Grays Chalk Quarry -
a wildlife haven
A look at a geological map shows that chalk is the only
hard rock that outcrops at the surface in Essex. In pre-
glacial times the chalk escarpment must have been a
significant feature of the landscape of north Essex, but
today only a small part remains at the surface in the are?
of Saffron Walden. In the south, a minor fold in the chalk
brings upper chalk and Thanet sands to the surface in the
floor of the Thames valley. The Thames has cut its channel
through the crest of this anticline and covered much of it
in alluvium, but a low chalk ridge remains at the surface
between Purfleet and Grays. Several cement companies have
taken advantage of this isolated chalk region and have
extracted, over the past century, a vast amount of chalk
to serve the local cement industry.
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