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The rocks – or clay – under our feet (the stratigraphy)

This page is a potted explanation of the rocks (or more like clay) that underlies Bromley, to give a bit of background to the photos of the brick-pit when it was working.

Bromley is at the southern end of the London Basin, a syncline (downward bend of the rocks) from the chalk of the Chilterns in the north, to the chalk of the South Downs. Here is an illustration of the concept from 1843:

xsection london_basin_1843

 

So, working downwards, the sedimentary layers of ‘rock,’ beneath this local area, are:

London Clay 70 MA Stiff fissured grey clay with sand partings. These were laid down in shallow Seas just offshore of a mangrove forest;the London Clay is exposed in the cliffs, to the north of Minster, at the Isle of Sheppy, and if you hunt along the foreshore you can find pyritised seeds, bits of crabs, stemless palm seeds, and old sharks teeth.  The stemless palms only grows in the tropics, so the discovery of these gave the ‘Diluvian’ theory Victorians a headache – how could London have ever been in the tropics? Nowadays we understand that it was Continental Drift.
Woolwich and Reading Beds 90 MA Local these are called the ‘Blackheath Beds’ or Blackheath facies.  Typically these are pebbles and gravels, but locally it is more often silty current-bedded sands.  In the exposure at Elmstead woods this layer was laid down partially tidal bars in an estuary complex and has lots of mollusc shells, some sharks teeth and fish scales.
Thanet Sands 90 MA Fine white sand.
Upper Chalk MA Chalk with bands of flint.Warm tropical carbonate seas, like today’s Bahamas. Fossils mostly echinoids (sea urchins) but also dinosaur footprints etc.

 

“Deposition of the Thanet Formation, Lambeth Group and Harwich Formation occurred in embayments on the western margin of a deep-water marine basin of the North Sea. These marginal deposits were very sensitive to relatively minor changes in sea level. This resulted in alternating incursions and recession of the sea and migration of depositional environments, followed by erosion, changes in groundwater levels, soil formation and down-cutting by rivers that contributed to the development of complex lithologies. Rising sea level led to rapid inundation and a new phase of sedimentation. ”

“The Thanet Formation is also preserved locally in dissolution pipes and hollows in the Chalk ”

“The sediments are intensely bioturbated so that primary sedimentary structures such as lamination are generally missing.”

Engineering Geology Directorate Open Report OR/13/006 http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/503110/1/EngGeol_Lambeth_FINAL_1.02.pdf

 

A map of where these layers outcrop in our area:

outcrop map BR2

The layers are almost horizontal (as opposed to being tilted) but have irregularities, apparently from the extension of basement faulting and ice age features such as pingos.

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Local History, Photos & Reminisces

Browse our collection of remarkable local reminisces in our oral history pages look at the park's previous incarnation as a working brickpit or a summary of it all here.

See also:

  • Bromley Civic Society
  • Friends of Whitehall Rec
  • Bromley Friends Forum
  • London Friends Network

Check out the Gallery

Early morning landscape by Jon Emmanuel
Landscape by Jon Emmanuel
IYellow Lab Daphne playing with her friend Molly
It's snowing!
evening light over our park
snow angel!
2008 double rainbow brickfield
IMG_1001-3
snowmen and snow forts in 2009
10422371_10152598816492595_4131414265842496626_n
2002jul02 tansy with little cricket bat
HotBalloon060630-3
033 field water fight
dragging the sledge back up the dip
The firemen parachuted in to raise money in 2005
fun-in-the-snow
fun-in-the-snow2
fun-in-the-snow3
fun-in-the-snow4
fun-in-the-snow snowman making
sledging-the-dip
dog in the snow
15jul01_sunset_over_brickfield_havelock_rec.jpg
14jun08 50490 view pink clouds brickfield.JPG
15feb28 dog walkers in field.jpg
andy_loakes_snow_on_the_brickfield.jpg
P1090838.JPG
15mar14-brickfield-bulbplanting.jpg
16jul18 bug-day-tent-view.jpg
14jun08 50495 view sunset brickfield.JPG
15jun29_4567-brickfield-field-bindweed-768x1024.jpg
15jun29_4583-brickfield-elderflower-768x1024.jpg
15mar14-di-and-felix-litterpicking-brickfield.jpg
16jan18_volunteers-planting-hedge-brickfield.jpg
16jun12 big-lunch-tug-war.jpg
16sep12-hoedown-2.jpg
17sep09-brickfield-hoedown-20059-baker-girl-beauty-dancing-1024x768.jpg
17sep09-brickfield-hoedown-20064-andy-emma-connie-pimms-tent-768x1024.jpg
17sep09-brickfield-hoedown-20071-girls-umbrella-rainbowjpg-1024x768.jpg
1924 o-peills-brick-pit-half-mile-SW-Bickley-Stn-looking-S-16386_synch-l.jpg
1940 havelock-rd-bomb-damage-1940-4-e1437292677505-1024x699.jpg
P7190918-3rd-bromley-on-brickfield-1024x768.jpg
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