Foss Cross Quarry () is a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1972.Natural England SSSI information on the citation
/ref> The site is listed in the 'Cotswold District' Local Plan 2001-2011 (on line) as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS) 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).Cotswold District Local Plan, Appendix 3, Regionally Important Geological Sites

Location and geology

The site lies in the

Cotswold The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Juras ...

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and provides important exposures of White Limestone Formation (Middle Jurassic) in the county. The rocks have been interpreted as deposits which were laid down c.165 million years ago in a warm, shallow sea. The conditions for that exist today on the Bahama Banks in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. There is a well-developed sedimentary structure with a variety of fossils. The site is also important for the red fossil alga ''(Solenopora jurassica)''. This is called ''Beetroot Stone''. Areas of hardened sea floor also occur. The site is a significant research area and has enabled geologists to reconstruct the environments of the ancient seas which covered much of Gloucestershire and

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

during the Middle Jurassic time interval.

References

SSSI Source

Natural England SSSI information on the citation

Natural England SSSI information on the Foss Cross Quarry unit

External links

Natural England
(SSSI information) Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1972 Quarries in Gloucestershire Cotswolds {{England-SSSI-stub