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This page was updated on 1st May 2007.

Geology is taught in most of the universities and colleges in the Country and is now also part of the national curriculum taught in schools. It is also one of the most popular subjects followed in adult education courses and there are a number of amateur geological societies in Devon, among them the geological section of the Devonshire Association.

There is a great need to identify places where students of all ages can go to learn about geology in their local area; for this reason the educational potential of County Geological Sites is one of the criteria used in their selection.

For centuries, Devon's character and landscape have been shaped by the way its stone and mineral resources have been worked and managed by man. Many of the places of geological interest remaining in Devon today result from long established activities of quarrying and mining.

In the last fifty years the countryside has changed enormously. Landowners and farmers now seldom make use of the local stone on their land for building. The old quarries found on so many farms and estates are generally abandoned, overgrown and frequently serve only as convenient rubbish tips. Many have been completely filled and obliterated.

Devon, however, still has a scattering of old quarries and mine sites which have been retained by farmers and landowners, so that we still have the chance to secure for the future those that are of particular geological value. Some have a historical interest, with records of their working extending back more than two centuries. Others are important in the history of geological research.

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