The Wrens Nest was declared as a geological National Nature
Reserve in 1956. The establishment of the Reserve was in
recognition of the exceptional international importance of the site
as a source of fossils in Silurian limestones, deposited
approximately 400 million years ago.
The limestones were quarried and mined, firstly as agricultural
lime and then to support the industrial growth of the surrounding
'Black Country' during the Industrial Revolution. It was during
this period that some of the finest fossils were discovered, many
of which are found in museum collections across the world.
Fossils are still easy to find - my 6 year old found one - at
the site they ask that you don't take too many away and that you
restrict your hunting to the scree at the bottom of the slopes
rather than hammering away at rocks.
The Wren's Nest today is dominated by the remnants of disused
quarries and spectacular mined caverns such as the 'Seven Sisters'.
The site is wardened, has a long established geological trail, with
spectacular views of open caverns and rippled beds, and an on-site
teaching facilitiy in the warden's base. The site is visited by
students and researchers from all over the world. The coordinates
will take you to a viewing platform that overlooks 'rippled beds'.
To understand this feature, imagine, down at the beach, when those
ripples appear in the sand. 400 million years ago these ripples
were flat on a shallow sea bed.
The fossils are sea animals that lived in this sea and sank to
the bottom when they died and slowly became buried under more and
more layers of sediment and fossils. The weight of all the sediment
and fossils on top compressed the lower layers into rock and these
layers can be seen clearly if you walk to the north of the ripple
beds to look 'underneath' the beds. The layers were originally
flat, but were pushed up to this angle as land masses pushed up
against one another as they slowly move. This process is still
continuing.
If seeing anyone using hammers you
could try contacting the Warden Service on 01384
812785
To claim this cache please e-mail me with the following
information, some of which you may have to search the internet to
discover
1) The common name of the fossil depicted on the signposts
marking the Geological Trail
2) Can you find out it's latin name?
3) What is thought to be the nearest living relative of this
type of fossil?
4) Please attach a photo of yourself / your team at the
cache to prove you visted and didn't just Google for the
answers
There is parking just off the A4123.