Cranford St John SSSI is a geological

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

in Cranford St John, east of

Kettering Kettering is a market town, market and industrial town, industrial town in the North Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England, west of Cambridge, England, Cambridge, southwest of Peterborough, southeast of Leicester and north- ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

. It is a

Geological Conservation Review The Geological Conservation Review (GCR) is produced by the UK's Joint Nature Conservation Committee. It is designed to identify those sites of national and international importance needed to show all the key scientific elements of the geological ...

site. This former quarry exposes rocks from the

Rutland Formation The Rutland Formation is a geologic formation in England. It preserves fossils dated to the late Bajocian to Bathonian ages of the Jurassic period, about 169 million years ago. It is the lateral equivalent of the Sharp's Hill Formation and the ...

and up to nearly the top of the

White Limestone Formation The White Limestone Formation is a Bathonian geologic formation in the United Kingdom, dating to the Middle Jurassic, 168.3 to 166.1 million years ago. Fossil sauropod tracks have been reported from the formation.Weishampel, et al. (2004). "Dino ...

, dating to the

Middle Jurassic The Middle Jurassic is the second Epoch (geology), epoch of the Jurassic Period (geology), Period. It lasted from about 174.1 to 161.5 million years ago. Fossils of land-dwelling animals, such as dinosaurs, from the Middle Jurassic are relativel ...

Bathonian In the geologic timescale the Bathonian is an age (geology), age and stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Middle Jurassic. It lasted from approximately 168.2 ±1.2 annum, Ma to around 165.3 ±1.1 Ma (million years ago). The Bathonian Age succeeds ...

stage, 169 to 166 million years ago. The site is the type section for a freshwater clay bed which is thought to result from a widespread storm deposit. There is no access to the site, but the southern end can be viewed from a footpath from Cranford St John.

References

{{SSSIs Northamptonshire Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Northamptonshire Geological Conservation Review sites