British Upper Carboniferous stratigraphy

C.J. Cleal and B.A. Thomas

Department of Botany National Museum of Wales, Cardiff

GCR Editor: L.P. Thomas

Chapman & Hall. London, Glasgow, Weinheim, New York Tokyo, Melbourne, Madras

Published by Chapman & Hall, 2–6 Boundary Row, London SE1 8HN, UK

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First edition 1996. © 1996 Joint Nature Conservation Committee ISBN 0 412 72780 3

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Contents

Acknowledgements

Access to the countryside Preface

1 Introduction and general background

2 International stage stratotypes

Gill Beck

Blake Brook

River Darwen

Park Clough

Orchard Farm

Little Don

Duckmanton Railway Cutting

Doe Lea

3 Culm Trough

Crackington Coast

Bonhay Road Cutting

Bickleigh Wood Quarry

Clovelly Coast

Abbotsham Coast

Bude Coast

Shipload Bay

4 South Wales

Tenby–Saundersfoot Coast

Marros Sands

Amroth Coast

Nolton Haven

Barland Common

Vale of Neath

Smarts Quarry

Lower House Stream Section

Cwm Gwrelych–Nant Llyn Fach

Nant Uech

Cwm Twrch Earlswood Road Cutting and Ferryboat Inn Quarry

Blaenrhondda Road Cutting

Trehir Quarry

Penllergaer Railway Cutting

Llammarch Dingle

Brynmawr Road Cutting

Wern Ddu

Coed-y-Darren

5 Forest of Dean and Severn coalfields

Meezy Hurst

Puddlebrook Quarry

Oakenhill Railway Cutting

Portishead Pier

6 Bristol–Somerset Basin

Cattybrook Claypit

Bickley Wood

Winterbourne Railway Cutting

7 English Midlands

Cornbrook Dingle

Benson's Brook

Eyemore Railway Cutting

Brewin's Canal Cutting

Doulton's Claypit

Ketley Claypit

New Hadley Brickworks

Kingsbury Brickworks

Halesowen Road Cutting

Metallic Tileries

Cheswardine Canal Cutting

Alveley Grindstone Quarry

Gospel End Road Cutting

Webster's Claypit

8 North Wales

The sequence at Dee Bridge

The sequence at Ruby Brickworks

9 Millstone Grit of the Central Province

Pot Bank Quarry

Gib Tor

River Noe

Mam Tor

Alport Castles

Blackden Brook

Standedge Road Cutting

Crimsworth Dean

Derby Delf Quarry

Ladcastle and Den Quarries

Great Dib Wood Cockwood Gorge

Rake Dike

Hodge Clough

Pule Hill

Jumble Coppice

Hathersage Moor

Harewood Grange

Yeadon Brickworks

Harper Clough, Smalley Dell and Closebrow Quarries

Heys Britannia Quarries

10 Coal Measures of the Pennine Basin

Ridgeway Quarry

Stannington Ruffs

Ambergate Quarry

Neepsend Brickworks

Honley Station Cutting

Goyt's Moss

Ravenhead Brickworks

Neepsend Railway Cutting

Wharncliffe Crags

Elland Bypass Cutting

Lowside Brickworks

Bradgate Brickworks

River Tonge, Mill Hill

Ashclough

Stairfoot Brickworks

Nostell Brickyard Quarry

Carlton Main Brickworks

11 Northern England

Mousegill Beck

Howick to Seaton Point

Crag Gill

Tynemouth to Seaton Sluice

Wear River Bank

Cresswell and Newbiggin Shore

Saltom Bay

Byre Burn

Jockie's Syke

12 Scottish Basin

High Smithstone Quarry

Joppa Shore

Polhote and Polneul Burns

Lagrae Burn

Corrie Foreshore

Dunaskin Glen

Inninmore Bay

East Wemyss to Buckhaven Coast

References

Species index

General index

Acknowledgements

Throughout this work on the Upper Carboniferous stratigraphy part of the GCR, we have received extensive support and advice from colleagues, both in this country and abroad. To mention everyone who has contributed to the project would effectively just produce a list of all stratigraphers with an interest in British Upper Carboniferous stratigraphy. To all these people, we express our sincere thanks, and the hope that we have justified their support by helping to conserve their key sites. There are some names, however, which merit special mention for the help that they have given: Michael Eagar, Bill Ramsbottom, Nick Riley, Bernard Owens, Bernard Besly, Fred Broadhurst, Tony Johnson and the late T.R. Owen. These are people who have supplied us with information that has been of particular value, and to whom we are deeply indebted.

CJC was responsible directly for the selection of most of the sites dealt with in this volume. However, the sites in Chapter 3 (The Culm Trough) were selected by Martin Whitley, and the Millstone Grit sites by D. Owen Roberts. To both of these colleagues, we are deeply grateful. In both cases, they provided preliminary reports on their sites, which assisted us greatly in the compilation presented in this volume. The text of the whole volume was reviewed by Nick Riley, who made numerous helpful comments and improvements and deserves special mention. However, we take sole responsibility for the final content of the volume and the arguments given supporting the selection of the sites.

