Doulting Railway Cutting
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Condition (Natural England)
| Unit | Feature | Condition | Area (ha) | Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST649424 | — | Favourable | 1.83 | 2023-02-03 |
Geology & landscape
Geological Period: Jurassic · Rock Type: Limestone
Description
Area, 2.8 ha. 6.9 ac. Description Doulting Railway Cutting provides outstanding exposures of Middle Jurassic rocks, constituting the most extensive late Bajocian Bathonian sequence to be seen between Sherbourne and the mid Cotswolds. Both the Inferior Oolite great Oolite Junction and the Bajocian Bathonian stage boundary are displayed in the cutting. The sequence includes the only complete sections of the Doulting Stone, Anabacia Limestone and Fullonicus Limestone. The locality is the type section of the Fullonicus Limestone, a deposit of considerable biostratigraphic importance since it has yielded ammonites indicative of the yeovilensis, macrescens and convergens Subzones of the zigzag Zone. The Fullonicus Limestone and the overlying Knorri Clays form the basal part of the Lower Fuller's Earth Clay and are characteristic of the region and can be used to interpret lesser exposures which fall within the same stratigraphic interval. A key stratigraphic research locality and reference section spanning the Bajocian Bathonian boundary.