The Upper Greensand Formation is a

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondary ...

Albian The Albian is both an age of the geologic timescale and a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early/Lower Cretaceous Epoch/ Series. Its approximate time range is 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 100.5 ± ...

to Cenomanian in age, found within the Wessex Basin and parts of the Weald Basin in southern England. It overlies the

Gault Clay The Gault Formation is a geological formation of stiff blue clay deposited in a calm, fairly deep-water marine environment during the Lower Cretaceous Period (Upper and Middle Albian). It is well exposed in the coastal cliffs at Copt Point in Fol ...

and underlies the

Chalk Group The Chalk Group (often just called the Chalk) is the lithostratigraphic unit (a certain number of rock strata) which contains the Upper Cretaceous limestone succession in southern and eastern England. The same or similar rock sequences occur ac ...

. It varies in thickness from zero to 75 m. It is predominantly a glauconitic fine-grained sandstone, locally becoming silty. Fragmentary dinosaur remains, such as those assigned to '' Iuticosaurus'', have been recovered from this formation. It has been quarried as a building stone from Roman times, and used in London and the area of its outcrop from Devon to East Sussex.

Use

Sandstones from the Upper Greensand have been used as building stone since at least Roman times. Reigate Stone was

mined Mined may refer to: * Mined (text editor), a terminal-based text editor * Mining, the extraction of valuable geological materials from the Earth See also * Mind (disambiguation) * Mine (disambiguation) Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer ...

from the Upper Greensand in north east Surrey throughout the

middle ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

and early modern period, forming the most important source of freestone in Medieval London. In Dorset, the Shaftesbury Sandstone was quarried between Shaftesbury and Okeford Fitzpaine and used in the Shaftesbury area and along the Stour valley. In southeastern Devon, the Bindon Sandstone was quarried near Branscombe and used in buildings such as Exeter Cathedral. Other building stones quarried from the Upper Greensand in the county include Salcombe Stone from near the border with Somerset, and the Green Glauconitic Sandstone from the western side of the

Blackdown Hills The Blackdown Hills are a range of hills along the Somerset-Devon border in south-western England, which were designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1991. The plateau is dominated by hard chert bands of Upper Greensand wit ...

. Hurdcott Stone was quarried in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershir ...

and used particularly in Mere and Shaftesbury. It is currently being produced from a quarry at Barford St Martin. Potterne Stone is quarried near Potterne and used there and in the Vale of Pewsey. On the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

the Upper Greensand has been quarried since Roman times, including Ventnor Stone near Ventnor, with varieties Green Ventnor Stone and Ventnor Foxstone, and Bonchurch Stone only found at Bonchurch.

Chert Chert () is a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz, the mineral form of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Chert is characteristically of biological origin, but may also occur inorganically as a ...

from the top of the formation has also been used as a building stone since the 17th century. In

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an a ...

and

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

Malmstone Greensand or green sand is a sand or sandstone which has a greenish color. This term is specifically applied to shallow marine sediment that contains noticeable quantities of rounded greenish grains. These grains are called ''glauconies'' and co ...

was quarried and used in buildings such as Winchester Castle and Amberley Castle. In

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East ...

, Eastbourne Sandstone was quarried from the

foreshore The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species ...

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the l ...

, and used in buildings in the town such as the church of St Mary the Virgin.

References

{{Reflist Geologic formations of England Upper Cretaceous Series of Europe Lower Cretaceous Series of Europe Cretaceous England Albian Stage Cenomanian Stage Phosphorite formations