Hornchurch Cutting

English Geological Site

Hornchurch CuttingSite of Special Scientific Interest

Location| Greater London
Grid reference| TQ547874
Interest| Geological
Area| 0.8 hectares
Notification| 1988
Location map| Magic Map

Hornchurch Cutting is a 0.8-hectare (2.0-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Hornchurch in the London Borough of Havering.[1][2] It is also a Geological Conservation Review site.[3]

It is at the southern edge of the Anglian ice sheet 450,000 years ago, the most extreme ice age during the Pleistocene ice ages of the last 2.58 million years. (Technically, the most southerly point reached by an ice sheet during the Quaternary was The Dell, a few metres south of St Andrew's Church.)[4] It is the type site for Hornchurch Till, boulder clay laid down by the ice sheet in the Ingrebourne Valley.[5]

The site was discovered by geologist T. V. Holmes during construction of the Romford to Upminster railway line in 1892. He found a five-metre thickness of boulder clay overlaid by sand and gravel. An excavation in 1983 revealed extensive Jurassic fossils and rocks that had been carried from the Midlands by the ice sheet.[5]

The site is very important for establishing the glacial stratigraphy of southern Britain.[1] It featured briefly in the Channel 4 TV series Birth of Britain with Tony Robinson in 2011.[6][7]

It is between Woodhall Crescent to the north and St Andrew's Park and Maywin Drive to the south.[2]

## See also

[edit]

* List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Greater London

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Hornchurch Cutting citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
2. ^ a b "Map of Hornchurch Cutting". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
3. ^ "Hornchurch Railway Cutting (Quaternary of the Thames)". Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
4. ^ "Geology Site Account, The Dell". The Essex Field Club. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
5. ^ a b "Geology Site Account, Hornchurch Railway Cutting". The Essex Field Club. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
6. ^ Network Rail team help uncover ‘Birth of Britain’, 2011
7. ^ Channel 4, Birth of Britain, Episode 2, Ice, 2011

51°33′49″N 0°13′51″E﻿ / ﻿51.5636°N 0.2308°E﻿ / 51.5636; 0.2308

* v
* t
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Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Greater London

Biological|

* Barn Elms Wetland Centre
* Bentley Priory
* Brent Reservoir
* Bushy Park
* Chingford Reservoirs
* Crofton Woods
* Croham Hurst
* Denham Lock Wood
* Downe Bank
* Epping Forest
* Farthing Downs
* Frays Farm Meadows
* Hainault Forest
* Hampstead Heath Woods
* Happy Valley
* Hayes Common
* High Elms
* Home Park
* Ingrebourne Marshes
* Inner Thames Marshes
* Kempton Park Reservoirs
* Keston Common
* Mid Colne Valley
* Old Park Wood
* Oxleas Woodlands
* Richmond Park
* Riddlesdown
* Ruislip Woods
* Ruxley Gravel Pits
* Saltbox Hill
* Syon Park
* Walthamstow Marshes
* Walthamstow Reservoirs
* Wimbledon Common

Geological|

* Abbey Wood
* Elmstead Pit
* Gilbert's Pit
* Harefield Pit
* Harrow Weald
* Hornchurch Cutting
* Wansunt Pit

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