Puddlebrook 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 ...

, near

Drybrook Drybrook is a village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean in west Gloucestershire, England. Location It lies in the North West edge of the Royal Forest, bordering with Herefordshire, about three miles from Cinderford, and about two miles ...

notified in 1986.Natural England SSSI information on the citation
/ref> The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).Forest of Dean District Local Plan Review, adopted November 2005, Appendix D 'Nature Conservation Site Designations Within the Forest of Dean District', Key Wildlife Sites
/ref> The Quarry is north of

Mitcheldean Meend Marsh Mitcheldean Meend Marsh () is a nature reserve in Gloucestershire in the Forest of Dean. Kelham, A, Sanderson, J, Doe, J, Edgeley-Smith, M, et al., 1979, 1990, 2002 editions, 'Nature Reserves of the Gloucestershire Trust for Nature Conservation/ ...

which is a nature reserve.

Location and geology

The site is on the northern side of the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to ...

and provides a unique exposure of the basal strata of the Westphalian Series of the

Upper Carboniferous Upper may refer to: * Shoe upper or ''vamp'', the part of a shoe on the top of the foot * Stimulant, drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both * ''Upper'', the original film title for the 2013 found f ...

period. The conglomerates exposed differ significantly from the sandy beds of the same age of the southern area of the Forest of Dean. This demonstrates the uplift to the early Westphalian and is important for geological understanding of the development of the Coalfield of the area. Lower Carboniferous Drybrook Sandstone lies under the conglomerates and there is a significant collection of late Dinantian fossil plants visible (ten different species). One of the oldest known mosses is present (''Muscites plumatus''). Some species are common with the contemporary Lower Brown Limestone and Lower Oil Shales floras. The quarry is nationally important for research in the distribution of Lower Carboniferous plants. It provides early evolutionary information on mosses, lycopods and pteriodosperms.

References

SSSI Source

Natural England SSSI information on the citation

Natural England SSSI information on the Puddlebrook Quarry unit

External links

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