| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
 | |
| Location | Surrey |
|---|---|
| Grid reference | TQ 110 374[1] |
| Interest | Geological |
| Area | 56.0 hectares (138 acres)[1] |
| Notification | 1992[1] |
| Location map | Magic Map |
Smokejack Clay Pit is a 56-hectare (140-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Cranleigh in Surrey.[1][2] It is a Geological Conservation Review site.[3][4]
This site exposes Lower Cretaceous rocks of the Weald Clay Group, which have been studied since 1983. Fossils of six orders of insects have been recorded and an unusual level of details has been preserved. It is the best Weald Clay reptile site, with crocodile teeth, coprolites and part of an Iguanodon. The holotype specimen of the fish eating theropod dinosaur, Baryonyx walkeri was discovered on the site in January 1983.[5][6]
Ewhurst Brickworks
The ruins of Ewhurst Brickworks exist near the Smokejack Clay Pit, of which clay was extracted for the Ewhurst Brickworcks as early as the 1940s under A. Hone & Sons Ltd. The surviving ruins date back to the 1960s and were previously known as the Smokejack Brickworks, which closed down during the 1980s. The brickwork company moved to a new building in 2017 or 2018 which is 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) south of Walliswood.
References
- ^ a b c d "Designated Sites View: Smokejack Clay Pit". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
- ^ "Map of Smokejack Clay Pit". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
- ^ "Smokejack (Palaeoentomology)". Geological Conservation Review. Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
- ^ "Smokejacks Pit, Ockley (Jurassic - Cretaceous Reptilia)". Geological Conservation Review. Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
- ^ "Smokejack Clay Pit citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
- ^ Strudwick, Matt (6 July 2017) [14 September 2016]. "Surrey dinosaur: Look back 33 years when plumber unearthed new species of dinosaur in Ockley". Surrey Live. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
51°07′30″N 0°24′54″W / 51.125°N 0.415°W
This page was last edited on 15 June 2023, at 15:10