Old Cambus Quarry
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Condition (NatureScot)
| Unit | Feature | Condition | Area (ha) | Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1 | Llandovery | Favourable | — | 2024-06-05 |
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: Silurian · Rock Type: Slate
Landscape processes: Coastal
Description
Old Cambus Quarry Old Cambus Quarry is a disused slate quarry located less than 1 km from the Berwickshire Coast, around 4 km south east from Cockburnspath. The sedimentary rock was laid down beneath the Iapetus Ocean during the Llandovery, or lower part of the Silurian geological period, and consists of layers of ocean floor muds and muddy sandstones, or greywackes. The present exposures of rock at Old Cambus Quarry are the best eastern-most examples of this type of sedimentary Silurian rock. Excellently preserved graptolite faunas (ancient marine creatures) that are visible here allow correlation with other Silurian rocks in the Southern Uplands, and have established that these at Old Cambus were laid down during the upper part of the Llandovery or the Telychian period. Diverse trace fossils left by other sea creatures on the once soft mud of the sea bed occur within the shales and give added interest to the stratigraphic importance of the site in terms of aiding understanding of the ancient sea bed environment.