Bucks Earth Heritage Group

Great Linford

Grid reference: SP 846 423 for the Stone Circle and quarry

Location: Great Linford, by the canal. Adjacent sites include the Arts Centre and Church.

There are four linked sites at great Linford, all a few minutes walk from each other, and all notable occurrences of the Blisworth Limestone. Each show a variety of the typical features of this rock and they all exhibit a different variety or different features. The stone circle and some of the building stones show abundant fossils (brachiopods, oysters and other bivalves).

The Stone Circle made from Blisworth Limestone from very close by. Some surfaces show lots of fossils, notably shelled organisms called brachiopods.

The natural outcrop in the small quarry behind the stone circle can be compared to the blocks chosen for the building stone. In the quarry and on some of the stone circle blocks, the limestone beds can be seen to alternation with clay layers. These are very obvious as they are also associated with a wavy boundary between the two. There are several lithological types of Blisworth Limestone to be found within the sites: oolithic, shelly, micritic (clay-rich) and others.

Blisworth Limestone within the small quarry area showing how flaggy it is in these layers, and showing lots of clay layers too.

Within the Arts Centre is an obviously red-stained variety, which is a Northamptonshire variety of Blisworth Limestone (see photographs below).

The church (see photographs below) has been built over many centuries – the oldest part (the tower) is 12^th century, the central building is 13^th century, the north porch is 14^th century, with 15^th century windows, a 1708 extension to the tower and many other repairs since then. The different building phases and the various repairs are interesting as the builders have been forced to use what stone was available and affordable at the time. This reveals an interesting mix of local stones, followed by materials brought in from further afield in later times. The church is very worthy of a detailed interpretation on its own.

The church at Great Linford, lovely stone and an interesting history