Exposed Units: Lickey Quartzite Formation
Access: Private land
Warren Lane Quarry is a large quarry approximately 75m in length. The rock is exposed on the northern face of the quarry, and reaches approximately 10m in height. At the eastern end of the quarry there are large vehicle bays built into the quarry face.
The Lickey Quartzite Formation seen at the site is a pale grey, generally massive bedded (up to 50cm) sedimentary rock, with occasional thin silty beds occurring within the unit. The quartzite is a medium-grained, crystalline sub-arkose and there appears to be no significant variation in composition throughout the exposure. Freshly exposed faces are a creamy pink/white, with weathered faces a dull-grey.
To the west of the quarry, there is a fault that separates the Lickey Quartzite Formation from the younger red/orange marls of the Late Carboniferous-age Alveley Member (309 million years old). These marls are much softer than the quartzite and therefore erode quicker. This has led to the formation of the valley that separates Bilberry Hill from Beacon Hill. To the east of the quarry, the quartzite is separated by a fault from the Triassic conglomerates and sandstones of the Kidderminster Formation.
This site is part of the Community Earth Heritage Champions Project.
Terminology
Fault – A line of weakness within the Earth’s crust along which movement and displacement occurs.
Photos
References
Boulton, W.S. 1928. The geology of the northern part of the Lickey Hills, near Birmingham. Geology Magazine, 65, 255-266.
British Geological Society (1996) Geology of the country around Birmingham. Sheet 168 (England and Wales), 1:50,000.
Eastwood, T. et al. 1925. The geology of the country around Birmingham. British Geological Survey Memoir.
Hardie, W.G. 1971. Lickey Hills, in Hardie, W.G. et al. Geology of the area around Birmingham (2nd Edition). Geologists Association Guide. (1) 12-15.
Hardie, W.G. 1991. A guide to the rocks and scenery of the Lickey Hills. B’ham: Lickey Hills Society. 27pp.
Humphries, J. 1897. Geology of the Lickey Hills. Transactions of the Worcestershire Naturalists Club, for 1897-9. 50-52.
Humphreys, J. 1922. The Lickey Hills. Transactions of the Worcestershire Naturalists Club, for 1918-1922. 370-373.
Lapworth, C. 1882. On the discovery of Cambrian rocks in the neighbourhood of Birmingham. Geology Magazine, 563-566
Old, R.A. et al. 1991. Geology of the country around Redditch. British Geological Survey Memoir.
Richardson, L. 1906. The geology of the Lickey Hills, near Birmingham. Cotswolds Naturalists Field Club, 7pp.
Tucker, M.E. 1991. Sedimentary Petrology (2nd Edition). Blackwell Scientific Publications.
Woodcock, N and Strachan, R. 2000.Geological History of Britain and Ireland. Blackwell Publishing.
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