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Pound Farm Sarsen Stones, Gestingthorpe, GESTINGTHORPE, Braintree District, TL811388, General geological site
Site category: Boulders - sarsen Pound Farm Sarsen Stones, Gestingthorpe Two conspicuous sarsen stones, the largest 1.2 metres (4 feet) long, lie by the crossroads at the north end of the village. Sarsens are remarkably abundant in the area around Gestingthorpe village. Boswell (1929) mapped their distribution in the Sudbury district and stated that over sixty blocks of sarsen-stone were present in Gestingthorpe parish. There are unfortunately far fewer visible today.
Sarsens are extremely hard boulders of sandstone formed around 55 million years ago when the climate of Britain was hot and a layer of sand beneath the surface of the ground became cemented with quartz. They are thus very resistant to erosion and have survived the rigours of the Ice Age. They probably originated on the chalk downland of south Cambridgeshire and after retreat of the ice they became concentrated in river valleys such as The Stour.
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Reference: Boswell 1929, Lucy 2003a
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