Ardley Cutting and Quarry
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| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
 | |
| Location | Oxfordshire |
|---|---|
| Grid reference | SP 535 272[1] |
| Interest | Biological Geological |
| Area | 40.1 hectares (99 acres)[1] |
| Notification | 1988[1] |
| Location map | Magic Map |
Ardley Cutting and Quarry is a 40.1-hectare (99-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-west of Bicester in Oxfordshire.[1][2] It is a Geological Conservation Review site[3] and an area of 11 hectares (27 acres) is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust as Ardley Wood Quarry.[4] The site contains a Scheduled Monument, Ardley Wood moated ringwork, a Norman defended enclosure.[5]
The quarry and railway cutting exposes rocks dating to the Bathonian stage of the Middle Jurassic, about 167 million years ago. It is described by Natural England as of national importance for the understanding of the Jurassic Period in Britain as it allows correlation of rocks of the Oxford area to be correlated with those of the Midlands. The site has calcareous grassland with diverse vertebrates, including the internationally protected great crested newt.[6]
