Cold Ash Quarry
{{Short description|Protected area in Berkshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox SSSI
|image=Cold Ash Quarry.jpg
|image_caption=View towards Cold Ash Quarry
|name=Cold Ash Quarry
|aos=Berkshire
|interest=Geological
|gridref={{gbmappingsmall|SU 500 714}}
|coordinates={{coord|51.439|-1.282|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title,inline}}
|area={{convert|0.4|ha|acre|abbr=off}}
|map=[https://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%271000315%27 Magic Map]
}}
Cold Ash Quarry is a {{convert| 0.4|ha|acre|abbr=off |adj=on }} geological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Newbury in Berkshire.{{cite web|url= https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteDetail.aspx?SiteCode=S1000315&SiteName=&countyCode=44&responsiblePerson=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea= |title=Designated Sites View: Cold Ash Quarry| series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest|publisher=Natural England|accessdate = 27 January 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%271000315%27 |title=Map of Cold Ash Quarry|series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest|publisher=Natural England|accessdate= 27 January 2020}} It is a Geological Conservation Review site.{{cite web|url= http://archive.jncc.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=4174&gcr=798 |title= Cold Ash (Palaeoentomology) |series=Geological Conservation Review |publisher=Joint Nature Conservation Committee|accessdate= 4 October 2019}}{{cite web|url= http://archive.jncc.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=4174&gcr=719 |title= Cold Ash (Tertiary Palaeobotany) |series=Geological Conservation Review |publisher=Joint Nature Conservation Committee|accessdate= 4 October 2019}}
The quarry is unique in Britain for the collection of fossil plants and insects which occur in a layer of silt and clay within the Reading Beds. The fossils date to about 60 million years ago. The fossil flora consists of well-preserved angiosperm leaves, in some of these fossils there is evidence of the activity of contemporary leaf-miner insects. This is the only location in Britain at which fossil leaf-miner activity have been discovered.{{cite web |url=http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1000315.pdf |title=SITE NAME: COLD ASH QUARRY |format=PDF |accessdate=2017-03-04 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304032506/http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1000315.pdf |archivedate=2016-03-04 }}
The site is private land with no public access.