Geology Site Account

Ballingdon Hill Road Cutting

In 1836 the eminent Essex geologist John Brown of Stanway published a five page article in the Magazine of Natural History about the geology, rocks and fossils encountered when a cutting was excavated for the London Road through Ballingdon Hill near Sudbury (just inside the Essex border).

From the boulder clay that caps the hill he records numerous erratic boulders of granite, gneiss and other rocks, and a diverse range of fossils, mostly of Jurassic age. He also records the fossils from the Chalk which forms the bedrock and was also revealed in the cutting.

Brown's article is one of the earliest accounts of fossils from Essex.