Now a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)

This is the only known site in the North Staffordshire Coalfield showing the unconformable contact between the Etruria Formation red-beds and the black shales and sandstones of the Newcastle Formation (Middle Carboniferous). Lake sediments at the contact between the formations contain a most unusual fauna of non-marine bivalves, ostracods, fish and annelid worms, and a unique non-marine algal flora. The Etruria Formation here yields a fauna which appears to agree with the Anthraconauta phillipsi Biozone. This indicates that it is markedly younger than the red-beds of the South Staffordshire and Warwickshire coalfields. This demonstration that these red-bed formations become younger towards the north has important implications for understanding the geography of Britain during the middle Carboniferous Period, and the gradually increasing aridity of the climate at that time. Metallic Tileries is therefore a key site for British Carboniferous geology.

Aerial view of the Metallic Tileries site - Bradwell
running along the top is the outcrop of the marl and coal formation
top left is Bradwell Hall, incorporated in the nursing home
to the right is the A34 Talk Road and bottom right corner is
Parkhouse Industrial Estate East
 

Contact between Newcastle and Etruria formations at Metallic Tileries
Photo: C.J. Cleal