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SITES TO VISIT
OTHER SITES OF GEOLOGICAL INTEREST
Alphamstone (TL 879355)
At least nine large sarsen stones can be seen in and around the churchyard.
Arkesden
A number of giant puddingstone boulders can be seen in the bed of the
stream by the bridge in the centre of this pretty Essex village; others
can be found by the inn and in gardens nearby. The war memorial in the
churchyard consists of a single block of puddingstone. The highest point
in Essex is in High Wood, some 3 kilometres (2 miles) north-west of Arkesden
and is approximately 140 metres (460 feet) above sea level.
Asheldham
The line of flooded gravel pits stretching across the Dengie peninsula
from Burnham-on-Crouch to Bradwell was the route of the Thames/Medway
river and the gravel it deposited is known as the Low Level East Essex
Gravel. One of these pits, at Asheldham (TL 974018), is now a delightful
Essex Wildlife Trust nature reserve where iron-stained gravel and sand
are sometimes visible in the degraded banks. Digging is not, of course,
permitted. On the other side of the road is a commercial gravel quarry.
Braintree
In front of the museum in Manor Street is a statue of John Ray, the naturalist
(1627-1705). Although he is chiefly known for his work in botany and zoology,
he contributed greatly to the advance of geology, particularly with his
observations on the origin of fossils. He is buried in Black Notley churchyard.
Brentwood
Thorndon Country Park (North) is of geological interest for the steep-sided
stream valleys cut through glacial gravel and the underlying London Clay.
In a disused gravel pit in the woods on the adjacent land of Little Warley
Common, the Essex RIGS Group has created a 1.5 metre high exposure of glacial
gravel. Directions to the exposure can be obtained from Thorndon Countryside
Centre.
Chelmsford
At Chelmsford Museum a block of puddingstone stands next to the main entrance
door. Two sarsen stones can be seen in Broomfield by the church gate.
Colchester
The fifteenth century gatehouse of St. John's Abbey is a fine example
of the use of knapped flints known as 'flushwork'. Colchester Castle and
much of the Roman wall is made of septarian nodules from the London Clay,
probably gathered from the Essex coast. The nodules are claystone concretions
named after their characteristic internal structure of radiating mineral
filled cracks called 'septa'. In the suburb of Greenstead, an unusual
sarsen stone stands next to a bus stop at the southern end of Avon Way,
and on the other side of the road, on a concrete plinth, is a fine boulder
of puddingstone.
Finchingfield
A fine rounded erratic boulder of dolerite, which is an igneous rock,
can be seen adjacent to a barn a short distance from the green on the
road north out of the village. This was probably transported from Northumberland
by the Anglian ice sheet.
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Essex RIGS Group examining glacial gravel at Fingringhoe
Photo: Bill George
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Fingringhoe (TM 045195)
Fingringhoe Wick was a working gravel quarry between 1924 and 1959. It
is now one of the finest nature reserves in Essex and owned by the Essex
Wildlife Trust. Within the reserve there is a cliff of glacial sand and
gravel deposited by torrents of meltwater issuing from the ice front when
it was situated only some 12 kilometres (8 miles) west of here.
Gestingthorpe
A considerable number of glacial erratic boulders are scattered across
the countryside hereabouts. Of particular note is the collection of at
least nine sarsen stones outside Nether Hall Farm (TL 809394), the largest
(probably the largest in Essex) being some 2.5 metres (8 feet) long.
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Grays
There are many large quarries in the Upper Chalk in the vicinity of Grays
and Purfleet. In some, Thanet Sand and Thames terrace gravels can be seen
overlying the Chalk. In others, vegetation has taken hold, providing a
haven for wildlife such as the well known Grays Chalk Quarry west of Hogg
Lane which is a nature reserve managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust (day
permits available to visit this site are available to Trust members only).
An exposure of Thanet Sand and the top of the Upper Chalk can be seen
at the junction of Drake Road and Devonshire Road in the new Chafford
Hundred development. A fine sarsen stone is situated at the front of Thurrock
College.
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