Chilmark Quarries - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Chilmark Quarries is a 9.65 hectare

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest, in the ravine south of the village of Chilmark

Chilmark, Wiltshire

Chilmark is a Wiltshire village of some 150 houses straddling the B3089 road twelve miles west of Salisbury. The parish church was given by Henry VIII to the brother in law of his last wife...

in Wiltshire

Wiltshire

Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...

, notified in 1977.

Chilmark stone, a form of limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

, is still mined at the site, subject to restrictions intended to protect the bats and other wildlife. The operator Chicksgrove Quarry Ltd also extracts Chilmark stone from Chicksgrove Quarry

Chicksgrove Quarry

Chicksgrove Quarry is a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire, England notified in 1971.Chilmark stone, a form of limestone, is quarried at the site. also operates Chilmark Mine, a site 1.5 miles away...

, a site 1.5 miles away.

Biological Interest

Within the disused quarries on the western side of the valley, there is a system of caves in which up to 150 bat

Bat

Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...

s, of several species, roost in winter. The largest British wintering roost of Bechstein's Bat

Bechstein's Bat

Bechstein's Bat is a species of vesper bat in the Vespertilionidae family.It can be found in the following countries: Austria, Armenia, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Liechtenstein, Republic of Macedonia,...

is here. Other species which utilise the site include Greater

Greater Horseshoe Bat

The Greater Horseshoe Bat is a European bat of the Rhinolophus genus. Its distribution covers Europe, Africa, South Asia and Australia. It is the largest of the European Horseshoe Bats and is thus easily distinguished from other species...

and Lesser Horseshoe Bat

Lesser horseshoe bat

The Lesser Horseshoe Bat , is a type of European bat related to but smaller than its cousin, the Greater Horseshoe Bat...

s, Daubenton's Bat

Daubenton's bat

Daubenton's Bat, Myotis daubentonii, is a Eurasian bat with quite short ears. It ranges from Britain to Japan and is considered to be increasing its numbers in many areas.The name commemorates the French naturalist Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton....

, Natterer's Bat

Natterer's bat

Natterer's bat is a European bat with pale wings. It has brown fur, also seen on the leg wing membrane, tending to white on its underside...

and Brandt's Bat

Brandt's Bat

Brandt's Bat is a species of vesper bat in the Vespertilionidae family.It is found throughout most of Europe and parts of Asia.It is named for the German zoologist Johann Friedrich von Brandt.-Echolocation:...

Geological Interest

The quarry has exposures of Jurassic

Jurassic

The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...

rocks, part of the Purbeckian

Purbeckian

The Purbeck Group is an Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous lithostratigraphic group in south-east England...

beds. It is a fine building stone used for the main structure of Salisbury Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England, considered one of the leading examples of Early English architecture....

and many other local buildings. Purbeckian limestones, possibly from Chilmark, were used for packing around one at least of the upright stones of Stonehenge

Stonehenge

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...

, for houses on an Iron Age

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

site at Fifield Bavant

Fifield Bavant

Fifield Bavant /'fʌɪfiːld 'bavənt/ is a very small village and former civil parish in Wiltshire, England, seven miles south west of Wilton, midway between Ebbesbourne Wake and Broad Chalke....

, and for Rockbourne Roman Villa

Rockbourne Roman Villa

Rockbourne Roman Villa is a Roman courtyard villa excavated and put on public display in the village of Rockbourne in the English county of Hampshire, England. The villa was discovered in 1942 by the ferret of a local farmer and excavated by A. T...

and other Roman sites. Chilmark stone is easy to work, but long-lived in use. Fossils are uncommon in the stone presently being extracted, but include ammonites

Ammonite

Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct subclass within the Molluscan class Cephalopoda which are more closely related to living coleoids Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct...

and other shells.

External links

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