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Coxwell Pit and The Faringdon
Earth Heritage Project

Explaining the Faringdon Earth Heritage Project to visitors at Coxwell Pit

The ideas behind this project were developed over the past four years from discussion between members of OGT and various community and local groups throughout Oxfordshire. Time and again we were asked why something couldn't be done about the state of a local disused quarry called Coxwell Pit and why were important heritage sites being ignored.

The answer was an incredibly simple compromise. OGT brokered a deal between the landowner and developer of the site, Builders Ede Ltd, which resulted in the planned housing being built on the site whilst part of the site was gifted to the local community along with £20,000 worth of landscaping. It is hoped that the site will become a green space almost in the centre of the town where local people will be able to go and appreciate their unique local geology and Earth Heritage. It will also be a safe outdoor laboratory and resource for local schools. The Faringdon Fossil Trust is being set up so that local people will have a say in how the site is managed.

As part of the project we have given a number of presentations to local groups including children at the local primary school and we have held a number of fieldtrips to the site. The 1st Faringdon Scout Troop have also been involved with the project and helped to produce a leaflet about Coxwell Pit. Lots of local people have been, and in many cases are still, involved with the project.

So why is Coxwell Pit so important?

The quarry exposes a rock unit called Faringdon Sponge Gravels. These rocks and fossils are unique to Faringdon, and are known by geologists all over the world. The site has been designated as a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) and as a RIGS. But the site was under threat both from fly tipping and from development.

The rocks are around 115 million years old (Cretaceous period) and were deposited in a valley in the sea floor during a storm. The rocks contain a number of superbly preserved fossils including the famous sponges which are lovely called Harry and Fred by the members of OGT. There are also lots of other sea animals preserved including ammonites, echinoids (sea urchins), brachiopods and bryozoa. Some Jurassic dinosaur and plesiosaur remains have also be found at Coxwell Pit. These would have been derived from the older Jurassic sediments probably also as a result of the storms. Many of the fossils found at Coxwell Pit are so rare that they are named after the quarry and the local town. This project was funded by the Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund.

Tipping at Coxwell Pit had left the exposure virtually inaccessible.

Jane Worrall, the Trust's former Director, takes the 1st Faringdon Scout Troop to see how the FEHP is helping to preserve the rocks and fossils at Coxwell Pit.

Jane Worrall, the Trust's Director, takes the 1st Faringdon Scout Troop to see how the FEHP is helping to preserve the rocks and fossils at Coxwell Pit.

Fossil sponges from Coxwell Pit - as we know them Harry & Fred.

Reconstruction of how Coxwell would have looked 115 million years ago.

Artwork by David M. Waterhouse