Iron Pit Spring Quarry

Site of Special Scientific Interest · 54.1983, -3.0615

Also within

Cumbria County

Condition (Natural England)

Unfavourable Declining (2)
UnitFeatureConditionArea (ha)Assessed
SD308785 Unfavourable Declining 1.19 2015-03-13
SD310784 Unfavourable Declining 1.19 2015-03-13

Geology & landscape

Mining / Industrial: Quarry · Geological Period: Carboniferous · Rock Type: Carboniferous Limestone, Limestone

Description

Description Iron Pit Spring Quarry and the former quarries of great Hagg Spring lie some two kilometres east of Ulverston. This locality shows an important Carboniferous Limestone section containing the upper part of the Red Hill Oolite Arundian stage and the base of the overlying Dalton Beds Holkerian. The section includes the best exposures of the Arundian Holkerian stage boundary in Cumbria, important as the Ulverston Cartmel area is the type area for the Holkerian Stage. The Dalton Beds here yield a rich and diverse marine fauna of corals and brachiopods. This is a key palaeontological and stratigraphical locality of importance in regional comparisons in the Lower Carboniferous.