Barns Batch Spinney
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Condition (Natural England)
| Unit | Feature | Condition | Area (ha) | Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST557659 | — | Favourable | 0.05 | 2010-05-19 |
Geology & landscape
Mining / Industrial: Quarry · Geological Period: Jurassic · Rock Type: Limestone
Description
Area, 0.06 ha. 0.15 ac. Description This site is important because of the exposures which it provides of the lower part of the classic Inferior Oolite limestone sequence of the Dundry area. This area was cited by the famous French geologist, Alcide d' Orbigny in 1850 as the English 'type section' for the rocks of the Inferior Oolite and is thus of great historic and stratigraphic importance. The Barns Batch section shows rocks lying stratigraphically below the Middle and Upper Inferior Oolite Limestones seen at Dundry Main Road South Quarry. The particular importance of the locality is that it provides a section spanning the division of the Middle Jurassic known as the Aalenian and Bajocian Stages and includes one of the thickest sequences in Britain of the rocks placed in the subdivision known as the discites Zone, named after the characteristic fossil ammonite Hyperlioceras discites. This is of great importance since the discites Zone has not yet been divided into subzones in Britain, as it has in other parts of Europe and the rich fauna of ammonites, together with the thick sequence of rocks, raises a strong possibility that this site may be used as the basis for defining these new subzones. Further research is needed here and the locality is thus of even greater potential importance.