Caistor Chalk Pit :: Shared Description

Chalk is a white or grey limestone formed from the microscopic shells of planktonic organisms. In Norfolk, the chalk is over 460 metres thick in places, and the county has the greatest range of chalk strata of anywhere in Britain. It principally presents as a low, rolling plateau in West Norfolk and along the north Norfolk coast as well as near Norwich, where the rivers Yare and Wensum have exposed overlying beds by cutting through them.

The Caistor chalk pit > LinkExternal link near the South Norfolk village of Caistor St Edmund, about four kilometres south of Norwich, is the last remaining well-exposed inland section of part of the Beeston Chalk formation of the Upper Campanian 'Norwich Chalk' and it is also the last remaining inland section of any size in the Upper Campanian succession of the Transitional Province. It is rich in macrofossils and well-preserved microfaunas, and hence of great interest to paleontologists and geologists alike. For instance, belemnites > LinkExternal link collected here were important in establishing the scheme of local belemnite zones an sub-zones. Fossil hunters know the quarry as a particularly good source for fish remains which can be found in the lower beds. Echinoids > LinkExternal link and brachiopods as well as bivalves are also common, along with sponges from the flint spoil heaps. The pit is also well documented for its hollow flints > LinkExternal link which have been used in developing a model for the formation of flint.

The pit has been in commercial use for more than 70 years and still is a working quarry > LinkExternal link - LinkExternal link - LinkExternal link - LinkExternal link and currently owned by Needham Chalks (HAM) Ltd. Formerly exploited mainly for its thick layer of chalk > LinkExternal link - LinkExternal link which in the old days was dug by hand and transported by horse and cart and is used primarily as an agricultural fertiliser > LinkExternal link. The operations have since moved towards an area where the overlying sands and gravel beds are being quarried > LinkExternal link at the expense of the chalk. Chalk is however still extracted here, using disc harrows > LinkExternal link for the production of agricultural lime. Norwich Crag sands > LinkExternal link cover the Cretaceous chalk, where fossil mammal bones can often be found, forming a protective layer.

The chalk layer also contains flints > LinkExternal link of all sizes including very large round nodules referred to as paramoudras > LinkExternal link and also known as potstones, because they can be used as natural planters. Paramoudras are believed to have formed by precipitation of silica around vertical tubes or burrows in the chalk sediment. One of the best places to see paramoudras in abundance is West Runton beach at low tide > LinkExternal link - LinkExternal link - LinkExternal link. Flints were valued in prehistoric times for tool making and more recently for making gunflints and are to this day widely used in Norfolk as a building stone. Needham Chalks is the UK’s largest producer of whole and knapped flints for the building trade.


My grateful thanks go to Russel Yeomans for his kind invitation to join members of the Yorkshire Geological Society > LinkExternal link on a guided tour of the Caistor quarry, which is not open to the public. It can however be seen from an elevated position by taking the footpath > LinkExternal link leading along its eastern edge.

For more detailed information read: LinkExternal link
by Evelyn Simak
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84 images use this description. Preview sample shown below:

TG2304 : Sacks full of flints by Evelyn Simak
TG2404 : Storage shed in Caistor quarry by Evelyn Simak
TG2304 : A workshed at Caistor quarry by Evelyn Simak
TG2404 : Danger, falling stones by Evelyn Simak
TG2404 : Quarry levels by Evelyn Simak
TG2404 : Paramoudras in Caistor quarry by Evelyn Simak
TG2404 : The chalk quarry at Caistor St Edmund by Evelyn Simak
TG2404 : Quarry building by Evelyn Simak
TG2404 : Dumper truck on quarry road by Evelyn Simak
TG2404 : View across the chalk pit (winter) by Evelyn Simak
TG2404 : View across the Caistor chalk pit by Evelyn Simak
TG2404 : Weighbridge in Caistor quarry by Evelyn Simak
TG2404 : A screen machine by Evelyn Simak
TG2404 : Exposed chalk in Caistor quarry by Evelyn Simak
TG2404 : Fossilised sea urchin (Echinoidea spec) by Evelyn Simak
TG2404 : Large shed in the Caistor chalk pit by Evelyn Simak
TG2404 : Tractor working at the quarry bottom by Evelyn Simak
TG2404 : The chalk pit by Evelyn Simak
TG2404 : A big gap in the fence by Evelyn Simak
TG2404 : Exploring Caistor quarry by Evelyn Simak
TG2304 : Digger parked beside work shed by Evelyn Simak
TG2404 : A selection of flints by Evelyn Simak
TG2404 : View across the quarry bottom by Evelyn Simak
TG2404 : Work building in Caistor quarry by Evelyn Simak
TG2404 : Work shed at Caistor quarry by Evelyn Simak

... and 59 more images.

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Created: Sat, 7 May 2016, Updated: Mon, 9 May 2016

The 'Shared Description' text on this page is Copyright 2016 Evelyn Simak, however it is specifically licensed so that contributors can reuse it on their own images without restriction.

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