Geology Site Account

Site name: Mallows Green Chalk Pit

Grid reference: TL 4753 2641

Brief description of site:

At Mallows Green, south-west of Manuden, is a disused and extremely overgrown chalk pit cut into the hillside adjacent to a public footpath. It provided exposures of Upper Chalk overlain by an outlier of Lower London Tertiaries (Thanet Sand or Reading Beds) with a layer of green-coated flints (the 'Bull head bed') at the junction.

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Details

The pit at Mallows Green was first recorded by Whitaker in the late 19th century (Whitaker et al. 1878) who said that this pit showed the junction of the chalk with the Reading Beds. He described the Reading Beds as being 2 to 3 feet thick and consisting of dark green clayey sand, with small patches (4 or 5 inches thick) of pebbles on the top, and a thin layer of green-coated flints in brownish clay at the bottom. These beds resting on an irregular surface of Chalk.

The area has a varied geology; in addition to this outlier of Lower London Tertiaries the hill nearby is capped by Kesgrave Sands and Gravels and overlain by boulder clay.

The exposure of Lower London Tertiaries, however degraded it might be, makes this pit an important site.

The Mallows Green Pit is on private land and permission is required for access.