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 o ...
in
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
, notified in 1997. It is a Geological Conservation Review (GCR) site.Natural England SSSI information on the citation /ref>
Location and geology
The site is located on Alderton Hill to the south west of Dumbleton Wood, approximately 2 kilometres south west of
Dumbleton
Dumbleton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Gloucestershire. The village is roughly 20 miles from the city of Gloucester. The village is known to have existed in the time of Æthelred I who granted land to Abingdon Abbey, a ...
village which is in north Gloucestershire.
The site is a significant location for research because of its well preserved Lower
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...
insect fauna. There is a range of publications which detail the findings on this site, which include fossil insects. Particular findings are specimens of dragonflies ('' Gomphites'') and a large cockroach. Fish remains have been found, and well-preserved cephalopods. The strata exposed are part of the
Whitby Mudstone
The Whitby Mudstone is a Toarcian (Early Jurassic; ''Falciferum''-''Bifrons'' in regional chronostratigraphy) geological formation in Yorkshire and Worcestershire, England.
The site is located in hedges which are ''species-rich''. They include ash, oak,
holly
''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...