Geology Site Account

Site of geological interest with disused pits that have provided information about the underlying geology. Any further significant excavations in the area should be recorded.

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Site description

All the terraces of the present Thames have provided London with flat land for development. The 'Flats' of East London are good examples of terrace surfaces; Leyton Flats a fragment of the highest terrace, known as the Boyn Hill/Orsett Heath Terrace. The gravel of this terrace is thought to have been laid down by the river about 400,000 years ago following the diversion of the Thames by the Anglian Ice Sheet (Marine Isotope Stages 12-10).

There are exposures of terrace gravel by the lake. A three metre high cliff section formerly existed in the banks of the lake showing cross bedded sand lenses.