Fen Ridges

At various times in the last few thousand years, the fenland has been flooded and, at the edge of the Fens, where these ridges are located, the land changed from extensive wetland to dryer land where settlements could be built. The higher land now provides viewpoints that are windows into the past – looking down into one of the last areas in England where ‘wilderness’ existed and people have met many challenges to survive. Compared to the extensive wetland basin, the Fen Ridges, along with the Fen Islands, have provided humans with a safer and easier place to live for thousands of years. They have, therefore, been the location for cultural, and often strategic, sites and have a rich history, much of it linked directly to the local geology.

Yaxley Ridge

The Yaxley Ridge is located between the Nene Valley, the Woodwalton Apron and the Fen Edge. At Norman Cross it reaches above 30m OD. The ridge comprises Glacio-lacustrine Deposits, Glacio-fluvial Deposits and Oadby Glacial Till overlying Jurassic Oxford Clay. The ridge is surrounded by low-lying land with the Woodwalton Apron to the north and west , the Nene Valley to the east and the Fen Edge to the south. There are poorly drained soils on bedrock clay and Oadby Till, & well-drained soils on Glacial Gravels and River Gravels. There are no geological SSSI but there is part of an LGS.

Orton Brickworks and Brick Pit

Most of this RIGS/LGS is in the Woodwalton Apron Geodiversity Landscape but the southern part is on the Yaxley Ridge.

From the Peterborough Geology Audit ‘Upon This Rock’, 2000

‘This important site has temporarily ceased clay extraction but when pumped, the site exposes the Peterborough member of the Oxford Clay Formation. Bed 10 has yielded internationally important Jurassic fossils and the whole site is important for its overlying glacial deposits. Historically, it is known as the source of Fletton bricks and the site forms a dramatic part of Peterborough’s landscape. Part of the area is already a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) particularly for its Great Crested Newt population and is a candidate Special Area of Conservation (cSAC), indicating the site’s European importance for wildlife. Much of the quarry is now being developed as the new southern township of Peterborough, Hampton.’

Upware/Wicken Ridge

The Upware/Wicken Ridge comprises the north-south aligned ridge of Jurassic Upware Limestone, which to the north is capped by Oadby Glacial Till. A spur of the ridge also extends east through Wicken village, where Oadby Till overlies Cretaceous Gault Clay and separates Wicken Fen to the south from the site of Soham Mere to the north. It reaches an elevation of 8m OD. The ridge is surrounded by the Fen Edge and has a narrow link to the Lode Apron in the east. There are poorly drained soils on bedrock clay & Oadby Till, and  well-drained soils on Upware Limestone and Woburn Sands bedrock. There are two geological SSSI, Upware South Pit and Upware Bridge Pit North, and no LGS.