Downfield Pit

Downfield Pit, Westmill
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Downfield Pit north
LocationHertfordshire
Grid referenceTL349165
InterestGeological
Area3.6 hectares
Notification1989
Location mapMagic Map
Downfield Pit south

Downfield Pit is a 3.6-hectare (8.9-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Ware in Hertfordshire. It is in the Geological Conservation Review in the Thames Pleistocene section, and the local planning authority is East Hertfordshire District Council.[1][2]

The site provides an example of the complex sequence of Pleistocene gravels and clays laid down by the River Thames when it flowed through the Vale of St Albans before the river was diverted south by the Anglian ice age around 450,000 years ago.[3] Downfield Pit is a key site linking the Thames and East Anglia regions during the Middle Pleistocene.[1]

The site is now very degraded, but a borehole could establish the sequence of deposits.[3] It is in two areas, both now within the Hanbury Manor Golf Course. The northern area is on a steeply sloping boundary of the course and the southern one is part of the course. They can be observed from Poles Lane.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Downfield Pit.

References

  1. ^ a b "Downfield Pit, Westmill citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  2. ^ "Map of Downfield Pit, Westmill". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  3. ^ a b "A Geological Conservation Strategy for Hertfordshire" (PDF). Hertfordshire RIGS Group. 2003. p. 43. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.

51°49′51″N 0°02′37″W / 51.8308°N 0.0437°W / 51.8308; -0.0437