Chilmark Quarries

Chilmark Quarries
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Country	England
Region	South West
Ceremonial county	Wiltshire

Location	Chilmark
- coordinates	GB-ENG 51°4′48″N 2°2′11″W / 51.08000°N 2.03639°W / 51.08000; -2.03639Coordinates: GB-ENG 51°4′48″N 2°2′11″W / 51.08000°N 2.03639°W / 51.08000; -2.03639

Area	9.65 ha (23.85 acres)

Geology	Limestone
Animal	Bats

Notification	1977
Management	Natural England

Area of Search	Wiltshire
Interest	Biological and Geological

Location of Chilmark Quarries in the UK
Website: SAC at MAgiC

Chilmark Quarries (grid reference ST974312) is a 9.65 hectare biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), in the ravine south of the village of Chilmark in Wiltshire, England.

The SSSI was first notified in 1977.^[1] Its importance as a home for bats led to the site being designated in 2005 (together with Fonthill Grottoes) as a European Special Area of Conservation.^[2]

The western section of the site is in Chilmark civil parish, while the eastern section (separated by a minor road) is in Teffont parish.

History

Stone being worked at Chilmark, 2007

Chilmark stone, a form of limestone, was mined here since medieval times and used for buildings including Salisbury Cathedral.^[3]^[4] In 1936 the quarry and mines were bought by the Air Ministry and used as a storage area for RAF Chilmark, a munitions depot, until 1995.^[5] Stone extraction continued on a small scale until the quarry closed c. 2007. Similar stone is still mined at Chicksgrove Quarry, 1.3 miles (2.1 km) to the southwest.^[6]

Biological Interest

Within the disused quarries on the western side of the valley, there is a system of caves in which up to 150 bats, of several species, roost in winter. The largest British wintering roost of Bechstein's Bat is here. Other species which utilise the site include Greater and Lesser Horseshoe Bats, Daubenton's Bat, Natterer's Bat and Brandt's Bat.

Geological Interest

The quarry has exposures of Jurassic rocks, part of the Purbeckian beds. It is a fine building stone used for the main structure of Salisbury Cathedral and many other local buildings. Purbeckian limestones, possibly from Chilmark, were used for packing around at least one of the upright stones of Stonehenge, for houses on an Iron Age site at Fifield Bavant, and for Rockbourne Roman Villa and other Roman sites.^[7] Chilmark stone is easy to work, but long-lived in use. Fossils are uncommon in the beds recently being extracted, but include ammonites and other shells.

References

↑ "Citation sheet for Chilmark Quarries" (PDF). Retrieved 29 March 2016.
↑ "Chilmark Quarries: Citation for Special Area of Conservation UK0016373". Natural England. May 2005. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
↑ Crowley, D.A. (ed.). "Victoria County History - Wiltshire - Vol 13 pp114-125 - Parishes: Chilmark". British History Online. University of London. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
↑ "Question: Chilmark stone". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. December 2004. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
↑ "Planning Brief: RAF Chilmark" (PDF). Salisbury District Council. December 1999. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
↑ "Chicksgrove Stone". Chicksgrove & Chilmark. Lovell Stone Group. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
↑ Corrections to 1996 paper

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chilmark Quarry.

Biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire

Acres Farm Meadow River Avon System Baverstock Juniper Bank Bencroft Hill Meadows Bentley Wood Bincknoll Dip Woods Blackmoor Copse Botley Down Bowerchalke Downs Box Mine Bracknell Croft Bradley Woods Bratton Downs Brickworth Down and Dean Hill Brimsdown Hill Britford Water Meadows Burcombe Down Burderop Wood Calstone and Cherhill Downs Camp Down Chilmark Quarries Chickengrove Bottom Chilton Foliat Meadows Clattinger Farm Clearbury Down Cley Hill Cloatley Manor Farm Meadows Clout's Wood Coate Water Cockey Down Colerne Park and Monk's Wood The Coombes, Hinton Parva Cotswold Water Park Cranborne Chase Dank's Down and Truckle Hill Distillery Farm Meadows East Harnham Meadows Ebsbury Down Emmett Hill Meadows Figsbury Ring Fonthill Grottoes Fyfield Down Gallows Hill Goldborough Farm Meadows Great Cheverell Hill Great Yews Gutch Common Ham Hill Hang Wood Harries Ground, Rodbourne Haydon Meadow Heath Hill Farm Homington and Coombe Bissett Downs Honeybrook Farm Inwood, Warleigh Jones's Mill River Kennet Kennet and Lambourn Floodplain King's Play Hill Knapp and Barnett's Downs Knighton Downs and Wood Landford Bog Landford Heath Langley Wood and Homan's Copse Little Grubbins Meadow Long Knoll Loosehanger Copse and Meadows Lower Coombe and Ferne Brook Meadows Lower Woodford Water Meadows Midford Valley Woods Morgan's Hill The New Forest North Meadow, Cricklade Odstock Down Out Woods Parsonage Down Pewsey Downs Picket and Clanger Wood Piggledene Pike Corner Pincombe Down Porton Down Porton Meadows Prescombe Down Rack Hill Ravensroost Wood Restrop Farm and Brockhurst Wood Rotherley Downs Roundway Down and Covert Salisbury Plain Savernake Forest Scratchbury & Cotley Hills Silbury Hill Spye Park Starveall and Stony Down Steeple Langford Down Stockton Wood and Down Stoke Common Meadows Stratford Toney Down Sutton Lane Meadows Throope Down River Till Tytherington Down Upper Waterhay Meadow Upton Cow Down West Yatton Down Whiteparish Common Whitesheet Hill Win Green Down Winklebury Hill Winsley Mines Wylye and Church Dean Downs Yarnbury Castle

Neighbouring areas Avon Berkshire Dorset Gloucestershire Hampshire Oxfordshire Somerset

Geological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire

Bratton Downs Charnage Down Chalk Pit Chilmark Quarries Corsham Railway Cutting Dead Maid Quarry Dinton Quarry Dinton Railway Cutting Fyfield Down Great Quarry, Swindon Gripwood Quarry Kellaways - West Tytherton, River Avon Lady Down Quarry The New Forest Okus Quarry Old Town Railway Cutting, Swindon Piggledene Seend Cleeve Quarry Seend Ironstone Quarry and Road Cutting Stanton St. Quintin Quarry & Motorway Cutting Steeple Ashton Stert Brook Exposure Teffont Evias Quarry and Lane Cutting Upper Chicksgrove Quarry West Harnham Chalk Pit Westbury Ironstone Quarry Wootton Bassett Mud Spring

Neighbouring areas: Avon Berkshire Dorset Gloucestershire Hampshire Oxfordshire Somerset

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, March 30, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.