I wonder now many people walk along this street and don't notice that the rain gutters beneath their feet here are full of fossils. I must say that I've been here many times and only recently paid any attention to them. 

Sedimentary Rock

Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the deposition and subsequent cementation of that material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles (detritus) to settle in place.

Limestone 

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed primarily of calcium carbonate in the form of the mineral calcite. It most commonly forms in clear, warm, shallow marine waters. It is usually an organic sedimentary rock that forms from the accumulation of shell, coral, algal and fecal debris.

Carboniferous Limestone

Carboniferous Limestone is a collective term for the succession of limestones occurring widely throughout Great Britian and Ireland that were deposited during the Dinantian Epoch of the Carboniferous Period . 

The rock is made up of the shells and hard parts of millions of sea creatures, some up to 30 cm in length, encased in carbonate mud. Fossil corals, brachiopods and  Crinoidea are very much in evidence as components of Carboniferous Limestone; indeed the rock is full of fossils.

To log This Earthcache

Please contact me through my profile with the answer to the following questions. Please send the answers before logging your find, you don't have to wait for a reply to log it, if there is a problem I will contact you.

1. Walk along the line of the gutter and describe the type of fossil that is the most prevalent here. Colour, shape, size.

2. Do you think these fossils are mostly coral or brachiopods.

3. How old do you think the rocks from which these slabs were formed are.

4. Can you see any other types of fossils here apart from the one you have described