Finally, we would like to thank George Black, for inviting CJC to participate in the Geological Conservation Review, Bill Wimbledon for his support throughout the project, and the GCR Publication Production Team — Neil Ellis (Publications Manager); Nicholas D.W. Davey (Scientific Officer); Valerie Wyld (Sub-editor).

Access to the countryside

This volume is not intended for use as a field guide. The description or mention of any site should not be taken as an indication that access to a site is open or that a right of way exists. Most sites described are in private ownership, and their inclusion herein is solely for the purpose of justifying their conservation. Their description or appearance on a map in this work should in no way be construed as an invitation to visit. Prior consent for visits should always be obtained from the landowner and/or occupier.

Information on conservation matters, including site ownership, relating to Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) or National Nature Reserves (NNRs) in particular counties or districts may be obtained from the relevant country conservation agency headquarters listed below:

English Nature, Northminster House, Peterborough PE1 1UA.

Scottish Natural Heritage, 12 Hope Terrace, Edinburgh EH9 2AS.

Countryside Council for Wales, Plas Penrhos, Ffordd Penrhos, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2LQ.

Preface

This volume summarizes the results of a survey of British Upper Carboniferous sites, undertaken between 1978 and 1990 as part of the Geological Conservation Review (GCR). The GCR was the first attempt to assess the scientific significance of all Britain's geological sites and has proved a landmark in the development of a coherent geological conservation strategy in this country. To ensure that the assessments were based on a firm logical and scientific foundation, the range of scientific interest was divided into ninety-seven discrete subject 'blocks', reflecting the natural divisions of stratigraphy, palaeogeography and geological process; Westphalian stratigraphy and Namurian stratigraphy were two of these blocks.

The first stage in the survey was a review of the literature, to establish a comprehensive database of sites. From this, a provisional list of potentially significant sites was made and this was circulated to all relevant specialists in this country and abroad. At the same time, the sites were visited to assess their physical condition and whether the interest was still extant. In some cases, excavation (so-called 'site-cleaning') was carried out to see if the interest of a site could be resurrected or enhanced. The comments made by the specialists and the field observations were then used to produce a second site list, which again was circulated for comment. This process of consultation continued until a consensus was reached among the specialists about which Upper Carboniferous sites were of sufficient stratigraphical interest to justify conservation. The minimum criterion was that it was the best, most representative sequence in Britain for a particular aspect of British stratigraphy. The resulting GCR sites were thus, at the very least, of national scientific importance, although many, such as the stratotype sites detailed in Chapter 2 were also of international importance.

These GCR sites have been used as building-blocks for establishing a new set of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). If there was no other significant interest at or adjacent to the site, a proposal was made to establish it as an SSSI on the Upper Carboniferous stratigraphical interest alone. In many cases, however, a site showed other potentially significant features, or it adjoined another site of significance. In these cases, a composite proposed SSSI would be constructed from a set of GCR sites. Despite the heterogeneous nature of such sites, it is important to remember that the stratigraphical interest is sufficient on its own to justify the conservation of the relevant part of the site. The SSSI proposals that have arisen out of this survey have been sent to the appropriate country conservation agencies (English Nature, Countryside Council for Wales, Scottish Natural Heritage), whose governing Councils are responsible for the final decision to notify them.

This volume is not intended to be a field guide to these sites, nor does it cover the practical problems of their future conservation. Its remit is to put on record the scientific justification for conserving the sites, discussing the interest of the geology there, and placing it in a wider stratigraphical context. Each site is dealt with in a self-contained account, beginning with 'highlights' (a précis of its special scientific interest), and a general introduction (with a brief historical review of research carried out there), A detailed description and interpretation of the significance of the site then follows. This interpretative section has unavoidably had to be couched in technical language, because the conservation value is mostly based on a specialist understanding of the stratigraphical, palaeontological and sedimentological features present. The account of each sites ends, however, with a brief summary of the interest framed in less technical language, in order to help the non-specialist.

The inclusion of a site in this volume should not be taken as an indication of rights of access, nor should it be taken as an invitation to visit. The majority of the sites are in private ownership and prior permission to visit must always be obtained from the landowner and/or occupier. In many cases the sites are vulnerable to over-exploitation, and it is hoped that those that do visit them will treat them with the respect that should be given to any other part of our unique national heritage.

Finally, it must be emphasised that this volume does not provide a fixed list of the important Upper Carboniferous sites in Britain. Stratigraphy; like any other science, is an ever-developing pursuit with new discoveries being made, and new theories being developed, continually. There is also the problem of potential site loss. It is inevitable, therefore, that further sites worthy of conservation will be discovered in future years. This volume deals with our knowledge of the sites available at the time of the GCR survey (mainly during the 1980s) and must be seen in this context. Nevertheless, the account clearly demonstrates the value of British sites for Upper Carboniferous stratigraphy, and their important place in Britain's scientific and natural heritage.

References