Caistor St. Edmund Chalk Pit
Also within
Condition (Natural England)
| Unit | Feature | Condition | Area (ha) | Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TG240048 | — | Favourable | 23.6 | 2011-05-20 |
Climate exposure
This is about exposure to a nationwide pressure this habitat type carries — not a verdict on this site's own management.
Coastal habitats are exposed to sea-level rise and storm erosion. Where hard sea defences sit behind them, there's nowhere landward to retreat to — a squeeze that keeps compressing the habitat no matter how well it's managed.
Geology & landscape
Geological Period: Cretaceous · Rock Type: Chalk
Landscape processes: Coastal
Description
Area, 23.8 hectares 58.8 ac Description A geological site which displays the best exposure of The Upper Cretaceous Late Campanian Beeston Chalk, a unit not exposed in coastal sections and representing some of the youngest in situ chalk in Britain. The site is famous for its large flints, known as ‘potstones’ and ‘paramoudras’, with their remarkable contained burrow systems. The Chalk is here very fossiliferous; of note are the specimens of the molluscs Belemnitella and Inoceramus and Sea Urchin Echinocorys which it commonly yields.