Holway Hill Quarry
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Condition (Natural England)
| Unit | Feature | Condition | Area (ha) | Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST638211 | — | Favourable | 0.08 | 2015-03-11 |
Geology & landscape
Mining / Industrial: Quarry · Rock Type: Limestone
Description
Description The site is situated about four kilometres north of Sherborne. The site consists of an 80 metre long face in a disused quarry. The face now forms one side of a garden. Holway Hill Quarry shows a key exposure in the Inferior Oolite 'Formation'. It is the largest extant exposure of the Corton Denham Beds and has been taken as the type locality for the unit. The unit shows a relatively expanded Bradfordensis Zone sequence over two metres thick including the lateral persistent Brebissoni Bed and the Ringens Bed. Lithologies are dominated by bioclastic limestone, nodular in part with a varied fauna including brachiopods Homeorhynchia, bivalves and ammonites Brasilia sp. The site is of great palaeogeographical interest as equivalent beds elsewhere are in condensed,'iron shot' oolite facies and often only 0.35 metres to 0.45 metres in thickness. The locality therefore provides insights into the nature of the depositional regime sedimentological and tectonic in a stratigraphically complex, but internationally important region for Aalenian Bajocian studies.