Marks Tey Brickpit

Marks Tey Brickpit
Site of Special Scientific Interest
View of an area of the site which is now a field
LocationEssex
Grid referenceTL 911243
InterestGeological
Area29.5 hectares
Notification1986
Location mapMagic Map

Marks Tey Brickpit is a 29.5-hectare (73-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Marks Tey in Essex.[1][2] It is a Geological Conservation Review site.[3]

This site has a record of pollen throughout the Hoxnian interglacial around 400,000 years ago, and this is the best vegetational record for any British interglacial site. Seasonal layers in lake sediments have made it possible to estimate the duration of the Hoxnian.[1] Clay deposited in the lake is quarried at a brickworks on the site, and this exposes layers above the Hoxnian ones of a later colder period. There is also a Grade II listed early nineteenth-century bottle kiln and brick tile works on the site.[4][5]

The site is overgrown apart from a small area used for brick making.[4] It is private land with no public access, but a small area, which is now a field, can be seen from Marks Tey railway station car park.

References

  1. ^ a b "Marks Tey Brickpit citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  2. ^ "Map of Marks Tey Brickpit". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  3. ^ "Marks Tey (Quaternary of East Anglia)". Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Marks Tey Brick Pit SSSI". The Essex Field Club. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  5. ^ "BOTTLE KILN AT MARKS TEY BRICK AND TILE WORKS". Historic England. Retrieved 5 July 2016.

51°53′06″N 0°46′26″E / 51.885°N 0.774°E / 51.885; 0.774