Claxheugh Rock & Ford Limestone Quarry

Also within

Tyne & Wear County

Condition (Natural England)

Geology & landscape

Mining / Industrial: Quarry · Geological Period: Permian · Rock Type: Limestone

Description

Area,1,10 0007.1 hectares 18.0 ac Description Exposures of Magnesian Limestone at Claxheugh Rock, Ford Limestone Quarry and the adjacent, disused railway cutting are of national geological importance whilst areas of associated and semi natural Magnesian Limestone grassland are also significant. The rock exposures here cut through marine limestones of the Magnesian Limestone and are significant in showing facies of the Raisby and Ford formations, which have yielded a diverse fossil fauna of brachiopods, bivalves and abundant nautiloids. These sections allow geologists to study a range of marine Permian carbonate environments, their facies and faunas and in particular lateral variations in reef and back reef settings. Steep grassy slopes associated with Claxheugh Rock and rock ledges along the disused railway cutting support herb rich Magnesian Limestone plant communities dominated by blue moor grass Sesleria caeruleae, crested hair grass Koeleria macrantha, meadow oat grass Avenula pratensis, common quaking grass Briza media and red fescue Festuca rubra. A wide variety of herbs are present, including locally abundant lesser meadow rue Thalictrum minus, lesser and greater knapweed Centaurea nigra and C. scabiosa, common bird’s foot trefoil Lotus corniculatus, harebell Campanula rotundifolia, wild thyme Thymus praecox, common rock rose Helianthemumnum mularium and fairy flax Linum catharticum. Other species of herbs such as small scabious Scabiosa columbaria, salad burnet Poterium sanguisorba, lady’s bedstraw Galium verum, pignut Conopodium majus and yellow wort Blackstonia perfoliata are scattered throughout the sward. A feature of particular interest on the northern side of the disused railway cutting is the presence of pellitory of the wall Parietaria judaica, which is extremely local in its distribution throughout great Britain.

Species mentioned

Insects to look out for

These moths, butterflies and beetles are known to feed on plants recorded at this site, and carry a notable UK conservation status — but a host-plant being present doesn't mean the insect has actually been recorded here. Treat this as "worth watching for," not a confirmed sighting.

Host-plant data: Cook et al. (2025), Traits data for the butterflies and macro-moths of Great Britain and Ireland, 2024, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology / Butterfly Conservation; and Padovani et al. (2020), Database of Insects and their Food Plants (DBIF), UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (both Open Government Licence). Contains data supplied by UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.