Dunbridge Pit

Site of Special Scientific Interest · 51.0300, -1.5500

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Also within

Hampshire County

Condition (Natural England)

Unfavourable Recovering (1)
UnitFeatureConditionArea (ha)Assessed
SU316257 — Unfavourable Recovering 0.66 2012-08-16

Habitats

Fast flowing river and stream

Geology & landscape

Geological Period: Quaternary

Description

Hectares/ Acres, 0.68/1.7 Description Dunbridge Pit provides exposures in terrace gravel of the River Test. The gravel here contains relatively abundant palaeolithic artifacts, the site representing the most prolific in Hampshire, Palaeolithic assemblages represent the only back up for geomorphology in the correlation and sub division of terraces in the Solent basin. This fact alone would ensure the importance of the Dunbridge Pit. However, stratigraphically distinct elements have been claimed within the palaeolithic assemblage, with a correlation between white patinated pointed hand axes and an upper whitened gravel. Further work would be required to confirm this stratigraphic control. If confirmed it would add Dunbridge to the mere handful of sites where different palaeolithic industries can be demonstrated to be in superposition. Clearly the Dunbridge Pit is of considerable scientific importance for the reconstruction of the terrace sequence in the Solent basin and for the correlation of Pleistocene and Palaeolithic chronologies on a broader scale.

Plant communities

A14 — Fast flowing river and stream

Myriophyllum alterniflorum community

Isolepis fluitans, Juncus bulbosus, Fontinalis antipyretica, Lobelia dortmanna, Equisetum fluviatile, Myriophyllum alterniflorum, Lemna minor, Callitriche stagnalis, Littorella uniflora, Potamogeton filiformis, Potamogeton gramineus, Potamogeton natans, Ranunculus peltatus, Chara spp., Nitella hyalina

A17 — Chalk river and stream, Fast flowing river and stream

Ranunculus penicillatus ssp. pseudofluitans community

Berula erecta, Nasturtium officinale, Elodea canadensis, Lemna minor, Callitriche stagnalis, Veronica beccabunga, Polygonum amphibium, Polygonum hydropiper, Potamogeton crispus, Potamogeton pectinatus, Ranunculus penicillatus ssp. pseudofluitans

A18 — Fast flowing river and stream

Ranunculus fluitans community

Fontinalis antipyretica, Fontinalis squamosa var. curnowii, Myriophyllum alterniflorum, Myriophyllum spicatum, Elodea canadensis, Mentha aquatica, Lemna gibba, Lemna minor, Potamogeton perfoliatus, Ranunculus fluitans, Glyceria fluitans, Phalaris arundinacea

A9 — Fast flowing river and stream, Marginal and inundation, Pond ditch and canal, Sluggish river and stream

Potamogeton natans community

Schoenoplectus lacustris, Juncus bulbosus, Sparganium angustifolium, Sparganium erectum, Sparganium minimum, Alisma plantago-aquatica, Lobelia dortmanna, Equisetum fluviatile, Myriophyllum alterniflorum, Elodea canadensis, Lemna minor, Lemna trisulca, Nymphaea alba, Callitriche platycarpa, Callitriche stagnalis, Littorella uniflora, Potamogeton natans, Ranunculus trichophyllus, Glyceria fluitans, Chara subspinosa