Geo-Sites and Trails around Martley
Below a geology map of the Martley area. Click on the ‘?’ to access information on the different rocks.
The black dots mark the locations of geo-sites, click on the dots to obtain information about the site.
NOTE – Detailed content for sites is yet to be added.
Martley Rock
Precambrian
Cambrian
Silurian
Carboniferous
& Triassic rocks
Scarr Cottage
Triassic Sandstone
The Canyon
Silurian (Wenlock Limestone)
Folding
Bentonite
Freshwater West Formation
(St Maughans Formation)
Sandstones & mudstones
~410Ma
Moor Cliff Formation
(Raglan Mudstone Formation)
Siltstone and mudstone
Silurian ~420Ma
Calcrete
Bishop's Frome Limestone Member
Silurian - Devonian
Upper Ludlow Shales Group
Siltstones
Silurian
~424Ma
Aymestry Limestone Formation
Limestone
Silurian
~426Ma
Aymestry Limestone Formation
Limestone
Silurian
~426Ma
Aymestry Limestone Formation
Limestone
Silurian
~426Ma
Lower Ludlow Shales Group
Siltstone and mudstone
Silurian
~427Ma
Lower Ludlow Shales Group
Siltstone and mudstone
Silurian
~427Ma
Much Wenlock Limestone Formation
Fossiliferous limestone
Silurian
~429Ma
Much Wenlock Limestone Formation
Fossiliferous limestone
Silurian
~429Ma
Coalbrookdale Formation
Mudstone
Silurian
432Ma
Coalbrookdale Formation
Mudstone
Silurian
432Ma
Helsby Sandstone Formation
(Bromsgrove Sandstone)
Triassic
245Ma
Helsby Sandstone Formation
(Bromsgrove Sandstone)
Triassic
245Ma
Helsby Sandstone Formation
(Bromsgrove Sandstone)
Triassic
245Ma
Sidmouth Mudstone Formation
(Mercia Mudstone)
Triassic
228Ma
Sidmouth Mudstone Formation
(Mercia Mudstone)
Triassic
228Ma
Dyke Microgabbro
Intruded in Carboniferous between 359-299Ma
Halesowen Formation
Mudstone siltstone sandstone
Carboniferous
309Ma
Haffield Breccia Formation
Carboniferous - Permian
308 to 272 Ma
Haffield Breccia Formation
Carboniferous - Permian
308 to 272 Ma
Conglomerate
Triassic ? `246Ma
Wyche Formation
Mica rich sandstone
Silurian
436Ma
Brockhill Dyke
Igneous intrusion into Silurian mudstones
Rodge Hill Farm Track North
Series of small trackside exposures of Aymestry Limestone Formation.
Dundridge Coppice Track
Nose of an anticline in Much Wenlock Formation
Rodge Hill Summit
Aymestry Limestone appears as near vertical thinly interbedded limestones and siltstones.
Lower Farm Quarry
Much Wenlock Limestone Formation, exceptionally full of crinoid debris, coral fragments and small brachiopods.
Pudford Hill Bridleway Section
Aymestry Limestone - thinly bedded and nodular limestones, silty limestones and calcareous siltstones.
Callow Track South
Much Wenlock Limestone Formation - Crinoids - Calcite veining - steep dipping
Callow Track North
Much Wenlock Limestone Formation - Nodular limestones - Crinoids - Steep dip and faulting.
Stairway to Heaven
Much Wenlock Limestone Formation - interbedded nodular silty limestones and calcareous siltstone. Cronoids, bracipods (Atrypa reticularis)
Penny Hill East
Much Wenlock Limestone Formation. Thinly bedded and nodular silty limestones and calcareous siltstones. Dip 30' east
Penny Hill Quarry
Much Wenlock Limestone Formation.
Steeply dipping and overturned beds of nodular limestone, silty limestone and calcareous siltstone.
Quarry Farm
Much Wenlock Limestone Formation. Nodular limestone, silty limestone, calcareous siltstones. Crinoids, brachiopods. Calcite veins. Faulting.
Quarry Farm House
Much Wenlock Limestone Formation. Silty limestones and calcareous siltstones. Complex tectonic structure including faulting and folding.
Pudford Lane 2
Aymestry Limestone Formation. Steeply dipping beds, possibly overturned.
River Teme Reef
Moor Cliffs Formation (Raglan Mudstone). Fine-grained, micaceous sandstone.Exposed when water levsls are low.
Southstone Rock
Tufa deposits formed in stream supersaturated with calcium carbonate from Bishop's Frome Limestone calcretes.
Tomkins Farm Clay Pits
Series of shallow pits where the Sidmouth Mudstone has been dug for clay.
Martley Road Cutting
Helsby Sandstone Formation faulted against Sidmouth Mudstone.
Kingswood Waterfall
Coalbrookdale Formation. Grey fissile mudstone with blocky, olive green limestone. Possibly a block landslipped from higher up.
Kingswood Chasm
Coalbrookdale Formation. Compact, well-bedded, olive grey to dark-blue silty mudstones with some calcareous siltstones and nodular calcareous beds.
Kingswood Slide
Slippage on steeply sloping hillside above River Teme.
Nubbins Quarries
Helsby Sandstone Formation. Aeolian derived sandstones, deposited in a fluvial environment.
Berrow Hill Coal Pits
Halesowen Formation. Pits dug in the 19th century for coal.
Permian Pit 1
Haffield Breccia Formation. Alluvial fan conglomerate.
Permian Pit 2
Haffield Breccia Formation. Alluvial fan conglomerate.
Horsham Cliff.
River cliff cut in Moor Cliff's Formation. Interbedded sandstones and mudstones.
Petrifying Drip
Tufa. Encrusted vegetation and even an encrusted snal shell.
Collins Green Quarries
Haffield Breccia Formation unconformable on Wenlock Limestone Formation.
Contains British Geological Survey materials © NERC 2022
Please note the presence of a site marked on this map does not imply that public access to the site exists.
To the east of Martley the land is flat, underlain by Triassic mudstones. To the west a north south line of hills, a nothward extension of the Malvern Hills, is underlain by steeply dipping and folded rocks of mainly Silurian age, but with small areas of Cambrian and Precambrian rocks, as visible at Martley Rock. West of the line of hills the Teme Valley is underlain by soft Silurian age dark red mudstones with Devonian sandstones forming the Bromyard Plateau to the far west.
Running through Martley is a major fault – the East Malvern Fault – with ‘young’ rocks to the east of it and rocks several hundred million years older to the west of the fault.