Hornsleasow 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 1974.Natural England SSSI information on the citation
/ref> The site is listed in the 'Cotswold District' Local Plan 2001-2011 (on line) as 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 quarry (

Snowshill Snowshill ( , ) is a small Cotswolds village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, located near Broadway, Worcestershire. The population taken at the 2011 census was 164. Prehistoric history An important early Bronze Age hoard was f ...

Hill) 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 Jura ...

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of ...

and exposes a relatively thick sequence of Bathonian (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 ...

) oolitic

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, and thin clays of significant importance in correlating similar sequences in north Gloucestershire. The rocks, which belong to the Clypeus Grit, Chipping Norton Formation, Sharps Hill Formation and the Taynton Limestone Formation, are considered to have been laid down c. 170 million years ago. This would have been in a warm, shallow sea which covered much of the Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire areas. The conditions then would have been similar to those in the present day Bahama Banks in the Caribbean. Evidence for the dating is provided by the sedimentary structures and the type of fossils found within the rocks which are well preserved. Hornsleasow Quarry is important, therefore, for the reconstruction of an ancient sea.

References

SSSI Source

Natural England SSSI information on the citation

Natural England SSSI information on the Hornsleasow Quarry unit

External links

Natural England
(SSSI information) Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1974 Quarries in Gloucestershire Cotswolds {{England-SSSI-stub