Beckford Gravel Pit

Site of Special Scientific Interest · 52.0235, -2.0342

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Also within

Worcestershire County

Condition (Natural England)

Favourable (1)
UnitFeatureConditionArea (ha)Assessed
SO977361 — Favourable 0.25 2021-11-21

Habitats

Fast flowing river and stream

Geology & landscape

Geological Period: Quaternary

Landscape processes: Fluvial, Glacial, Periglacial

Description

Area, 0.2 ha. 0.5 ac. Description This site is part of a large complex of gravel workings near Beckford. These workings are in fan gravels associated with run off from Bredon Hill into the valley of the Carrant Brook, grading into the ‘Beckford Terrace’ of that river. These gravels have yielded mammalian remains and Palaeolithic artifacts, which reinforce the correlation of the Beckford Terrace with Avon Terrace 2 and the ‘Main Terrace’ of the Severn. All these are generally assigned to the mid Devensian last glacial period, as radio-carbon dates from Beckford confirm. These dates were obtained from plant remains in silt beds within the gravel sequence, beds which also yielded beetle and mollusc remains. The Beckford site is therefore of considerable importance to the Upper Pleistocene stratigraphy and chronology of the English Midlands. The site is also important in demonstrating inter relationships of slope, terrace and flood plain deposits which are significant for interpreting environmental change and palaeo hydrology in the Severn basin during the Late Devensian. The deposits include solifluction and slope wash sediments with reactive surfaces indicating episodic activity and these interdigitate down valley with fluvial litho facies. The site illustrates particularly well the contribution of slope processes to valley sedimentation and the complex interaction of slope and fluvial processes.

Plant communities

A9 — Fast flowing river and stream, Marginal and inundation, Pond ditch and canal, Sluggish river and stream

Potamogeton natans community

Schoenoplectus lacustris, Juncus bulbosus, Sparganium angustifolium, Sparganium erectum, Sparganium minimum, Alisma plantago-aquatica, Lobelia dortmanna, Equisetum fluviatile, Myriophyllum alterniflorum, Elodea canadensis, Lemna minor, Lemna trisulca, Nymphaea alba, Callitriche platycarpa, Callitriche stagnalis, Littorella uniflora, Potamogeton natans, Ranunculus trichophyllus, Glyceria fluitans, Chara subspinosa

A14 — Fast flowing river and stream

Myriophyllum alterniflorum community

Isolepis fluitans, Juncus bulbosus, Fontinalis antipyretica, Lobelia dortmanna, Equisetum fluviatile, Myriophyllum alterniflorum, Lemna minor, Callitriche stagnalis, Littorella uniflora, Potamogeton filiformis, Potamogeton gramineus, Potamogeton natans, Ranunculus peltatus, Chara spp., Nitella hyalina

A17 — Chalk river and stream, Fast flowing river and stream

Ranunculus penicillatus ssp. pseudofluitans community

Berula erecta, Nasturtium officinale, Elodea canadensis, Lemna minor, Callitriche stagnalis, Veronica beccabunga, Polygonum amphibium, Polygonum hydropiper, Potamogeton crispus, Potamogeton pectinatus, Ranunculus penicillatus ssp. pseudofluitans

A18 — Fast flowing river and stream

Ranunculus fluitans community

Fontinalis antipyretica, Fontinalis squamosa var. curnowii, Myriophyllum alterniflorum, Myriophyllum spicatum, Elodea canadensis, Mentha aquatica, Lemna gibba, Lemna minor, Potamogeton perfoliatus, Ranunculus fluitans, Glyceria fluitans, Phalaris arundinacea