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 Geology and GeoSites

Martley Rock

Precambrian
Cambrian
Silurian
Carboniferous
& Triassic rocks

Scarr Cottage

Triassic Sandstone

^

The Canyon

Silurian (Wenlock Limestone)
Folding
Bentonite

u

Freshwater West Formation

(St Maughans Formation)
Sandstones & mudstones
~410Ma

u

Moor Cliff Formation

(Raglan Mudstone Formation)
Siltstone and mudstone
Silurian ~420Ma

u

Calcrete

Bishop's Frome Limestone Member
Silurian - Devonian

u

Upper Ludlow Shales Group

Siltstones
Silurian
~424Ma

u

Aymestry Limestone Formation

Limestone
Silurian
~426Ma

u

Aymestry Limestone Formation

Limestone
Silurian
~426Ma

u

Aymestry Limestone Formation

Limestone
Silurian
~426Ma

u

Lower Ludlow Shales Group

Siltstone and mudstone
Silurian
~427Ma

u

Lower Ludlow Shales Group

Siltstone and mudstone
Silurian
~427Ma

u

Much Wenlock Limestone Formation

Fossiliferous limestone
Silurian
~429Ma

u

Much Wenlock Limestone Formation

Fossiliferous limestone
Silurian
~429Ma

u

Coalbrookdale Formation

Mudstone
Silurian
432Ma

u

Coalbrookdale Formation

Mudstone
Silurian
432Ma

u

Helsby Sandstone Formation

(Bromsgrove Sandstone)
Triassic
245Ma

u

Helsby Sandstone Formation

(Bromsgrove Sandstone)
Triassic
245Ma

u

Helsby Sandstone Formation

(Bromsgrove Sandstone)
Triassic
245Ma

u

Sidmouth Mudstone Formation

(Mercia Mudstone)
Triassic
228Ma

u

Sidmouth Mudstone Formation

(Mercia Mudstone)
Triassic
228Ma

u

Dyke Microgabbro

Intruded in Carboniferous between 359-299Ma

u

Halesowen Formation

Mudstone siltstone sandstone
Carboniferous
309Ma

u

Haffield Breccia Formation

Carboniferous - Permian
308 to 272 Ma

u

Haffield Breccia Formation

Carboniferous - Permian
308 to 272 Ma

u

Conglomerate

Triassic ? `246Ma

u

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.

 

Geology map with elevation

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.

Martley within surrounding area

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.