Abbey Wood SSSI
Geological site in south-east London
About
Abbey Wood is a 6.3-hectare (16-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Abbey Wood in the London Borough of Bexley. It is located in Lesnes Abbey Woods south-east of the ruins of Lesnes Abbey. Members of the public can dig for fossils in a small area designated as the Fossil Bed with the permission of the Lesnes Abbey ranger.
The site is late Palaeocene and early Eocene 50 to 60 million years ago. Important Palaeocene finds in the Blackheath Beds on the site include 22 species of mammals in 12 orders, which resemble the Wasatchian fauna of North America. It has also yielded one of only two Palaeocene birds found in Britain, the holotype of Marinavis longirostris, a large Procellariiform sea bird, and the site may throw light on Procellariiform/Pelecaniform evolution.
Nearby
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Thamesmead
Human settlement in England
1.2 mi away
Ridgeway (London)
Footpath in London, England
1.1 mi away
Little and Lesnes Hundred
Historical Hundred of Kent, England
0.8 mi away
Crossness Nature Reserve
Nature reserve in Crossness, London, England
1.2 mi away
Lesnes Abbey
Former abbey in Abbey Wood, London, England
0.1 mi away
Southern Outfall Sewer
London sewer
1.3 mi awayPlaces to eat nearby
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