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Barkers Farm Sarsen Stone, BEAUMONT, Tendring District, TM169241, General geological site
Site category: Boulders - sarsen Site name: Barkers Farm Sarsen Stone, Beaumont Grid reference: TM 169241 Brief description of site: Small sarsen stone (no more than 50cm in size) adjacent to a footpath guide post in Beaumont-cum-Moze. On the south side of the lane leading to Barkers Farm and immediately west of the farm buildings. Sarsen stones are extremely rare in the Tendring District. ------------------------------------------- Summary of geological interest Sarsens are boulders of extremely hard sandstone that were formed about 55 million years ago during the Palaeocene period in sandy strata called the Reading Beds that occur on top of the Chalk. Most sarsen stones in Essex were carried here by the Anglian ice sheet which covered most of Britain during the coldest period of the Ice Age, some 450,000 years ago. Sarsens are usually found in North Essex and Suffolk and it is unusual to find one this far east. It is possible that this stone was carried here from the North Downs of Kent by the River Medway.
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Reference: Jerry Bowdrey (personal communication).
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