Bathampton Down

Bathampton Down, is a flat limestone plateau in Bathampton overlooking Bath, in Somerset near the River Avon, England. There is evidence of man's activity at the site since the Mesolithic period including Bathampton Camp, an Iron Age hillfort or stock enclosure. It has also been used for quarrying and is now used for a golf course. GeographyThe plateau is formed from the Greater Oolitic Limestone with formations including Forest Marble, Bath Oolite, Twinhoe Beds and Combe Down Oolite. The limestone dates from the Middle Jurassic with deposits of flint quartz and sandstone, mainly preserved in fissures or other cavities dating from the Middle Pleistocene. The limestone is porous which, along with the flat nature of the plateau means there are no streams or rivers, particularly as several cold springs on Bathampton Down were diverted into reservoirs in the late 18th and early 19th centuries having originally flowed down to the River Avon. The southern area merges with Claverton Down and lies above part of the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines Site of Special Scientific Interest, designated because of the Greater and Lesser Horseshoe bat population. There are small disused quarries which used to obtain Bath stone between the Roman era and the 18th century. Several of these can be seen on the golf course and other have left workings which run under the fairways. The entrance to the Seven Sisters' Quarry was blown up in the 1960s, although the remains of the tramway used to carry stone down to the Canal can still be seen.

Bathampton Down, is a flat limestone plateau in Bathampton overlooking Bath, in Somerset near the River Avon, England. There is evidence of man's activity at the site since the Mesolithic period including Bathampton Camp, an Iron Age hillfort or stock enclosure. It has also been used for quarrying and is now used for a golf course. GeographyThe plateau is formed from the Greater Oolitic Limestone with formations including Forest Marble, Bath Oolite, Twinhoe Beds and Combe Down Oolite. The limestone dates from the Middle Jurassic with deposits of flint quartz and sandstone, mainly preserved in fissures or other cavities dating from the Middle Pleistocene. The limestone is porous which, along with the flat nature of the plateau means there are no streams or rivers, particularly as several cold springs on Bathampton Down were diverted into reservoirs in the late 18th and early 19th centuries having originally flowed down to the River Avon. The southern area merges with Claverton Down and lies above part of the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines Site of Special Scientific Interest, designated because of the Greater and Lesser Horseshoe bat population. There are small disused quarries which used to obtain Bath stone between the Roman era and the 18th century. Several of these can be seen on the golf course and other have left workings which run under the fairways. The entrance to the Seven Sisters' Quarry was blown up in the 1960s, although the remains of the tramway used to carry stone down to the Canal can still be seen.