Bawsey

Site of Special Scientific Interest · 52.7464, 0.4882

Also within

Norfolk County

Condition (Natural England)

Unfavourable Declining (1)
UnitFeatureConditionArea (ha)Assessed
TF680194 Unfavourable Declining 2.59 2022-03-30

Geology & landscape

Geological Feature: Rock Outcrop · Geological Period: Cretaceous, Quaternary · Rock Type: Chalk

Landscape processes: Glacial

Description

Description In west Norfolk a discontinuous zone of till occurs separated from the main East Anglian till sheet by 5 to 10 kilometres of chalk outcrop. The age and origin of the till, the number of units present and their modes of deposition are currently the subject of much discussion and have a key bearing on interpreting Quaternary history in East Anglia. At Bawsey up to five metres of till occurs above Cretaceous Sandringham Sands, comprising an upper unit, the Bawsey Calcareous Till, overlaying a lower unit, the Woodlands Farm Till. Bawsey is the type site for the former and it provides one of the few reasonable exposures of the two tills. The site is also important for present and future work directed towards determining the origin of the west Norfolk tills and their relationships to the Marly Drift and Lowestoft Till which form the main till sheet of the region.