The Cotswolds
The limestone rocks of the Cotswolds formed about 170 million years ago from deep layers of sediment settling in a shallow tropical sea. Later on sea levels were lowered, the land surface was raised up and the Cotswold Hills came into existence.
Cleeve Common
Cleeve Common has been quarried for limestone for houses and roads for a very long time. The many small quarries reveal fascinating rock formations under the common and the type of rocks had different uses. Smooth grained rocks like Lower Freestone, with few imperfections, made good building stone. Coarser rubbly rocks like Pea Grit, with many fossils, were suitable for roads and field walls.
Faults
Frequent earthquakes cracked the earth’s crust, creating faults. The faulted rock sections shifted upwards or downwards and continuity of the original beds was broken. At the left of Rolling Bank Quarry a fault can be seen showing a major shift in the rock beds.
Recommended parking is at N51 56.494 W002 01.348, which is also the parking for ‘A Walk on the Cloud’ (GCNM36). Follow the public footpath up the hill but please be careful, the common is also a golf course and there are a few quarries around so care is needed with geokiddies.
After visiting the Earthcache, continue up the hill and you will find a Trig Pillar and Toposcope, on a clear day the views from here are excellent.
Logging Requirements
To claim this Earthcache send us an email through our profile with the year on the circular plaque set in stone by the information board. Please don't put the answer in your log, even encrypted, we will delete them immediately without warning.
Important Note! 07/12/23
Yet again I have had to delete a log due to not providing the very simple one question answer despite me going out of my way requesting it by messenger and email. From now on I won't be asking and if no answer is received within a day of logging I will delete your log!