Purton Passage
Also within
Condition (Natural England)
| Unit | Feature | Condition | Area (ha) | Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SO686044 | — | Favourable | 4.1 | 2009-06-23 |
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: Silurian
Landscape processes: Coastal
Description
Area, 4.9 ha. 12.1 ac. Description This is an important locality for studies of vertebrate palaeontology. Rocks of Upper Ludlow Silurian age exposed on the foreshore at Tites Point include bone beds which have been described as the most productive bone beds of their age. Primitive fish remains which include thelodont denticles and acanthodian fragments are diverse and abundant but the most important occurrences are plates of Cyathaspis banksi. This primitive heterostracan agnathan is abundant here but found only rarely elsewhere in the Welsh Borders.