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Wenlock Edge
Wenlock Edge
Wenlock Edge is heaven for fossil hunters. This ancient reef structure stretches from Ironbridge in the north west to Craven Arms in the South East. Its distinctive ridges rise from the surrounding fields, dominating the whole of South Shropshire, with few who look at it realising the hidden story that lies beneath its wooded slopes. The rocks of Wenlock Edge tell of a time of tropical seas and teeming life. Small coral reefs were springing up as Shropshire’s northwards journey brought us to the southern tropics. Much like modern reef systems, these ancient equivalents were full of life, corals and brachiopods, sponges and trilobites each playing their own important role in the ecology of the reef.
If you want to find some of these fossils, the best walk to follow is the orange Lea Quarry trail from the Presthope car park. This trail will take you along the Edge to a point overlooking the working quarry. You can then follow a permissive footpath which takes you past a number of lumpy grey lenses, which are the fossil patch reefs. In the scree around these reefs you can see crinoid stems, brachiopods, horn corals and even trilobites, if you are lucky! The Knowle quarry walk also takes you past one of the best examples of a patch reef, along with some restored limekilns. The quality of Wenlock lime mortar was always regarded as superior, and the limestone’s use in building and construction continues today, in the form of concrete and roadstone.
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Page last updated on 2006 by Liz Etheridge, original version created on 2003-06-25 04:17:07 by Mark Brawn
