Middridge Quarry

{{Short description|Site of Special Scientific Interest in County Durham, England}}

{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}

{{Infobox protected area

| name = Middridge Quarry

| iucn_category =

| iucn_ref =

| photo =

| photo_caption =

| map = United Kingdom County Durham

| map_image =

| map_size = 243

| map_caption = Site of Special Scientific Interest

| relief = 1

| location = [https://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%271000402%27 MAGiC MaP]

| nearest_city =

| nearest_town = Newton Aycliffe

| coordinates = {{coord|54|37|18|N|1|37|0|W|display=inline,title}}

| coords_ref =

| area_ha = 1.9

| established = 1979

| governing_body = Natural England

| website = [https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteDetail.aspx?SiteCode=S1000402&SiteName=Middridge%20Quarry&countyCode=&responsiblePerson=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea= Middridge Quarry SSSI]

| embedded =

}}

Middridge Quarry is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in County Durham, England. It is a disused quarry, situated alongside the railway line between Newton Aycliffe and Shildon, 1 km south of the village of Middridge.

The quarry was excavated in Magnesian Limestone, the lowest level of which is an exceptionally fossiliferous marl slate which has yielded the richest and most varied Permian flora in the Britain and is the type locality for the pteridosperm Pseudoctensis middridgensis.{{cite journal |last=Bell |first=J |author2=J Holden |author3=T H Pettigrew |author4=K W Sedman|date=March 1979|title=The Marl Slate and Basal Permian Breccia at Middridge, Co. Durham|journal=Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society |volume=42 |pages=439–60 |doi=10.1144/pygs.42.3.439 |issue=3|bibcode=1979PYGS...42..439B }} Fossils obtained from the quarry have included several species of fish and reptiles,{{cite journal|last=Sedgwick|first=A|year=1829|title=On the geological relations and internal structure of the Magnesian Limestone|journal=Transactions of the Geological Society of London |series=Series 2|volume=3|pages=37–124 | doi = 10.1144/transgslb.3.1.37 |s2cid=131431256|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1448583}}{{cite journal |doi=10.1144/GSL.JGS.1870.026.01-02.52 |last=Hancock |first=Albany |author2=Richard Howse |year=1870 |title=On a new Labyrinthodont Amphibian from the Magnesian Limestone of Midderidge, Durham |journal=Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London |volume=26 |issue=1–2 |pages=556–564|s2cid=128755826 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1638438 }}{{cite journal |doi=10.1144/GSL.JGS.1870.026.01-02.53 |last=Hancock |first=Albany |author2=Richard Howse |year=1870 |title=On Proterosaurus Speneri, von Meyer, and a new species, Proterosaurus Huxleyi, from the Marl-slate of Midderidge, Durham |journal=Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London |volume=26 |issue=1–2 |pages=565–572|s2cid=129676053 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/2455039 }}{{cite journal |last=Evans |first=S E |author2=M S King |date=May 1993 |title=A new specimen of Protorosaurus (Reptilia: Diapsida) from the Marl Slate (late Permian) of Britain |journal=Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society |volume=49 |pages=229–234 |doi=10.1144/pygs.49.3.229 |issue=3|bibcode=1993PYGS...49..229E }} numerous invertebrates and plants, and the site is considered to be of international palaeontological importance.

{{cite web

|url=https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/PDFsForWeb/Citation/1000402.pdf

|title=Middridge Quarry : Reasons for SSSI status|publisher=Natural England |access-date= 1 April 2022}}