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Chalk mining is the extraction of chalk from underground and above ground deposits by mining. [1] Mined chalk is used mostly to make cement and bricks . Chalk mining was widespread in Britain in the 19th century because of the large amount of construction underway (and the Industrial Revolution ). [ 2 ]
This disused chalk pit exposes a series of phosphate-rich chalk layers deposited 80 million years ago, during the Upper Cretaceous, under a warm sea which then covered a large part of Europe. The sediments provide evidence of severe earth movements in the area [ 185 ] and they are rich in macrofossils , especially belemnites .
Burning chalk stone was performed in simple kilns in close proximity to where the chalk was found. Lime kilns were made by digging a round hole, three metres wide, two and a half metres deep. After the hole was dug, the chalk and fuel for a fire would be brought to it. Stones of chalk (limestone) would be arranged in a circular dome in the pit.
Purfleet Chalk Pits is a 10.7-hectare (26-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Purfleet in Essex. It is a Geological Conservation Review site. The chalk pits expose sands and gravels which are associated with the ancient course of the River Thames.
The caves were used between 1830 and the 1860s for producing lime. The 25-inch to a mile (approx 1:2,500) Ordnance Survey map of 1862–63 describes the place as a "chalk pit" and marks an "engine house" and two remaining kilns. [9] A further investigation produced, among other evidence, a letter from the son of one of the workers. [10]
Boxford Chalk Pit is a 0.4-hectare (0.99-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Boxford in Berkshire. [1] [2] It is a Geological Conservation Review site. [3] [4] This site has a unique succession of tilted beds dating to the Upper Cretaceous, between the late Coniacian and the Santonian, from around 87 to 84 million years ago.
In southeast England, deneholes are a notable example of ancient chalk pits. Such bell pits may also mark the sites of ancient flint mines, where the prime object was to remove flint nodules for stone tool manufacture.
There are three ancient bostals that ascend the slopes to Beacon, the central of which, Ditchling Bostal, is now the busy motor road. The bostals (two unnamed) pass some of the best remaining chalk grasslands in East Sussex and is an important area for wildlife including now rare plants, butterflies and moths.