IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Linwood Road, DUDLEY, DY1 4DX

A path through the eastern limb of the anticline, formed from many beds of Silurian period Wenlock limestone. Rich in paleozoic fauna including the rare 'Dudley bug' a trilobite. Famous geologist Sir Roderick Impey Murchison studied the fossils here. The limestones were uplifted in the Caledonian and the Variscan orogenies (400 and 330ma).

A path through the eastern limb of the anticline, formed from many beds of Silurian period Wenlock limestone. Rich in paleozoic fauna including the rare 'Dudley bug' a trilobite. Famous geologist Sir Roderick Impey Murchison studied the fossils here. The limestones were uplifted in the Caledonian and the Variscan orogenies (400 and 330ma).

Looking south from near Wrens Hill Road.

The local vandals have completely burnt out the Warden's Office and Visitor Centre. The Wren's Nest was the first National Geological Nature Reserve when designated in 1956. For photos of the reserve see Image

This ravine is a trench created by quarrying limestone from the Lower Quarried Limestone Member at Wren's Nest. To the left lies the (younger) Nodular Limestone Member, which wasn't quarried as it contains too much sandstone and would therefore have needed additional processing before it could be used in the iron smelting industry. These Silurian limestones were deposited while the area was in a shallow, tropical shelf sea. On the right lies the (older) Coalbrookdale Formation, a mudstone sediment deposited while this area was in deeper water in which shelly creatures couldn't live.

A path through the eastern limb of the anticline, formed from many beds of Silurian period Wenlock limestone. Rich in paleozoic fauna including the rare 'Dudley bug' a trilobite. Famous geologist Sir Roderick Impey Murchison studied the fossils here. The limestones were uplifted in the Caledonian and the Variscan orogenies (400 and 330ma).

Wren's Nest is a popular destination for geological societies because of the limestone outcrops in the former quarries surrounding the ridge. Here, the group is studying the fossils in the layer known as the Lower Quarried Limestone Member. To the right, the overlying (younger) Nodular Limestone Member can be seen, characterised by alternating limestone and sandstone deposits. The strata dip by about 60 degrees to the east on this side of the hill. On the western side, they dip in the opposite direction, demonstrating that Wren's Nest is an anticline, i.e. a fold structure with the oldest rock exposures at the centre.

The view from the car park off Priory Road.

A Saturday morning game of football for the kids on the playing fields. Behind them the Black Country skyline extends out into the distance. This would once have been obscured by the smoke from the steelworks and other heavy industry for which the area was noted.

Another campus of Dudley College located near the summit of Mons Hill.