Heath & Reach is a small village north of Leighton Buzzard in rural Bedfordshire. Munday’s Hill Quarry, an operational silica sand quarry here shows exposures of Gault Clay, Lower Greensand and bands of the very rare Shenley Limestone. The site can reveal ammonites, belemnites, bivalves, gastropods, fish teeth, corals, ichthyosaur bones and large brachiopods. Permission from the quarry owners is required. The quarry is open for group visits only.
DIRECTIONS
♦ Heath & Reach is situated approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Leighton Buzzard and 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Woburn.
♦ The quarry is situated in Eastern Way, Heath & Reach, LU7 9LF. The main entrance to the site is obvious and clearly marked.
♦ Parking of cars is possible within the hard standing area on the site.
♦ Ref: 51° 56′ 31” North , 0° 37′ 56” West
PROFILE INFO
FIND FREQUENCY: ♦♦♦♦ – Fossils are found regularly, with some beds yielding more than others. Working conditions at the site will dictate which rock layers are exposed for collecting at any given time.
CHILDREN: Children are not allowed on site, as the quarry is fully operational and the site is unsuitable.
ACCESS: ♦♦♦♦ – Access for groups is accompanied and only by prior arrangement with the quarry manager. Prior permission must be sought. There are no facilities, apart from a toilet, on the site. Contact: The Quarry Manager, Garside Sands (Aggregate Industries), Eastern Way, Health and Reach, Leighton Buzzard LU7 9LF. Hard hats and high viz jackets or waistcoats need to be worn at all times whilst on site.
TYPE: – Working Quarry
FOSSIL HUNTING
The Gault Clay at the site is fossiliferous. Ammonites, belemnites, brachiopods and bivalves (Inoceramus (Birostrina) concentricus being the most common). The Cirripede Bed lies under the Gault in the southwest corner of the quarry, where its bright red sediments contain many fossils. There is no need to use tools here, just your eyes and fossils are on the surface, having been eroded out by the weather. The Lower Albian Shenley Limestone is exceptionally rare and appears only in the Heath & Reach area. It contains a rich and diverse fauna of which brachiopods are a major part. In situ sections of the limestone in the Leighton Buzzard area have been either removed or covered up, depending on current quarrying activity but blocks of fallen material can still occur. Rectithyris shenleyensis, Boubeithyris boubei and Boubeithyris buzzardensis are particularly large brachiopods found here.
GEOLOGY
All rocks at the site are of Lower Cretaceous age, when Bedfordshire was a sandy, shallow seaway. Tides and strong currents moved the sand to and fro, rivers and streams washed tree trunks and branches from the cycad forests into the sea, whilst dinosaurs walked on dry land. After 40 million years as dry land, the sea burst across what is now southern England, forming a channel running southwest from the Wash, across Bedfordshire, and onward to the Isle of Wight. This was part of a world-wide event caused by global warming; sea-levels continued to rise and eventually flooded much of the Earth. The quarries of Heath & Reach are among the best places in England to read the story of the flood, preserved in the Lower Greensand strata. The Silver Sand Beds of the Lower Greensand are the most commercially valuable, used in many industries and have been quarried here for centuries.
This is an excellent large quarry with exposures of:
Lower Greensand (Brown Sands) Good sedimentary structures and trace fossils.
Lower Greensand (Silver Sands). Good sedimentary structures and fossil wood in abundance.
Sandstone channels with unusual mineralisation such as vivianite
The Silty Beds (a tidal flat sequence) layers of sands, silts, clays (some containing
freshwater algae) and ironstones.
Shenley Limestone Formation. A very rare bed contained within the topmost ironstone band of the Silty Beds, but it is not accessible at times due to the steep face or being covered by quarry activity. Contains rare, large brachiopods, echinoids and crinoids.
Cirripede Bed Composed of the lowermost Gault. The bright red sediments contain many fossils, including barnacles (cirripedes), oysters, fish teeth, ichthyosaur bones and corals.
Gault Clay Formation Around 10 m of Lower and Upper Gault, with all zones present). Contains a wide range of fossils (ammonites, belemnites, bivalves, crabs, shark and bony fish teeth and vertebrae, (including rare plesiosaur vertebrae) from the marine Gault Clay.
SAFETY
Common sense should always be used when visiting any site. Although overgrown, this site still has some very steep and unstable cliffs along the cutting. Keep away from the steep sides. In addition, brambles can make collecting difficult, because they cover up the loose rocks and scree. As a result, it is easy to trip and fall.
EQUIPMENT
A small trowel, knife or pick are the best tools for this location, so you can pick the finds out of the clay, but mostly all you need is a good eye.
ACCESS RIGHTS
This site is a site of special scientific interest (SSSI). This means you can visit the site, but hammering the bedrock is not permitted. For full information about the reasons for the status of the site and restrictions
It is important to follow our ‘Code of Conduct’ when collecting fossils or visiting any site. Please also read our ‘Terms and Conditions‘
LINKS
♦ Buy Fossils, Crystals, Tools
♦ Location Discussions
♦ Deposits Magazine
♦ UK Fossils Network
