Middleton Quarry is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Teesdale district of west County Durham, England. It is a disused quarry, from which Whin Sill stone was formerly excavated. It lies just south of the River Tees, opposite the village of Middleton-in-Teesdale on the river's northern bank.

Middleton Quarry
Map showing the location of Middleton Quarry
Map showing the location of Middleton Quarry
Site of Special Scientific Interest
LocationMAGiC MaP
Nearest townMiddleton-in-Teesdale
Coordinates54°36′58″N 2°4′53″W / 54.61611°N 2.08139°W / 54.61611; -2.08139
Area6.0 ha (15 acres)
Established1964
Governing bodyNatural England
WebsiteMiddleton Quarry SSSI

Since mineral working ceased, the quarry has been re-colonised by a variety of vegetation types. On the quarry floor, natural seepage has given rise to areas of open water, which grade into a variety of soligenous mire and fen vegetation types.

Where a skeletal soil layer has developed on the quarry floor and spoil heaps, patches of grassland occur, with species characteristic of base-rich soils, such as quaking grass, Briza media, and limestone bedstraw, Galium sterneri. On shallow slopes, this gives way to a neutral grassland characterised by false oat-grass, Arrhenatherum elatius, and Yorkshire fog, Holcus lanatus. Above the quarry, this is replaced by acid grassland, in which wavy hair-grass, Deschampsia flexuosa, is dominant. [1]

The quarry supports a moth fauna which includes at least two species, the northern rustic (Standfussiana lucernea) and the anomalous (Stilbia anomala) which are rare in north-east England.

References

edit
  1. ^ "Middleton Quarry : Reasons for SSSI status" (PDF). Natural England. Retrieved 1 April 2022.