As you walk down Station Approach you are heading towards the old station of 'Swindon Town' which was opened in 1881-2. The railway line was part of the Midland and Southwestern Junction Railway line, which ran from Cheltenham to Andover. The line closed down in 1961.

Heading along the old railway line, on the right hand side, you will find a railway cutting that has been designated a Site of Specific Scientific Interest.

Swindon Sea and Sand

The cutting exposes a cross section of Swindon's Portland stone that spans a 10 million-year period.

Swindon sand and stone, a snip at just 145 million years old, sits at the top of the pile followed by layers of cockley beds and finally a glauconite bed created 155 million years ago.

A layer of Swindon Sand and Stone

Each layer tells a complex story of changing sea levels and ancient environments - a little glimpse or window into the past.

Looking at the exposed layers in the railway cutting you can trace the whole sequence and see the changes.

In the top layers of yellow Swindon Sandstone, jutting out at the top of the rock face, there's obviously a lot of sand. This shows that at the time the surrounding sea was shallow and fairly rough. The sand may even have been washed in and piled up as a result of a storm.

If you look at the bank on the other side of the Railway Bridge you can sometimes see piles of this sand.

...stop at the signpost, marking this area as a Site of Specific Scientific Interest, and take a closer look at the rock face of Swindon's Portland Stone