Wiltshire Geology Group
Wiltshire Geology Group

NEW... see Events - guided walks

Wiltshire's landscape is inextricably bound up with the rocks beneath the surface. It is our aim to raise public awareness of Earth Sciences and draw peoples attention to the way the landscape, and the towns and villages within it, are influenced by the underlying geology.

Trails

Explore The Landscape Around Westbury White Horse

The chalk escarpment above Westbury's White Horse forms the northern edge of Salisbury Plain. In the spectacular panorama, you can see the effect of the different rock types on the landscape and the trail also explains how people have taken advantage of the geology. 

Westbury trail.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [1.2 MB]

Explore The Landscape Around The Upper By Brook Valley

This trail shows how geology is intimately linked to the activities of the people living here. The By Brook valley cuts deeply down into the water-bearing Cotswold limestones, the source of the river. The fast-flowing waters have been utilised for centuries. The same clear water needed for industrial processes, was a source of power for fulling mills, often converted for paper-making or for grinding corn into flour when the woollen industry fell into decline. The rocks represent a variety of shallow marine sub-tropical sea floor environments of the mid-Jurassic sea and fossils can be found in the road-cutting at Giddeahall (ST 854 746).

Upper By Brook trail.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [1.1 MB]

Explore The Landscape Around The Vale Of Pewsey 

Price: £2.00

This guide looks at the historic buildings in the Salisbury Cathedral Close, explaining the building materials used and how they reflect the local geology. The cathedral's status is reflected in the variety of stone used, some imported from Dorset and Devon. Printed on weather-resistant card and folded to make a 12 page pocket-sized pamphlet, it can be purchased for £2.00 from Salisbury Museum and Salisbury Cathedral shop or by mail-order from the author (adding a £1.50 handling charge) email stevehannath@talktalk.net    

These guides explain the landscape and beauty of the area and how the geology has influenced its history dating back to the Stone Age, as well as the stone used in local buildings. They show how the underlying rocks have affected the landscape and people. Printed on weather-resistant card and folded to make 12 page pocket-sized pamphlets, these landscape guides cover Wiltshire's most important geological structures: the Vale of Wardour, extending from Mere & Shaftesbury 18 miles eastwards into the valley of the River Nadder, and the Vale of Pewsey, running for some 15 miles east of Devizes.  They can be purchased for £1.95 from local tourist outlets, Wiltshire Museum, Devizes, or by mail-order (adding a £1.50 handling charge) from www.thematic-trails.org or: Thematic Trails, 7 Norwood Avenue, Kingston Bagpuize, Oxon. OX13 5AD Tel: 01865-820522.

Explore The Landscape Of The Vale of Wardour

Purchase from: Thematic Trails

Explore The Landscape Around Bradford-On-Avon And Avoncliff

Price: £1.95

This trail guides you around this picturesque stone-built town and along the Kennet & Avon canal, exploring the way local geology has influenced the town's growth and buildings.  There is an interesting canal-side excavation, with information board beside it, showing the Jurassic Forest Marble sea floor, complete with fossil fauna living there, which can be picked up from the sides of the site (ST 825 603). The guide is printed on weather-resistant card and folded to make a 12 page pocket-sized pamphlet. It makes an ideal landscape companion for a 4.5 miles (7km) walk examining the relationship between the local landscape and the underlying rock, including the way that the town grew up as a result of the woollen mills along the River Avon, with people taking advantage of the local geology for building stone, water power and canal-building. It can be purchased for £1.95 from local tourist information outlets, Wiltshire Museum, Devizes, or by mail-order (adding a £1.50 handling charge) from www.thematic-trails.org or Thematic Trails, 7 Norwood Avenue, Kingston Bagpuize, Oxon. OX13 5AD Tel: 01865-820522.

Box Rock Circus

Located in Box village, near Corsham, is a circle of rocks, fossils and minerals where you can experience the wonder of travelling back in time. The rock circus contains examples of sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks along with an obelisk, fossil rubbing block and dinosaur footprints. The website, www.boxrockcircus.org.uk, contains a leaftlet to download (free of charge) with further information about each example of rock.

Box Rock Circus leaflet.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [1.7 MB]

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