In the Vale of Aylesbury, there are low-lying limestone hills surrounded by clays and sands. There, at Waddesdon Hill in 1792, ragged limestone was used to build the Strict & Particular chapel. And under the pebble-dash render, we found an ammonite as big as your head!
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The chapel had a thick layer of lumpy cement render on three sides, the last side had a light slurry of lime mortar. The render was causing problems of damp and decay, so we removed it to replace with a more permeable lime layer.
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During the removal, we’ve been fascinated by all the fossils – some small, some enormous – that we’ve uncovered. The gigantic ammonite spiral is a real thrill, but there are several brachiopods (clam-shell shape) and chunky crinoid stems too.
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I’m no geologist, so correct me if I’m wrong, but I think this area is part of the Upper Jurassic Corallian Group, which was formed about 160 million years ago, when the area was covered by a shallow, tropical sea and marine life flourished.
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Stone from the area has been used in building since the Middle Ages, and the geological significance of the area - of the stone and creatures immortalised with in it – has been studied since the 1800s.
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Unfortunately, the fossils in the chapel walls will be covered over – and protected – by the new lime render, but we have made a photographic record of what’s been found.
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