Geological Guide to Cleeve Common

The Jurassic rocks of Cleeve Common are of the Bajocian and Aalenian.There are eight sites to visit along this trail, covering three formations, the Salperton Limestone Formation, the Aston Limestone Formation and Birdlip Limestone Formation.

One of the most famous beds along this trail is the Cypeus Grit, which is from the Salperton Limestone Member. This bed contains the highly collected Clypeus ploti echinoids.

The Salperton Limestone Formation is a pale grey to brown rubbly, fine- to coarse-grained ooidal, peloidal and finely shell-detrital packstone to grainstone (Clypeus Grit Member), generally with very shelly and coarsely shell-detrital ooidal grainstone and packstone (Upper Trigonia Grit Member) at base.

The Aston Limestone Formation is a grey and brown variously shelly, ooidal, sandy, shell-detrital and bioturbated limestones; rubbly in parts, with sandy and shell-detrital marl beds. Component members: Lower Trigonia Grit, Gryphite Grit, Notgrove, Rolling Bank.

The Birdlip Limestone Formation is Predominantly pale coloured ooidal limestones of varying types; ferruginous and sandy (Leckhampton Member), pisoidal and shelly (Crickley Member) at the base, unfossiliferous and cross bedded in the middle (Cleeve Cloud Member), shelly and marly in the upper part (Scottsquar Member), uppermost beds include sand and clay (Harford Member).

A Jurassic Oolite boulder, full of brachiopods and other fossils