Southerham Grey Pit

Southerham Grey Pit
Site of Special Scientific Interest

Location within East Sussex
Area of Search	East Sussex
Grid reference	TQ427090
Coordinates	50°51′47″N 0°01′44″E / 50.863°N 0.029°E / 50.863; 0.029Coordinates: 50°51′47″N 0°01′44″E / 50.863°N 0.029°E / 50.863; 0.029
Interest	Geological
Area	8.4 ha (21 acres)
Notification	1990 (1990)
Natural England website

Southerham Grey Pit is an 8.4 hectare (20.8 acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest, located in East Sussex, England. The site was notified in 1990 under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Southerham Grey Pit exposes nearly the entire Chalk Marl and the lower half of the Grey Chalk (Cenomanian) and is the only inland section of these beds in southern England or northern France. The section includes beds which are regionally absent on a continent-wide scale and is of considerable importance to Cretaceous stratigraphy. Southerham Grey Pit yields abundant and well preserved bivalves and ammonites across the Lower-Middle Cenomanian boundary. These are absent elsewhere in Britain and are very important for regional correlation. Southerham Grey Pit is the single most important section in the Cenomanian Chalk Marl and Grey Chalk in western Europe.
The Lewes area has long been famous for the exceptional diversity of the fossil fish found in its Chalk pits. The region has provided the most representative collection of Chalk fish, and is only rivalled by Burham in Kent. Individual species from Lewes are frequently represented by large numbers of specimens, many of which comprise complete, articulated skeletons preserved without serious distortion. These have been the subject of much scientific research. Large numbers of specimens from the Lewes area have been described and figured, and it is the source of at least 27 type specimens.
This quarry is relatively recent, and it is therefore not the source quarry for the old collections on which these descriptions of chalk fish are based. However it is the last remaining source for fossil fish in this important area, yielding fish from both the Chalk Marl and Grey Chalk.

References

"SSSI Citation — Southerham Grey Pit" (PDF). Natural England. Retrieved 2008-05-27.

Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in East Sussex, South East England

Arlington Reservoir Asham Quarry Ashburnham Park Ashdown Forest Bingletts Wood Blackhorse Quarry Bream Wood Brede Pit and Cutting Brighton to Newhaven Cliffs Burgh Hill Farm Meadow Buxted Park Castle Hill Chailey Common Clayton to Offham Escarpment Combe Haven Dallington Forest Darwell Wood Ditchling Common Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay Eridge Green Eridge Park Firle Escarpment Folkington Reservoir Fore Wood Hastingford Cutting Hastings Cliffs to Pett Beach Heathfield Park Hemingfold Meadow Herstmonceux Park High Rocks High Woods Houghton Green Cliff Kingston Escarpment and Iford Hill Leasam Heronry Wood Lewes Brooks Lewes Downs Lower Dicker Lullington Heath Maplehurst Wood Marline Valley Woods Milton Gate Marsh Northiam Offham Marshes Paines Cross Meadow Park Corner Heath Penn's Rocks Pevensey Levels Plashett Park Wood River Line Rock Wood Rye Harbour Sapperton Meadows Seaford to Beachy Head Southerham Grey Pit Southerham Machine Bottom Pit Southerham Works Pit St. Dunstan's Farm Meadows Stockland Farm Meadows Waldron Cutting Weir Wood Reservoir Willingdon Down Willingford Meadows Wilmington Downs Winchelsea Cutting

List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest by Area of Search

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