Writhlington
Also within
Condition (Natural England)
| Unit | Feature | Condition | Area (ha) | Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST703552 | — | Favourable | 0.49 | 2010-05-19 |
Geology & landscape
Mining / Industrial: Coal Mine · Geological Period: Carboniferous
Description
Description The site is a rock store created by salvaging blocks of ‘Coal Measures’ mudrock from the tops of the former Writhlington Colliery. These tips are internationally famous for their rich Upper Carboniferous plant flora indicating a Westphalian D age. The site has now yielded the largest ever collection of Carboniferous insects in Britain. The commonest forms belong to the order Blattoidea cockroaches and include the extinct families Archimylacridae and Mylacridae; representatives of the insect orders. Protorthoptera and Palaedictyoptera also occur. Frequent chelicerates arthropods include trace and body fossils of xiphosurid merostomes and arachnids. The latter includes two extinct orders Phlangotarbida and Trigonotarbida and also true spiders Araneida. Rare myriapods millepedes and occasional conchostracan crustaceans clam shrimps also occur. The Writhlington site is of national and international importance and has great potential for yielding further arthropod remains. The combination of rich flora and fauna gives avaluable insight into the structure of the world’s earliest known ‘tropical forest’ ecosystem.