Sharp's Hill 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 of ...

west of Banbury in

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 ...

. It is a Geological Conservation Review site. This is the type locality of the

Sharp's Hill Formation The Sharp's Hill Formation is a Bathonian geologic formation in the United Kingdom, dating to around 167 million years ago. Dinosaur remains diagnostic to the genus level are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.Weish ...

. It is very fossiliferous and dates to the

Bathonian In the geologic timescale the Bathonian is an age and stage of the Middle Jurassic. It lasted from approximately 168.3 Ma to around 166.1 Ma (million years ago). The Bathonian Age succeeds the Bajocian Age and precedes the Callovian Age. Strat ...

stage of the

Middle Jurassic The Middle Jurassic is the second epoch of the Jurassic Period. It lasted from about 174.1 to 163.5 million years ago. Fossils of land-dwelling animals, such as dinosaurs, from the Middle Jurassic are relatively rare, but geological formations co ...

, around 167 million years ago. It is very important for understanding the Bathonian succession in north Oxfordshire. Strata of the underlying Chipping Norton Formation are also present.

References

{{SSSIs Oxfordshire Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Oxfordshire Geological Conservation Review sites