Westwood Quarry

Site of Special Scientific Interest · 51.6824, -0.4523

Also within

Hertfordshire County

Condition (Natural England)

Favourable (1)
UnitFeatureConditionArea (ha)Assessed
TQ070993 Favourable 0.08 2015-09-15

Geology & landscape

Mining / Industrial: Quarry

Description

Area,0.07 hectares 0.18 ac Description This site in the Vale of St. Albans shows up to five metres of well bedded sands and gravels belonging to the Lower Gravel Train or Harefield Terrace of the Thames. These deposits are overlain by a compact clayey gravel of colluvial slope origin. A paleosol fossil soil has been observed at the top of the bedded gravels, of possible stratigraphic significance. This quarry represents the best available exposure of the " Lower Gravel Train", in an area where its existence has only comparatively recently been recognised and as such is of considerable importance. A key site for an understanding of the early history of the Thames.