Hertfordshire Geological Videos
HGS developed this video for the GA’s virtual Festival of Geology (vFoG) on 6/7 November 2021
Living in Hertfordshire for the last 100 Ma
HGS developed these videos for the GA’s 2020 vFoG to describe five of Hertfordshire’s important geological sites.
Barkway Chalk Pit
This is a small disused chalk pit which lies 0.7km to the north of the village of Barkway and 4km south of Royston, near the top of the north-facing chalk scarp slopes. The site is of geological interest due to the chalk exposure, which was pushed over boulder clay by the Anglian Stage Glacier over 400,000 years ago. The face is a section through two glaciotectonically moved blocks of chalk separated by Anglian till.
As well as a RIGS, it is a Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve.
Hill End Chalk Pit
Hill End Chalk Pit is a small, disused chalk pit located 3km to the west of Stevenage.
The B651 road passes the site; on the opposite side of the road is a car park that serves both the chalk pit and the adjacent Hitch Wood.
The area owned by NHDC contains the disused pit, a small area of chalk grassland and associated scrub, with mature woodland around the peripheries.
Hill End Chalk Pit is Registered Common Land and a Local Wildlife Site due to its chalk grassland habitat.
Read the Green Space Action Plan 2018 – 2023 for Hill End.
Little Heath Pit
Little Heath is an area in the parish of Potten End on the Chilterns at 160 – 170m OD, above the Bulbourne Valley and the town of Berkhamsted. The pit was first dug during WWI to extract pebbles for road stone.
It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) as it contains sand and pebble deposits which show that this was once part of a Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene shoreline.
The Bourne Gutter
The Bourne Gutter is a unique winterbourne valley, where the river rarely rises and has in the past been called a woe stream because its flow coincided with major disasters in English history.
Castle Hill Puddingstone
There is some impressive Hertfordshire Puddingstone sitting right by the roadside at Castle Hill near Berkhamsted. This rock type is sought worldwide for its scratch-resistant properties and the beautiful colours it displays when polished.
You can see more information on the Hertfordshire Puddingstone page.