Kilmersdon Road Quarry (SSSI)
Location and Access Information
Grid Reference: ST 689542
Lower Jurassic limestones
This road cutting is located on the minor road between Radstock and Haydon, approximately 600m off the turn from the A367.
Access to the site is currently not available as it is not considered to be in a safe condition.
View the site map on Nature on the Map
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Geological Interest
This small section exposes shelly limestones and mudstones of Lower Jurassic age that are approximately 200 million years old. At this time much of England was covered by a shallow, semi-tropical sea in which the sediments forming the rocks accumulated. The sea around the Mendips was particularly shallow and the Mendips themselves probably formed a series of islands. Under such shallow conditions, the deposition of sediments would have been intermittent and this is reflected by the sequence of rocks seen at Kilmersdon which, although only 5m in thickness cover a relatively long period of time. The fossil ammonites and other marine creatures in the rocks such as bivalves and brachiopods also indicate, through comparison with other sections in the Somerset-Gloucestershire area, that there are a number of significant gaps in the succession due to erosion and lack of sediment deposition.
