Lulsgate Quarry
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Condition (Natural England)
| Unit | Feature | Condition | Area (ha) | Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST518659 | — | Unfavourable Declining | 0.41 | 2013-07-11 |
Climate exposure
This is about exposure to a nationwide pressure this habitat type carries — not a verdict on this site's own management.
Coastal habitats are exposed to sea-level rise and storm erosion. Where hard sea defences sit behind them, there's nowhere landward to retreat to — a squeeze that keeps compressing the habitat no matter how well it's managed.
Geology & landscape
Mining / Industrial: Quarry · Geological Period: Carboniferous, Jurassic, Triassic
Landscape processes: Coastal
Description
Description Lulsgate Quarry is a disused quarry located south east of Pottershill, approximately one kilometre north east of Bristol Lulsgate airport. The site is renowned for its excellent exposure of an irregular unconformity surface lying between inclined Lower Carboniferous Dinantian Black Rock limestones and flat bedded Upper Triassic 'Rhaetian' strata. The Rhaetian sediments are assigned to the Westbury and Lilstock Formations of the Penarth Group; both formations vary from their normal development and represent a littoral facies. The Westbury Formation is represented by cobbles in a clay matrix; the Lilstock Formation includes shelly limestones, breccias and algal limestones the Cotham Beds. These strata contain a fauna of corals including Cyatharofenia and Astracoenia and the bivalves Placunopsis, Pteria and Atreta. The stepped unconformity indicates the rise in sea level and encroachment of the sea in the Mendip region during late Triassic and early Jurassic times. The lateral change in facies seen in the quarry indicates the proximity of the palaeo shoreline. Lulsgate Quarry is a site of national importance for our understanding of late Triassic palaeogeography and facies.