Writhlington SSSI
51°17′46″N 2°25′38″W / 51.29605°N 2.42735°W / 51.29605; -2.42735
Writhlington SSSI (grid reference ST703553) is a 0.5 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near the town of Radstock, Bath and North East Somerset, notified in 1992.
This is the site of old mine workings on the Somerset coalfield, including 3,000 tons of Upper Carboniferous spoil from which more than 1,400 insect fossil specimens have been recovered, including the world's earliest known Damselfly.[1] It is a Geological Conservation Review Site, because it has yielded the largest ever collection of Carboniferous insects in Britain. The commonest forms belong to the order Blattodea (cockroaches) and include the extinct families Archimylacris and Mymarommatidae. Protorthoptera and Palaeodictyoptera also occur. Frequent chelicerates (arthropods) include trace and body fossils of xiphosurid merostomes and arachnids, including Phalangiotarbida and Trigonotarbida and also true spiders (Araneida). Rare myriapods (millipedes) and occasional conchostracan crustaceans (clam-shrimps) also occur.[2]
References
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- Aust Cliff
- Avon Gorge
- Banwell Caves
- Banwell Ochre Caves
- Barnhill Quarry
- Barns Batch Spinney
- Bickley Wood
- Bleadon Hill
- Bourne
- Bowlditch Quarry
- Brinkmarsh Quarry
- Browne'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
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- 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
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