Pitstone Quarry is a geological
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 ...
in
Pitstone
Pitstone (formerly Pightelsthorn, with possible variation Pychelesthorn in 1399) is a village and civil parish in east Buckinghamshire, England. It is at the foot of the central range of the Chiltern Hills, centred east of Aylesbury and south o ...
, Buckinghamshire.
It is the area between the lake and the railway line in
College Lake nature reserve
College Lake is a 65 hectare nature reserve in a former chalk quarry in Pitstone in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire. It is one of the flagship reserves of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, and it has ...
.
The site exposes deposits of the Middle and Late
Pleistocene, during the last half-million years. Most sediments are the result of
solifluction, repeated slippage during ice ages, with channels in the slopes filled with sediments. The most recent warm period, the
Ipswichian
The Eemian (also called the last interglacial, Sangamonian Stage, Ipswichian, Mikulin, Kaydaky, penultimate,NOAA - Penultimate Interglacial Period http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/global-warming/penultimate-interglacial-period Valdivia or Riss-Würm) wa ...
around 125,000 years ago, contains hippopotamus fossils. According to
Natural England evaluation continues and "the results are eagerly awaited".
[
There is access to College Lake from Upper Icknield Way, but the most important exposure is in an area closed to the public.
]
References
{{coord, 51.820887, -0.647028, type:landmark_region:GB-BNE, display=title
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Buckinghamshire
Quarry