Notes on Some Suffolk Crag Localities

NOTES ON SOME SUFFOLK CRAG LOCALITIES R. A. D .

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MARKHAM

The Coralline Crag at Tattingstone

SECTIONS

at Tattingstone, near Ipswich, are of interest in showing Red Crag resting on Coralline Crag; one such section was figured

by Prestwich (1871). This small outcrop, on the site of a proposed reservoir, is 10 miles from the next Coralline Crag outcrop near Sutton.

An attempt to dig to the base of the Coralline Crag at Tattingstone Hall (TM 143374) was made by C. Allen, B. Keeble, and the writer in April, 1963, by kind permission of Mr. R. Caldwell.

The base was not reached because of the presence of water in the excavation; water also stopped early attempts by Charlesworth (1835) and Lyell (1839).

About 4J feet of Coralline Crag was exposed below the Red Crag, and digging showed another feet (2 feet 5 inches under water), making a total of 11 feet of Coralline Crag without reaching the base.

Lithologically the Coralline Crag was as described by Whitaker (1885), but the bottom foot was orange-coloured. A number of bands of nodules (of indurated shelly limestone) were found, the nodules 7 feet 9 inches from the top of the Coralline Crag in the section measured being associated with a pink-coloured band.

Only a few fossils (Lyell, 1839) have been recorded from the Coralline Crag at Tattingstone, probably because of the fragmentary condition of specimens. The following were found in 1963:— Bivalve molluscs Area lactea, Limopsis pygmaea, Glycimeris glyeimeris, Astarte, Woodia digitaria, Ostrea, Anomia, Corbula, Spisula, Pteromeris corbis, Diplodonta rotundata, Chlamys, Ensis, Venus ovata.

Gastropods 'Natica', Turritella, Scala, Calliostoma.

Bryozoans, including Cellaria.

Coral—Sphenotrochus intermedius.

Echinoid spine; Barnacles; Foraminifera; Fish otoliths.

Boswell (1913) gives a sketch-map of the Coralline Crag outcrop at Tattingstone. Its known underground extent was slightly enlarged in 1967 when Mr. R. F. Harwood brought the writer's attention to a temporary excavation at Tattingstone Place (TM 140368); this section showed over a foot of Red Crag resting on about 4 feet of Coralline Crag.

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References Boswell, P. G . H . (1913). Report of an Excursion to Bentley, Suffolk.

Proc. Geol. Assoc., London 24, 327.

Charlesworth, E. (1835). Observations on the Crag-formation and its Organic Remains: with a View to establish a Division of the Tertiarv Strata overlying the L o n d o n Clay in Suffolk. Phil. Mag. ser. 3, 7, 81.

Lyell, C. (1839). On the Relative Ages of the Tertiary Deposits commonly called " C r a g " in the Counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 2, 3, 313.

Prestwich, J. (1871). On the Structure of the Crag-beds of Suffolk and Norfolk, with some Observations on their Organic Remains. Part I I .

T h e Red Crag of Essex and Suffolk. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., London 27, 325.

Whitaker, W . (1885). T h e Geology of the Country around Ipswich, Hadleigh, and Felixstowe. Mem. Geol. Surv. England and Wales.

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Some Gipping Valley Crag Sites

A thin "stone-bed" containing phosphatic nodules is an important geological marker horizon in the Gipping Valley, and observations on this bed are here recorded from four localities.

A similar stone-bed forms the basement bed of shelly Red Crag, a facies not generally seen north-west of Ipswich.

Dales Road, Ipswich.

Moir (1932) recorded "Red Crag shells" from the base of Crag sand at Bolton's brickfield (Dales Road), but the species were not given.

Whale rib fragments found by Moir and a bone identified as Mastodon by Dr. Corner, were mentioned by Slater (1911).

Just before the brickfield was built over, the writer found a mould of Cardium angnstatum (a typical Red Crag mollusc) and a few fish teeth in the stone bed at T M 156465.

Moulds of C. angustatum have since been found in ferruginous sandstone on the east side of Dales Road, at T M 155462; specimens found by R. Henry are in Ipswich Museum (No. 969-74).

Bramford ('Coe's Pit' of older literature) (TM 130482).

Now worked by Brush Aggregates Ltd., this pit has also been known as Bramford old chalkpit, and Bramford No. 1 pit.

The stone-bed generally taken to be the basement bed of the Crag has yielded fish teeth (Moir, 1921), occasional shell fragments (species not recorded) and bones (Boswell, 1927), a Hystrix (porcupine) tooth (identified by Kretzoi, see Spencer, 1966A), a portion of tooth root, possibly carnivore (Spencer, 1966B), barnacles (found by C. Allen), and the writer has also found mineralised wood.

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Fragile mollusc remains found in the stone-bed in 1970 include a bed of mussels (Mytilus edulis), many with both valves together, and casts and moulds of gastropods; a sinistral gastropod found by R. J. Markham appears to be Neptunea contraria. The mode of occurrence of the mussels suggests that they lived in the immediate area.

