Geology Site Account

Site name: Foxborough Pit (also known as Foxborough Hill Pit)

Grid reference: TL 794320

Brief description of site:

Disused gravel pit formerly exposing Chillesford Sand and boulder clay. Pit now used for motorcycle scrambling.

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Summary of geological interest

When the disused Foxborough Pit was a working quarry sections in the Chillesford Sand were exposed overlain by chalky boulder clay (till). Chillesford Sand is part of the Norwich Crag Formation and is thought to have been laid down in a shallow sea at the beginning of the Ice Age. Kesgrave Sands and Gravels (Thames gravels) may also have been present between the Chillesford Sand and the till.

Beneath the Chillesford Sand at the very base of the section, iron-stained sand was identified as part of the Red Crag which dates from the Pliocene period (Mathers & Zalasiewicz 1988).

At the back of Foxborough Pit is Tile Kiln Sand Quarry.

Foxborough Pit in 1975. Photo © British Geological Survey (P212004)