Heritage Trail - Limestone Cliffs

These magnesian limestone cliffs are geologically interesting and have recently been designated as a Local Geological Site. They were formed as ancient reefs between 250 and 300 million years ago, in warm shallow seas near the equator.

The magnesian limestone was laid down 250 million years ago in the Permian period, when the land mass was much nearer to the equator. Among the horizontal beds of rock you can see large mounds formed by microbial action in the limestone mud of a warm shallow sea. These gave rise to the dome shaped reefs, which tend to be softer and less useful as building stone than the horizontal beds. Both can be seen in West End Quarry, Site 7A.