EHT5 - Bredon Hill EarthCache

This cache has been archived.

BaggieDave: Sadly, local works have made this one inaccessible.
It is beyond repair
It is an ex-EC.
Thanks
BD

More
Hidden : 1/1/2016
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
2.5 out of 5

Size: Size: other (other)

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Geocache Description:

This is one of a number of Earthcaches planned to highlight the geology of Herefordshire & Worcestershire. The Earth Heritage Trust aims to record, protect and promote geology and landscape, and to raise awareness of this by engaging the public in educational programmes. The great variety of rocks in the two counties yields outstanding fossils and minerals and gives rise to wonderful scenery.

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The Trust commits to promote and safeguard these assets for all the residents of, and visitors to, Herefordshire and Worcestershire

Bredon Hill stands above Bredon village at the southern edge of Worcestershire near to the River Avon, There is a separate Earthcache in the village that contains some 43 listed buildings, including St Giles’s Church and Bredon Barn. As in many Cotswold villages, a variety of architectural styles and materials can be found, but almost all historic buildings are at least partly built from Cotswold limestone, some of which was quarried on Bredon Hill. The walk to the top of the hill is moderately strenuous and around 2 kilometres in length, but affords beautiful views and offers an opportunity to bag a few other local caches.

In setting this cache, I parked in the area of N52 02.313 W 002 05.253, with limited parking further up the increasingly uneven track (Postcode approx: GL20 7ES). There are other approaches to the hill.
Bredon Hill is an outlier of the Cotswolds and is capped by a band of oolitic limestone rock that provides the characteristic building material used in the region. From the parking area, head up the track to a gate on the LHS. Go through the gate towards location 1 at approx. N52 02.487 W 002 04.965.

Location1. Cherry Tree Quarry
This area is managed by the Kemerton Conservation Trust; please under no circumstances touch or in any way cause any damage to this area. On the fence in the field, you will see a sign giving information about Cherry Tree Quarry, one of many small quarries that provided Cotswold stone. You can go through the gate on the sectioned-off part of the field to view the exposed rock face

The first paragraph of the information sign provides details about three ‘forms in which the limestone can be found. The exposed rock face shows predominantly one of the three forms of rock. The rock is limestone that was displaced by land slippage from it’s original location higher up the Hill. Closer inspection will reveal that the rock is made of tiny ‘spheres’ which are known as oolites. Oolitic limestone was formed under the sea during the Jurassic period, some 170 million years ago.

Location 2. The ‘Competent Stone
Return to the track and head uphill to a large metal gate at N52 02.594 W 002 04.820. To the right of the gate you can see a large slab of stone. This is often referred to as a ‘competent’ rock, in that it is just as it was quarried from a deeper undisturbed location.

Location 3. King & Queen Stones;

Head up the track to approximately N52 02.778 W 002 04.828. From the track, look back through the trees on the left and you should see three large standing stones slightly down the bank. Please take care here - the bank is steep and can be slippery.

The two largest stones are known as the King and Queen stones. On inspection, you will see that unlike the ‘Competent Stone’, these stones are formed of limestone rubble that has been re-cemented by calcium carbonate-rich water permeating through the rock. The limestone ‘cement' manifests itself in the form of veins of grey (or white) crystalline calcite. There is a good example of this up on Elephant Rock at the top of the hill (See EHT6).

You can find more about the EHT building stone project here

Questions:

To claim this earthcache, please submit your answers to the following questions using the message link above:
Location 1:
Observe the main exposed rock face in Cherry Tree Quarry. Which ‘form’ of rock do think is most prevalent and hence to which use do you think rock of this form would be put?

Location 2:
Which of the three ‘forms’ of rock (as described at Cherry Tree Quarry) would the ‘Competent Rock’ fall into, and hence which use could it have been put to?

Location 3:
Would The King and Queen stones make good building stones? Why do you think that?

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Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Ab fcbvyref cyrnfr

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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