Rock Edge Nature Reserve

Last updated
Rock Edge Nature Reserve
Rock Edge Nature Reserve - geograph.org.uk - 1580312.jpg
Location Headington, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
Coordinates 51°45′14″N1°12′16″W / 51.75389°N 1.20444°W / 51.75389; -1.20444 Coordinates: 51°45′14″N1°12′16″W / 51.75389°N 1.20444°W / 51.75389; -1.20444
Established1972 [1]
Old limestone quarry workings at Rock Edge Nature Reserve, near the junction of Old Road and Windmill Road Rock Edge, Oxford - geograph.org.uk - 13863.jpg
Old limestone quarry workings at Rock Edge Nature Reserve, near the junction of Old Road and Windmill Road

Rock Edge Nature Reserve is a small nature reserve and park in an area that was once a limestone quarry in Headington, east Oxford, England. [2] [3] [4]

The local geology is made up of an old tropical coral reef, with coral outcrops surrounded by old sand bottom beds, similar to what is found in the waters around the Bahamas today. [1] A small track leads meanders around the old quarry, where fossils of ancient marine creatures can still be found.

Site of Special Scientific Interest

The Rock Edge quarry at the site is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). [1] [3] [5] [6] The site covers 4 acres (1.6 hectares). [7]

The site was formerly known as Crossroads Pit and has also been called Windmill Quarry [8] since it was located just south of the main windmill in Headington. [6] The name Cross Road Quarry has also been used. [9]

Related Research Articles

Pitstone Human settlement in England

Pitstone is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is at the foot of the central range of the Chiltern Hills, centred 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Aylesbury and 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Leighton Buzzard. It directly adjoins the village of Ivinghoe, and the two villages share some facilities.

Charnwood Forest picturesque upland area in north-western Leicestershire, England

Charnwood Forest is an upland tract in north-western Leicestershire, England, bounded by Leicester, Loughborough and Coalville. The area is undulating, rocky and picturesque, with barren areas. It also has some extensive tracts of woodland; its elevation is generally 600 feet (180 m) and upwards, the area exceeding this height being about 6,100 acres (25 km2). The highest point, Bardon Hill, is 912 feet (278 m). On its western flank lies an abandoned coalfield, with Coalville and other former mining villages, now being regenerated and replanted as part of the National Forest. The M1 motorway, between junctions 22 and 23, cuts through Charnwood Forest.

Wrens Nest park in Dudley, West Midlands, England, UK

The Wren's Nest is a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Dudley Metropolitan Borough, north west of the town centre of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. It is one of the most important geological locations in Britain. It is also a Local Nature Reserve, a national nature reserve (NNR) and Scheduled Ancient Monument. The site is home to a number of species of birds and locally rare flora, such as Small Scabious, Milkwort and Quaking Grass. The caverns are also a nationally important hibernation site for seven different species of bat.

Brimble Pit and Cross Swallet Basins

Brimble Pit and Cross Swallet Basins is a 154.3 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Wookey Hole and Priddy in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, notified in 1987.

Teffont Evias Quarry and Lane Cutting is a 3.6 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Teffont Evias in Wiltshire, England, notified in 1989. It consists of two parts, Teffont Evias Quarry, and Teffont Evias Lane Cutting. Forest trees are currently growing on both sites, but there are small accessible exposures on the sides of quarry and roadway cuttings.

Dryhill is a small hamlet in the Sevenoaks district, in the county of Kent, England.

Smardale Human settlement in England

Smardale is a small village in Cumbria, England, in the civil parish of Waitby.

Hobbs Quarry SSSI, Longhope

Hobbs Quarry, Longhope is a 1-hectare (2.5-acre) geological and biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, England, notified in 1966. It is situated midway between Longhope and Dursley Cross in the Forest of Dean. Adjacent woods are Kiln Wood and Coleman's Wood. The site is managed by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust.

Minchinhampton Common

Minchinhampton Common is a 182.7-hectare (451-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1972.

Chafford Gorges Nature Park Essex Wildlife Trust Nature reserve

The Chafford Gorges Nature Park is a 200-acre (81 ha) nature reserve located in Chafford Hundred, England and managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust. It includes two Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Grays Thurrock Chalk Pit has been designated for its biological interest, and Lion Pit for geological interest.

Quarry Moor Site of Special Scientific Interest in North Yorkshire, England

Quarry Moor is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, at the south edge of Ripon, North Yorkshire, England, and adjacent to the A61 road. It contains an outcrop of Magnesian Limestone, exposed by former quarrying. 255 million years ago this limestone was the peripheral sediment of a tropical sea. The land was donated in 1945 to the people of Ripon by the town's mayor, Alderman Thomas Fowler Spence, a varnish manufacturer. The land was notified as an SSSI in 1986 because its calcareous grassland supported a large diversity of plant species. The site features a Schedule 8 protected plant, thistle broomrape. The land is protected as a nature reserve, and it is also managed as a recreational area. Therefore, its calcareous grass area is fenced off for protection and study, but it also contains a car park, information signs, a children's play area, accessible paths, benches, and dog waste bins.

Kirtlington Quarry

Kirtlington Quarry is a 3.1-hectare (7.7-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Kirtlington in Oxfordshire. It is a Geological Conservation Review site, and it is part of the 7.4-hectare (18-acre) Kirtlington Quarry Local Nature Reserve.

Rock Edge

Rock Edge is a 1.7-hectare (4.2-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Oxford in Oxfordshire. It is a Geological Conservation Review site and a Local Nature Reserve

Chee Dale Valley in the Derbyshire Peak District

Chee Dale is a steep-sided gorge on the River Wye near Buxton, Derbyshire, in the Peak District of England.

Shellingford Crossroads Quarry

Shellingford Crossroads Quarry is a 2.6-hectare (6.4-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Stanford in the Vale in Oxfordshire. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.

Old Road, Oxford

Old Road is a long street in Headington, east Oxford, England, extending into Oxfordshire as a road east of Oxford, to Littleworth near Wheatley. It is part of the main old road between Oxford and London until the late 18th century, passing over Shotover Hill. Nowadays it intersects with the Oxford Ring Road (A4142).

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Site Name: Rock Edge" (PDF). designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk. UK: Natural England . Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  2. ↑ "Rock Edge Nature Reserve". Wikimapia . Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  3. 1 2 "Countryside and nature reserves – Rock Edge Nature Reserve". UK: Oxford City Council . Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  4. ↑ "Rock Edge Nature Reserve". UK: Daily Info . Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  5. ↑ Frayn, Keith. "Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Headington" (PDF). www.friendsoflyevalley.org.uk. UK: Friends of Lye Valley. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  6. 1 2 "Rock Edge (Crossroads or Windmill Quarry)". Headington history: The quarries. UK: Headington, Oxford. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  7. ↑ "Rock Edge (Cross Roads) Quarry, Headington" (PDF). www.headington.org.uk. Oxford Geology Trust. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  8. ↑ "Windmill Quarry, Headington". Stone in Archaeology Database. University of Southampton Archaeology. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  9. ↑ "Cross Road Quarry, Headington". Stone in Archaeology Database. University of Southampton Archaeology. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.