Robin's Wood Hill Quarry

Site of Special Scientific Interest · 51.8327, -2.2393

Condition (Natural England)

Favourable (1)
UnitFeatureConditionArea (ha)Assessed
SO836149 Favourable 1.91 2024-03-13

Climate exposure

This is about exposure to a nationwide pressure this habitat type carries — not a verdict on this site's own management.

Coastal

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

Mining / Industrial: Quarry · Geological Period: Jurassic

Landscape processes: Coastal

Description

Area, 1.67 ha. 4.13 ac. Description Robin’s Wood Hill Quarry provides the best inland section of Lower Jurassic, Middle Lias strata in Britain; a complete section of the Upper Pliensbachian Stage is present. The geology of this well known site has been intensively studied and particularly the diverse faunas which it yields; notably fifty four species of fossil molluscs have been recorded here. The silty character of the Middle Lias, Marlstone Rock Bed here contrasts markedly with the contemporaneous Junction Bed of the Dorset coast and the ironstones of the Midlands, an important feature in reconstructing the geography and environment of the early Jurassic.