Wootton Bassett Mud Spring From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sign warning of the risk of entrapment in the Mud Springs Wootton Bassett Mud Spring (grid reference SU078815) is an 8,000 square metre geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire, England, notified in 1997. Wootton Bassett Mud Springs are oozing springs of cold, grey mud which blister up under a thin layer of vegetation. They can be found following a ten-minute walk by foot from the canal car park opposite Templars Way, along the Wilts and Berks Canal cut and then south across agricultural land. In June 1996, the British Microbiological Biodiversity Association sent a team of microbiologists to monitor and sample the springs. They discovered springs more than 120 metres deep which emit a steady flow of fluidised mud at a rate of several cubic metres per day. The BMBA scientists were interested in the anaerobic microbiology of the mud flow and the possible links between this source and the deep terrestrial biosphere. They discovered that within the area there are five main sites of mud spring activity, one of which can be subdivided into three separate mud springs.[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wootton_Bassett_Mud_Spring http://www.woottonbassett.ukfossils.co.uk/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVaGM7Ca5jI
Description and Reasons for Notification: Wootton Bassett Mud Spring is situated on low boggy ground in a small coppice approximately 1 km south-east of Wootton Bassett. The spring consists of several vents which emit liquid mud all year round and at accentuated rates after periods of prolonged rainfall. This mud dries and then accretes around the vents forming mud ‘blisters’. The spring emerges from clays (the Ampthill Clay Formation) through five vents described above. It is most active during the winter and also about a month after a period of heavy rain. The vents have been shown to contain liquid mud to a depth of about 6 m. Geochemical evidence indicates that the water contained in the mud appears to originate from an aquifer in the Coral Rag Formation, the top of which underlies the Ampthill Clay Formation at a depth of 20 m, and has a sufficient hydrostatic head to drive the spring. Augering in the vicinity of the springs revealed that the area is underlain by very soft clay at depth, possibly up to 20 m, indicating that the coppice may be underlain by large pockets of soft clay and mud. Wootton Bassett Mud Spring is an example of an hydrogeological phenomenon which is only represented by a few other examples in Britain. This site is the site where the mechanism of the phenomenon has been studied in detail. https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/PDFsForWeb/Citation/2000163.pdf
Wootton Bassett is one of the most famous mud springs in the UK. There are five springs that emerge from the Kimmeridge Clay, emitting mud and fossils, which come from the underlying Ampthill Clay Formation, Sometimes, the mud dries and builds up around the vents, creating mounds about 10m across. However, after heavy rain, they can become very active. Unfortunately, due to human interference, four of the five springs are no longer active, but a fifth remains intact. Wootton Bassett
I wonder why they call it Ampthill Clay? Ampthill is situated on the Green Sand Ridge, i.e. it is on a sand hill. A walk through the Coopers Hill nature reserve (known locally as the Firs) is akin to walking across heather laden heathland and sand dunes. The London Brick Company did extract clay from the Marston Vale situated between Ampthill and Bedford, but that wasn’t in or particularity near Ampthill. Note: One of my best mates was born + grew up in Wootton Bassett and also used to live in Ampthill (but now down in Sussex). I bet he doesn’t know this connection between the two places.
Steve info here Oxon/Wilts, where it passes progressively southwestwards into the Corallian Group (Horton et al., 1995; Gallois and Cox, 1994), to the Market Weighton area, where it is overstepped by Cretaceous rocks (Gaunt et al., 1980); also present in the Cleveland Basin (Powell et al., 1992). BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units - Result Details
The Ampthill Railway Cutting tunnels through a hill leaving Ampthill north for Bedford. If they drilled the bore hole beyond that hill on the north side they are in the Marston Vale. Must be why the name Ampthill is used. If I dig the vegetable patch in my garden below the top soil I find sand; and lots of it.
Interesting stuff The chalk at the White Cliffs of Dover drills right under the south east and pops up again on the nw london/herts border where it was mined in Victorian times and now has caused a few sinkhole issues
Royal Wootton Bassett Mud Springs - Born Again Swindonian The mud springs are an upwelling of material from the Ampthill clay, clay that itself is rich in fossils. This washes out into the stream, which is in consequence a good hunting ground for them. Found there are many ammonites, belemnites, sharks teeth and the occasional bone.