Great Blakenham (TM 112499).

Reddish sands with phosphatic nodules and phosphatised bone fragments are sometimes found in small depressions in the top of the Chalk, and below the sand which underlies the tili.

Creeting St. Mary (TM 097553).

A thin stone-bed containing phosphatic nodules occurs between the Chalk and the overlying sands. An impression of a barnacle plate in ferruginous sandstone found in the stone-bed by P. Cresswell is in Ipswich Museum (No. 968-32).

Sections in the Gipping Valley show clearly the unconformable relationship between the Crag stone-bed and older strata. The stone-bed rests on London Clay at Ipswich, on Lower London Tertiaries at Bramford (Brush's pit), and on Chalk at Great Blakenham and Creeting.

References Boswell, P. G. H . (1927). T h e Geology of the Country around Ipswich.

Mem. Geol. Surv. England.

Moir, J . Reid (1921). Further Discoveries of Humanly-fashioned Flints in and beneath the Red Crag of Suffolk. Proc. Prehist. Soc. East Anglia 3, 389.

Moir, J. Reid (1932). T h e Culture of Pliocene M a n . Proc. Prehist. Soc. East Anglia 7, 1.

Slater, G . (1911). Excursion to Ipswich, July 16th, 1910. Proc. Geol.

Assoc., London 22, 11.

Spencer, H . E. P. (1966a). New Mammalian Fossils from Red Crag.

Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 13, 154.

Spencer, H . E. P. (1966b). Some recent geological finds. Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 13, 221.

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Additional Fauna from the Red Crag at Battisford.

At the old pit (TM 061538) at Battisford, near Needham Market, chalky tili and light-coloured sand rest on a deposit of large rounded flints in ferruginous sand, usually taken to be a beach deposit of the Red Crag sea. Small phosphatic nodules occur among the flints, and moulds of molluscs have been found in consolidated parts of the sand; actual shells occur in the deeper part of the deposit but have seldom been exposed.

523 The recorded fauna from this site includes cheilostome polyzoa (Larwood, in Baden-Powell and West, 1960), molluscs (Cambridge, 1950),fishteeth (Cambridge, in Baden-Powell and West, 1960, and Spencer, 1966), and cetacea (Spencer, 1966).

Excavation by members of the Ipswich Geological Group in January, 1967, enabled a number of additions to be made to the faunal list from this locality. Approximately 7 feet of pebbly gravel was exposed above the base of the pit. The excavation was made in the base of the pit and shells were found in the gravel at a depth of 1 foot; the shelly gravel was exposed to 3 feet 4 inches before digging was stopped by water (the base of the hole was over 3 feet below water level), giving a total of c. 11 feet 4 inches, the base not being reached.

The following fossils were identified:— Bivalve molluscs Ostrea edulis, Pecten maximus, Chlamys opercularis, Glycimeris glycimeris, Astarte obliquata, A. omalii, digitaria, 'Tapes' sp., 'Cyprina' sp., Cyclocardia sp., Dosin exoleta, Spisula sp., Mya arenaria, Corbula sp., Panopae Mytilus edulis, Ensis sp., Macoma obliqua, Gastrana la Cardium edule, C. parkinsoni, Pholad.

Gastropods Neptunea contraria, N. sp., Turritella incrassata, Trivia Diodora aperta, Calyptraea chinensis.

Corals—Balanophyllia calicula, Sphenotrochus intermedius.

Sponge—Cliona borings.

Bryozoan.

Barnacle valves.

Brachiopod— Terebratula sp.

Echinoid spine.

Vertebrates Ray teeth, wolf-fish teeth, shark teeth (mainly odontaspid but including cf. Corax), bone fragments.

Derived fossils Cidarid spines, Echinocorys and Inoceramus fragments, belem nites (Gonioteuthis), ammonite Chamber (phosphatic cast).

Neptunea contraria, Turritella, Glycimeris, Cardium, obliquata and Balanophyllia are common and characteristic.

Several double valves of Macoma obliqua were found. 'Tapes' fragments are unusually common, and the apparent absence of Hinia is noticeable. Of particular interest are the cf. Corax tooth SUFFOLK CRAG LOCALITIES

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and the ammonite Chamber (both rarities in the crag). Most of the shells are broken and several other species not given here appear to be present. One large Boxstone was found.

Unrecorded fossils seen by the writer on other occasions include a Lamna obliqua tooth and a derived rhynchonellid brachiopod.

I wish to thank Mr. T . F. Harwood for permission to excavate on his land.

Rcfcrcnccs Baden-Powell D. F. W . and West, R. G . (1960). S u m m e r Field Meeting in East Anglia. Report by the Directors. Proc. Geol. Assoc., London 71, 61. ^ . , , Cambridge, P. (1950). Hascot, a New Crag-Pit. Fossils at Battisford.

Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 7, 66.

Spencer, H . E. P. (1966). Field Meeting in the Quaternary of East Suffolk. Proc. Geol. Assoc., London 77, 371.

R. A. D. Markham, The Museum, High Street, Ipswich, IP1 3QH.