Nine Acres Pit

Nine Acres Pit
Site of Special Scientific Interest

Area of Search	Bedfordshire
Grid reference	SP938277
Interest	Geological
Area	20.7 hectares
Notification	1986
Location map	Magic Map

Nine Acres Pit is a 20.7 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Importance north-east of Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire. It was notified in 1986 under Section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and the local planning authority is Central Bedfordshire Council. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.^[1]^[2]

The site is a sand quarry which was worked by J. Arnold and Sons Limited in the late nineteenth century, and 9,516 tons were dug in 1897.^[3] According to Natural England:

This locality shows a Lower Cretaceous section spanning the Aptian and Albian stages, including the finest development of Carstone and Shenley Limestone in the Leighton Buzzard area as well as superb exposures of dune bedding in the Upper Woburn Sands.

The famous Shenley Limestone contains a unique fossil fauna of a diversity virtually unparalleled in the Albian elsewhere.^[1]

It is a working quarry and there is no public access.^[4]

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References

1 2 "Nine Acres Pit citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
↑ "Map of Nine Acres Pit". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
↑ "Nine Acres Pit Heath and Reach". Bedford Borough Council and Central Bedfordshire Council. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
↑ "A statement of English Nature’s views about the management of Nine Acres Pit Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)" (PDF). English Nature. 2004. Retrieved 28 August 2015. line feed character in |title= at position 78 (help)

Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Bedfordshire

Biological	Barton Hills Blow's Down Cooper's Hill Deacon Hill Dropshort Marsh Dunstable and Whipsnade Downs Fancott Woods and Meadows Felmersham Gravel Pits Flitwick Moor Galley and Warden Hills Hanger Wood Houghton Regis Marl Lakes Kings and Bakers Woods and Heaths Kings Wood and Glebe Meadows, Houghton Conquest Knocking Hoe Marston Thrift Maulden Church Meadow Maulden Heath Maulden Wood and Pennyfather's Hill Nares Gladley Marsh Odell Great Wood Potton Wood Pulloxhill Marsh Sandy Warren Smithcombe, Sharpenhoe and Sundon Hills Southill Lake and Woods Stevington Marsh Sundon Chalk Quarry Swineshead Wood Tebworth Marsh Tilwick Meadow Totternhoe Chalk Quarry Totternhoe Knolls Wavendon Heath Ponds Yelden Meadows

Geological	Biddenham Pit Double Arches Pit Kensworth Chalk Pit Nine Acres Pit Totternhoe Stone Pit

Coordinates: 51°56′20″N 0°38′06″W / 51.939°N 0.635°W / 51.939; -0.635

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, October 25, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.