Conservation issues

The natural exposures of igneous rocks within the district are generally robust and none appears to be under threat. Working quarries typically provide excellent representative sections of the geology, but by definition quarrying destroys the materials worked. However, the continually changing nature of the sections can yield invaluable insights into the rocks exposed. Accurate recording of such sections, accompanied by the collection and curation of representative specimens, can play a vital role in maintaining and furthering knowledge and understanding of the local geology.

By contrast, abandoned quarries are potentially at risk of becoming degraded or overgrown, either due to natural deterioration or by inappropriate after-use and management. The planting of trees adjacent to the fine Whin Sill section at Walltown Quarry may be cited as an example of inappropriate management of a valuable and instructive geological site. The use of old quarries for landfill may threaten to damage or totally obliterate important sections, though none is known to be under any such immediate threat within the district.

The quarry faces at Cottonshope Head Quarry are now rather weathered, and in places degraded. Consideration might be given to restoring this section. The district also includes several abandoned quarries which, because of the significant geological features exposed, merit consideration for protection. Of particular note are the sections through the Whin Sill and adjacent country rocks at Ward’s Hill Quarry. In addition to the range of geological features exposed here, the site has considerable historical significance for its place in the development of ideas on the nature and origin of the Whin Sill.

Exposures of the Acklington Dyke and adjoining wallrocks at Cartington, though comparatively modest, offer a rare opportunity to examine this important, though otherwise poorly exposed, intrusion.

The Scroggs is an example of an SNCI listed for botanical interest that has geological links. This is an exceptional piece of grassland on the contact zone between the Whin Sill and limestones in the Tyne Limestone Formation. The pasture is among the richest found on any of the Whin Sill sites and its flora is outstanding with many species uncommon in north-east England.