Knap House Quarry, Birdlip () 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 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 quarry is 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 was formerly notified as Birdlip Quarry. It is 400 m north of

Birdlip Birdlip is a village in Gloucestershire, England, in the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty south of Cheltenham and south east of Gloucester. History Some fine pre-Roman bronze art, including the famous Birdlip Mirror, from aroun ...

, and about 8 km south-west of

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

City. It lies within woodland and is now disused. The Cotswold Commons and Beechwoods notified Site of Scientific Interest lies to the south-west. The exposures are 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 ...

sediments of the Aalenian and Bajocian Stages, and are nationally important for research of the period in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The strata are Lower

Inferior Oolite The Inferior Oolite is a sequence of Jurassic age sedimentary rocks in Europe. It was deposited during the Middle Jurassic.Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Middle Jurassic, Europe)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Pet ...

which is overlain with Upper Trigonia Grit. There are no Middle Inferior Oolite strata present. This is as a consequence of a period of uplift and warping of the crust. This site is a significant example of the effects of this tectonic occurrence.

References

SSSI Source

Natural England SSSI information on the citation

Natural England SSSI information on the Knap House Quarry, Birdlip 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