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Cerne Abbas Giant

Hill Figure

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Walk Around Cerne Abbas 8th November 2003


This walk may be more interesting to geologists but looks interesting....

The walk starts at the spring which rises from below the Upper Greensand. A huge quarry on the eastern side of Giant Hill, in the Lower and Middle Chalk, provided building stone for Cerne and probably other villages. The walk goes over the top of the hill, which is covered in a thick deposit of Clay with Flints. The valleys at Minterne Parva and Upcerne are also on the Greensand.

The main building stones in Cerne Abbas are the Lower and Middle Chalk and Lower Purbeck limestone from the Ridgeway quarries. The Lower Chalk may be identified by its gritty texture, with the occasional dark grain of glauconite. The Middle Chalk has been used in huge blocks in the medieval North Barn (now Beauvoir Court). The Lower Purbeck, a white laminated limestone, has been used in several buildings in the main street, and for the Hospice.


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Cost £1.50 per person
Posted by phil
17th October 2003ce
Edited 17th October 2003ce

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