Globe Pit

Site of Special Scientific Interest · 51.4803, 0.3391

Also within

Essex County

Condition (Natural England)

Unfavourable Declining (1)
UnitFeatureConditionArea (ha)Assessed
TQ625782 Unfavourable Declining 0.44 2021-02-26

Geology & landscape

Geological Period: Quaternary

Landscape processes: Fluvial

Description

Area,0.4 hectares 0.9 ac Description Globe Pit is an important site for the interrelationship of archaeology with geology since it is vital in the correlation of the Lower Palaeolithic chronology with the Pleistocene Thames Terrace sequence. The site exposes gravel, apparently belonging to the Lynch Hill Terrace, containing a prolific, uncontaminated Clactonian industry, implying an age much greater than its elevation suggests. This has led to considerable difficulties in interpretation and the deposit has not been universally accepted as an in situ fluvial gravel. Later and younger "brickearth" is banked against this gravel remnant on its southern side. Comparison with other sites locally suggests that normal ideas of terrace stratigraphy cannot be applied in this area. The exposures in Globe Pit will therefore be of considerable importance for future research.