Halfway House Quarry

Site of Special Scientific Interest · 50.9463, -2.5689

Also within

Dorset County

Condition (Natural England)

Unfavourable Declining (2)
UnitFeatureConditionArea (ha)Assessed
ST601163 Unfavourable Declining 0.87 2010-11-05
ST601164 Unfavourable Declining 0.87 2010-11-05

Geology & landscape

Geological Period: Jurassic

Description

Area, 1.3 hectares 3.2 ac Description Historically the area around Halfway House has played a key part in unravelling the complex story of mid Jurassic stratigraphy and thus in advancing the science of geology as a whole. The most famous section at Halfway House in addition to providing the internationally important type locality for the truellei subzone of the Upper Bajocian time interval, also exhibits a fully representative section through the Inferior Oolite as typically developed in this part of Dorset. Here, due to variations in conditions at the time of deposition, there are five major non sequences or gaps in the succession and numerous 'hard grounds' which represent areas of rocky sea bed, on which sediment deposition was very limited.