Abbey Wood
Also within
Condition (Natural England)
| Unit | Feature | Condition | Area (ha) | Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TQ479785 | — | Favourable | 6.71 | 2023-09-22 |
| TQ481786 | — | Favourable | 6.71 | 2023-09-22 |
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
Landscape processes: Coastal
Description
Area,6.3 hectares 15.7 ac Description Abbey Wood contains some of the most fossiliferous deposits in the Greater London area providing remains of a diverse mammal assemblage of early Tertiary age. The deposits are also important for studies in the evolution of bird faunas. The site covers deposits of late Palaeocene age Blackhead Beds Formation including a unique and valuable exposure of the Blackheath Shell Bed approximately two metres below ground level. Excavations of these Beds have yielded an important mammalian fauna of 22 species attributable to 12 orders. This is the richest 'Sparnacian' fauna in Britain, comparable to sites in the Paris Basin, and containing elements resembling those of the Wasatchian faunas of North America. This site also yields remains of one of only two birds described from the Palaeocene of great Britain. A lower mandible has been reconstructed as the holotype of Marinavis longirostris, which is the only bird of this type known from this period. It appears to have been a large Procellariiform sea bird and would seem to indicate a coastal fauna. The site has great potential in that it might help solve the problem of Procellariiform Pelecaniform ancestry.