Knap House Quarry, Birdlip
Condition (Natural England)
| Unit | Feature | Condition | Area (ha) | Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SO925146 | — | Favourable | 1.77 | 2021-11-20 |
Geology & landscape
Mining / Industrial: Quarry · Geological Period: Jurassic
Description
Area, 1.80 ha. Description Knap House Quarry consists of a disused quarry in woodland about 400 metres north of the village of Birdlip, approximately eight kilometres southwest of Gloucester. Knap House Quarry provides important exposures of Middle Jurassic sediments belonging to the Aalenian and Bajocian Stages. Strata here consist of the Lower Inferior Oolite overlain unconformably by the Upper Trigonia Grit. Middle Inferior Oolite strata are entirely absent. The absence of the Middle Inferior Oolite results from a period of uplift and crustal warping intervening between the deposition of the Lower and Upper Inferior Oolite. This locality provides the best illustration of the effects of this tectonic episode, the effects of which were first demonstrated in the classic work of S. S. Buckman. These exposures are of national importance for the understanding of Middle Jurassic stratigraphy, palaeogeography and tectonics in Britain.