Castle Bytham Quarry
Encyclopedia
Castle Bytham quarry is a disused quarry
located close to the centre of the village of Castle Bytham
, Lincolnshire
, England
. It is famous for the exposure of Laeviuscula Zone ammonite fauna has allowed the dating of the Upper Lincolnshire limestone
formation to the Bajocian
era, and thereby dating other deposits around Europe.
When the quarry was opened in the 1850s A Bronze age
arrowhead and a Saxon burial were found in the overburden.
Although Ironstone quarrying was common to the west and north, this quarry was worked for Limestone. A kiln adjacent to the railway line was used to produce slaked lime for the agricultural trade and a small amount of cement. The quarry was worked by the Castle Lime company'.
The quarry has been left to return to nature since its closure and is now a recognised Site of Special Scientific Interest
or SSSI. It has most recently been used as a temporary car park for the annual Castle Bytham Mid-Summer Fair but is otherwise unused. The present owner of the quarry made efforts in 2004 to turn the quarry into an industrial complex of offices and small industrial units.
Thunderbolt Pit, The small quarry to the North of the Little Bytham road, just past the former railway bridge, is in another small outcrop of the same stratification, on the other side of the river. It was not operated by Castle Lime.
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
located close to the centre of the village of Castle Bytham
Castle Bytham
Castle Bytham is a picturesque village and Civil Parish of around 300 houses in South Kesteven in south Lincolnshire.At one time the village was an important commercial centre for the surrounding agricultural communities, but it is now largely a dormitory, although a number of farming families...
, Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is famous for the exposure of Laeviuscula Zone ammonite fauna has allowed the dating of the Upper Lincolnshire limestone
Lincolnshire limestone
The Lincolnshire limestone is a feature of the Inferior Oolite Series of the Middle Jurassic strata of eastern England. It was formed around 165 million years ago, in a shallow, warm sea on the margin of the London Platform and has estuarine beds above and below it...
formation to the Bajocian
Bajocian
In the geologic timescale, the Bajocian is an age or stage in the Middle Jurassic. It lasted from approximately 171.6 Ma to around 167.7 Ma . The Bajocian age succeeds the Aalenian age and precedes the Bathonian age....
era, and thereby dating other deposits around Europe.
When the quarry was opened in the 1850s A Bronze age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
arrowhead and a Saxon burial were found in the overburden.
Although Ironstone quarrying was common to the west and north, this quarry was worked for Limestone. A kiln adjacent to the railway line was used to produce slaked lime for the agricultural trade and a small amount of cement. The quarry was worked by the Castle Lime company'.
The quarry has been left to return to nature since its closure and is now a recognised Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
or SSSI. It has most recently been used as a temporary car park for the annual Castle Bytham Mid-Summer Fair but is otherwise unused. The present owner of the quarry made efforts in 2004 to turn the quarry into an industrial complex of offices and small industrial units.
Thunderbolt Pit, The small quarry to the North of the Little Bytham road, just past the former railway bridge, is in another small outcrop of the same stratification, on the other side of the river. It was not operated by Castle Lime.