Nine Wells designated as Local Geological Site
Nine Wells Local Nature Reserve is now (February 2017) a Local Geological Site. This designation highlights its geological value for scientific, educational, historical and/or aesthetic reasons. As well as being the source of Hobson’s Conduit, the chalk springs at Nine Wells are a good example of those in the south of the county that occur along the springline at the level of the Totternhoe Stone (locally known as the Burwell Rock).
Nine Wells is found south of the Addenbrookes Biomedical Campus on the southern side of the city of Cambridge. It only covers 1.2 hectares but is quite unique for a number of reasons due to its landscape, geology, history, fauna and flora. The landscape here is marked by a change of slope between the chalkland to the south and the flat (chalk marl and clay) land to the north. The rocks here are the source of spring waters that rise from fissures in a hard band of Totternhoe Stone, known locally as the Burwell Rock. This famous layer in the chalk lies at the base of the Zig Zag Chalk, and overlies the West Melbury Chalk Marl.
