts. ...

, near the village of Waterhouses in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, England. It is designated a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

, and a

regionally important geological site Regionally important geological and geomorphological sites (RIGS) (also known as regionally important geological sites or, especially in Wales, regionally important geodiversity sites) are locally designated sites of local, national and regional imp ...

."Brown End Quarry"
''Staffordshire Wildlife Trust''. Retrieved 16 April 2022.

Description

The site, area , is a former

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

quarry; there was quarrying from the mid 18th century. In 1951, when the

Peak District The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southe ...

National Park was formed, further development of the quarry was restricted, and quarrying ended in the 1960s. It was acquired by the Trust in 1987, its first geological nature reserve. Flowers, such as cowslip,

knapweed ''Centaurea'' () is a genus of over 700 species of herbaceous thistle-like flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Members of the genus are found only north of the equator, mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere; the Middle East and surrounding reg ...

and

oxeye daisy ''Leucanthemum vulgare'', commonly known as the ox-eye daisy, oxeye daisy, dog daisy, marguerite (french: Marguerite commune, "common marguerite") and other common names, is a widespread flowering plant native to Europe and the temperate regions ...

, grow on the former quarry floor and spoil heaps, attracting butterflies and other insects. There is an interpretive trail around the quarry.The quarry is also an Earthcache.

Geology

The rocks exposed by the quarry were laid down about 350 million years ago during the

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...

period. The area was a warm tropical sea; dead sea creatures were deposited here, in the North Staffordshire Basin, where water was deeper and moved slowly. About 290 million years ago the area was uplifted above sea level. Milldale limestone, found at this quarry, is not seen in many other places in the Peak District; for this reason it is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Deposits accumulated in fairly still water, depth about , and are more finely grained than limestone deposited in shallower, faster moving water.

References

{{Reflist Nature reserves in Staffordshire Quarries in England Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Staffordshire Regionally Important Geological/Geomorphological Sites (RIGS)