Compton Martin Ochre Mine
None
Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
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The site of Compton Martin Ochre Mine
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Location | Avon |
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Grid reference | ST543566 |
Coordinates | 51°18′24″N 2°39′25″W / 51.3067°N 2.6570°W / 51.3067; -2.6570 |
Interest | Geological and Biological |
Area | 2.1 acres (0.0085 km 2 ; 0.0033 sq mi) |
Notification | 1988 ( 1988 ) |
Natural England website |
Compton Martin Ochre Mine ( grid reference ST543566 ) is a 0.85 hectare geological and biological Site of Special Scientific Interest located on the north side of the Mendip Hills , immediately south west of Compton Martin village, Somerset , notified in 1988.
Geological Interest
It is a Geological Conservation Review site. The site comprises a network of tunnels and surface exposures on the eastern fringe of Compton Wood. The site exposes bedded hematitic iron ore ( red ochre ) in Triassic Dolomitic Conglomerates which was deposited underwater as a layered mass of iron oxide pellets of various types, probably in an ephemeral lake or pond fed by hot springs when the Mendip area was occupied by a desert environment some 220 million years ago during late Triassic times. [1]
Red ochre is an iron oxide mineral, which was used in paint-making. It is believed that the mine was owned by Mendi Oxide & Ochre Co. Ltd., of Wick .
Biological Interest
The mines are also used as a hibernation site by Greater Horseshoe Bats ( Rhinolophus ferrumequinum ). A rare and endangered species, the greater horseshoe bat is protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and is listed in Annex II of the 1992 European Community Habitats Directive . [1]
Along with Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines this site forms a key part of the Bath and Bradford-on-Avon Bats candidate Special Area of Conservation (cSAC). [2]
See also
References
- 1 2 "Compton Martin Ochre Mine" (PDF) . English Nature . Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2006 . Retrieved 9 May 2006 .
- ↑ "Chapter 2: The natural environment" . Local Plan . Bath and North East Somerset. Archived from the original on 17 April 2011 . Retrieved 21 October 2008 .
External links
- Compton Martin Ochre Mine (Mineralogy of the Mendips) GCR database
- Compton Martin Ochre Mine
- Compton Martin Village website
- English Nature (SSSI information)
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