Geology Site Account

Site name: Channels Boulders

Grid reference: TL 7238 1118

Brief description of site:

By the entrance to Channels Wedding Venue in Belsteads Farm Lane, Little Waltham is a large boulder of Hertfordshire puddingstone on the grass by the car park. It is one of the largest puddingstone boulders in Essex, measuring 2.1 metres long by 1.2 metres high by 0.4 metres in thickness. It is looked after splendidly by the landowner and surrounded by attractive bedding plants in the Summer.

Close by are several other puddingstone and sarsen boulders, including a large sarsen (180cm x 100cm x 60cm) in size with rare trace fossils.

These boulders were found in the local gravel pit, which has now been restored for housing. The boulders are from the Kesgrave Sands and Gravels which were laid down by the River Thames when it flowed through central Essex over 500,000 years ago.

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Details

Hertfordshire Puddingstone was formed around 55 million years ago when the climate of Britain was hot and a layer of pebbles beneath the surface of the ground became cemented with quartz. They are thus very resistant to erosion and have survived the rigours of the Ice Age. They originated in Hertfordshire, hence the name, and were probably carried to Essex by the River Thames when it flowed north of its present course. However, the distribution and abundance of Hertfordshire puddingstone in parts of Essex suggests that some occurrences may have a local Essex source.

The formation of silcretes (which includes sarsens and puddingstones) has been the subject of recent scientific debate. Research has compared the conditions under which sarsens and puddingstones may have been formed with the present day climate in the Kalahari Desert and parts of Australia.

The largest boulder of Hertfordshire Puddingstone at the entrance to Channels Wedding Venue in 2024. Photo: G.Lucy