Newton Saint Loe SSSI

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Newton Saint Loe SSSI (grid reference ST715657) is a geological SSSI close to the River Avon, near the village of Newton Saint Loe in Bath and North East Somerset. It was notified on September 1992.

It is 2.26 hectares in size.

The site was featured in the Geological Conservation Review.

The site is designated as an SSSI because it represents the only remaining known exposure of fossiliferous Pleistocene gravels along the River Avon. In conjunction with other sites within the wider area, it has aided the development of a scientific understanding of the history of early glaciation within Southwest England.

[edit] Site Description

The citation sheet for this SSSI describes the site as follows:

This site consists of a river terrace approximately 10m above the present River Avon. The Pleistocene fluvial gravels temporarily exposed at Newton St Loe exhibit scour-and-fill structures. The trough cross bedding is consistent with the gravels having been laid down by a braided river, a fluvial style usually associated with cold stage sedimentation. The provenance of there gravels is complex and they contain material from South Wales and Midland sources. The gravels were subsequently weathered and decalcified during interstadial episodes and cryoturbated under stadial conditions.

[edit] Reasons for Notification

The bodies of mammoths (Mammuthus) and horses (Equus) have been found at the site. It was not possible to identify the species however, due to the poor state of the specimens.

[edit] Source

• English Nature citation sheet for this SSSI (accessed on 2006-07-07)

Geological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Avon

Aust Cliff • Avon Gorge • Banwell Caves  • Banwell Ochre Caves  • Barnhill Quarry  • Barns Batch Spinney  • Bickley Wood  • Bleadon Hill  • Bourne • Bowlditch Quarry  • Brinkmarsh Quarry  • Brown's Folly  • Buckover Road Cutting  • Burrington Combe  • Cattybrook Brickpit  • Clevedon Shore  • Compton Martin Ochre Mine  • Court Hill  • Cullimore's Quarry  • Damery Road Section  • Dundry Main Road South Quarry  • Gordano Valley  • Ham Green • Hampton Rocks Cutting  • Hartcliff Rocks Quarry • Hawkesbury Quarry  • Hinton Charterhouse Pit  • Hinton Hill, Wellow  • Holly Lane  • Huish Colliery Quarry  • Kenn Church, Kenn Pier & Yew Tree Farm • Kilmersdon Road Quarry  • Lower Woods  • Lulsgate Quarry  • Middle Hope  • Newton St. Loe  • Nightingale Valley  • North Road Quarry, Bath  • Portishead Pier to Black Nore • Quarry Steps, Durdham Down  • Severn Estuary • Slickstones Quarry, Cromhall  • Spring Cove Cliffs  • Stidham Farm  • Tytherington Quarry  • Weston-in-Gordano • Winterbourne Railway Cutting  • Writhlington Neighbouring areas: Gloucestershire • Somerset • Wiltshire