Easter Park Farm 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 o ...

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 1986.Natural England SSSI information on the citation
/ref> The site is listed in the ‘Stroud District’ Local Plan, adopted November 2005, Appendix 6 (online for download) as an SSSI 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 ...

(RIGS).

Location and geology

The site is to the south west of

Minchinhampton Minchinhampton is an ancient Cotswolds market town in the Stroud District in Gloucestershire, South West England. The town is located on a hilltop, south-east of Stroud. The common offers wide views over the Severn Estuary into Wales and furth ...

. It is important for the study of Middle

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 ...

rocks of the Bathonian Stage. The exposed

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 ...

s contain a significant collection of fossil

ammonites Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs, commonly referred to as ammonites, are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttl ...

, which support them to be dated as ''morrisi'' zone. The rocks show the character change which occurs in rocks of this age from fine grained limestone to the coarser, oolitic limestones of Minchinhamption. The limestones also contain fossil corals, echinoids, gastropods and bivalves.

Conservation

Natural England reports in October 2011 that vegetation clearance is needed to maintain the favourability of the site.Natural England SSSI information on the Easter Park Farm Quarry unit
/ref>

References

SSSI Source

Natural England SSSI information on the citation

Natural England SSSI information on the Easter Park Farm Quarry unit

External links

Natural England
(SSSI information) Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1986 Quarries in Gloucestershire {{England-SSSI-stub