County Geodiversity Sites

County Geodiversity Sites (CGS) are Local Sites designated for their geodiversity interest. They are the geodiversity equivalent of County Wildlife Sites, and, like CWS, they are sites of substantive conservation value at County level. They were formerly known in Norfolk as RIGS (Regionally Important Geological / geomorphological Sites).

CGS are covered by DEFRA Local Sites policy guidance:

Circular 06/2005 Biodiversity and Geological Conservation – statutory obligations and their impact within the planning system (DEFRA 2005);
Local Sites - guidance on their identification, selection and management (DEFRA 2006).

CGS are designated by the County Geodiversity Sites Group, which is managed as a sub-committee of the Norfolk Geodiversity Partnership. It includes representatives from the Geological Society of Norfolk, Norfolk County Council, Natural England and the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. The CGS Group is recognised by Natural England and GeoConservationUK as the competent body for designating Local Sites of geodiversity interest in the county.

Seven CGS have been designated in Norfolk (as at January 2017). This small number reflects a lack of resources which historically have been available to designate them, rather than any lack of significance regarding the county’s geodiversity. More sites are under active consideration.

For more information on Local Sites in Norfolk, see the Local Sites Handbook.

Designating CGS

CGS are designated in partnership with landowners on the basis of their ‘substantive conservation value’. This value is based on selection criteria recommended by GeoConservationUK supported by the policy guidance of DEFRA, and which are summarised in the Norfolk County Geodiversity Site Selection Criteria document (download by clicking the PDF link below).

Conservation value includes the following factors:

Scientific – providing research resources for investigating the remote past;
Cultural – for example, contribution to economic activity and local beauty;
Diversity – the uniqueness of a site at county or regional level;
Usability – suitability for public use;
Education – suitability for learning at all levels;
Conservation value – the presence of existing designations, e.g. for wildlife.

What does a CGS designation mean for landowners?

A County Geodiversity Site designation means that you have special Earth heritage on your land. CGS do not have statutory protection, so they can only be conserved with the goodwill and support of the landowner. A CGS designation is a voluntary agreement. It does not place any legal obligations on the landowner, nor confer any right of public access. Existing public rights of way are not affected and no new footpaths are created. The level of access is agreed: for example, ‘open access’, ‘access by prior notification only’, ‘for groups’, ‘for research only’.

As part of the designation process, the features of geological interest are explained to the landowner, so it is clear why they are important enough to be designated. Options for positive management are discussed and agreed; for example these might include keeping rock exposures clear of vegetation, discouraging vandalism and fly-tipping, maintaining natural springs, opening up permissive footpath access, keeping peat soils wet. Designation cannot restrict agricultural operations or digging for minerals; in fact mineral extraction may help provide access to new geological information.

Although Local Sites enjoy no legal protection, local authorities may give their features special consideration in the planning process through policies set out in the Local Plan and Minerals & Waste Local Development Framework. For any significant change of land use, the planning authorities will take a CGS designation into account, along with other planning considerations such as landscape, wildlife and archaeology.

A CGS designation can feature in a Farm Environment Plan, and favourable management can be funded through HLS options where appropriate. A CGS designation can add value to funding bids for environmental projects. You can download a leaflet for landowners by clicking the PDF link below.

Please contact us if you are interested in joining the CGS group. We welcome enthusiasm and expertise in a range of subjects related to Earth heritage.

Please contact us if you have a geological site on your land, and you would like to know more about it and how to conserve its features.

Norfolk's County Geodiversity Sites

Breckland District

Newton by Castle Acre Chalk Pit; also known as Needham Chalks Quarry. Grid reference: TF837149

An active quarry displaying Cretaceous Chalk of the Coniacian Stage (transitional M.cortestudinarium / M.coranguinum Zones) and Santonian Stage. Fossils include Inoceramus, Micraster, ammonites, fish and bryozoans. Large, fresh exposures available. Date of designation: 12.11.1999

Great Hockham Erratic, also known as the Village Stone. Grid reference: TL95309257

Large erratic boulder of Cretaceous Spilsby Sandstone Formation. Discovered on farmland east of the village and resited on the Village Green c.1880; ritually turned over to mark notable events in the life of the parish. Date of designation: 23.11.2009

The Hockham Village Stone. Photo Jeannie Harris

Rising Hill Pit, Field Dalling. Photo Tim Holt-Wilson

Broadland District

Pinebanks Pit, Thorpe St Andrew. Grid reference: TG261089

A disused gravel pit exposing sands of Pleistocene Anglian outwash and/or Pliocene Norwich Crag displaying sedimentary structures. Site has educational potential, being close to Norwich and part of a recreational area. The site is also a County Wildlife Site (Broadland 1390). Date of designation: 30.08.2000.

The Sandpit, Strumpshaw Fen. Grid reference: TG34140648

Exposure of sands of the early Pleistocene Norwich Crag overlain locally by thin bed of solifluctate or [Corton till]. Potential to contribute to our knowledge of climate change in the Norwich Crag period. Link with biodiversity SSSI (Yare Broads & Marshes). Date of designation: 18.01.2011.

King's Lynn & West Norfolk District

Barrow Common Sand Pit, Brancaster. Grid reference: TF791429

Notable and publicly accessible exposure of Pleistocene Anglian glacial deposits of the Briton's Lane Sands and Gravels, comprising coarse-grained sand and gravel containing thrusted slab of diamicton overlain by gravelly diamicton (solifluction deposit). Link with biodiversity CWS (Barrow Common). Date of designation: 22.7.2014.

Snettisham Common Pit. Grid reference: TF67103362

Exposure of Lower Cretaceous Leziate Beds showing cross-bedding and notable fault feature; west face of the pit displays a broad channel. Overlain by Dersingham Beds including sands, clay and clay ironstone. Leziate Beds used for glassmaking in C19th. Link with CWS (heathland and woodland). Date of designation: 22.7.2014.

North Norfolk District

Rising Hill Pit, Field Dalling. Grid reference: TG033404

Disused quarry with good exposures of Pleistocene Anglian fluvio-glacial sand, gravel and chalky mud overlain by a thin sheet of chalk-rich glacial diamicton. Interpreted as a deglacial sequence dominated by ice-contact meltwater deposits and meltout tills. Complements the nearby Bilsey Hill geological SSSI. Date of designation: 22.01.1999

Hempton Quarry. Grid reference: TF904284

Partly landfilled former quarry, exposing Pleistocene Anglian sediments, comprising a glacio-tectonised sequence of bedded silty sands overlain by fine, sandy, well-bedded gravels, all with high chalk content. Adjacent to Hempton Green County Wildlife Site. Date of designation: 04.04.2000