Gilbert's Pit (Charlton) SSSI
Location and Access Information
Grid Reference: TQ 418786
Blackheath Pebble Beds at Gilbert's Pit
Located in the London Borough of Greenwich, this disused sandpit is located just off the A206 within easy reach from Charlton or Woolwich Dockyard stations. The area has been fenced off by the local authority and prior permission to directly access the site is necessary, however, sections can be viewed through the fence.
Telephone Greenwich Council on 0208 88562232 for further details.
View the site map on Nature on the Map
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Geological Interest
Gilbert's Pit provides one of the most complete sections through the Lower Tertiary beds in the Greater London area. The site covers a disused pit cut into a sequence of Lower Tertiary shallow marine and tidal sandflat sediments dating from approximately 55 million years ago. Faces are present on the eastern and southern sides and rise to over 20 metres above the pit floor.
A narrow causeway separates the eastern exposures from an abutting face of a second pit at Maryon Park. The faces provide a sequence from the Chalk, through overlying Thanet Sands and Woolwich Beds, to a capping of distinctive dark and rounded flint pebbles - the Oldhaven (Blackheath) Beds - on the highest parts. Some of the beds are highly fossiliferous yielding plant, sponge, shell, fish and reptile remains.
