Middridge Quarry

Middridge Quarry
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Country England
Region North East
District Sedgefield
Location NZ248252
 - coordinates GB-ENG 54°37′18″N 1°37′0″W / 54.62167°N 1.61667°W / 54.62167; -1.61667Coordinates: GB-ENG 54°37′18″N 1°37′0″W / 54.62167°N 1.61667°W / 54.62167; -1.61667
Area 1.9 ha (4.7 acres)
Notification 1979
Management Natural England
Area of Search County Durham
Interest Geological
Map of England and Wales with a red dot representing the location of the Middridge Quarry SSSI, Co Durham
Location of Middridge Quarry SSSI, Co Durham
Website: Map of site

Middridge Quarry is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Sedgefield district of County Durham, England. It is a disused quarry, situated alongside the railway line between Newton Aycliffe and Shildon, 1 km south of the village of Middridge.

The quarry was excavated in magnesian limestone, the lowest level of which is an exceptionally fossiliferous marl slate which has yielded the richest and most varied Permian flora in the Britain and is the type locality for the pteridosperm Pseudoctensis middridgensis.[1] Fossils obtained from the quarry have included several species of fish and reptiles,[2][3][4][5] numerous invertebrates and plants, and the site is considered to be of international palaeontological importance.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Bell, J; J Holden; T H Pettigrew; K W Sedman (March 1979). "The Marl Slate and Basal Permian Breccia at Middridge, Co. Durham". Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 42 (3): 439–60. doi:10.1144/pygs.42.3.439.
  2. ↑ Sedgwick, A (1829). "On the geological relations and internal structure of the Magnesian Limestone". Transactions of the Geological Society of London, series 2 3: 37–124. doi:10.1144/transgslb.3.1.37.
  3. ↑ Hancock, Albany; Richard Howse (1870). "On a new Labyrinthodont Amphibian from the Magnesian Limestone of Midderidge, Durham". Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 26: 556–564. doi:10.1144/GSL.JGS.1870.026.01-02.52.
  4. ↑ Hancock, Albany; Richard Howse (1870). "On Proterosaurus Speneri, von Meyer, and a new species, Proterosaurus Huxleyi, from the Marl-slate of Midderidge, Durham". Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 26: 565–572. doi:10.1144/GSL.JGS.1870.026.01-02.53.
  5. ↑ Evans, S E; M S King (May 1993). "A new specimen of Protorosaurus (Reptilia: Diapsida) from the Marl Slate (late Permian) of Britain". Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 49 (3): 229–234. doi:10.1144/pygs.49.3.229.
  6. ↑ "Middridge Quarry" (PDF). English Nature. 1988. Retrieved 27 July 2010.


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