Coralline Grag

A piece of Coralline Crag full of Bryazoans and shell fragments - I found in the 1990s on the seashore near Aldeburgh ,Suffolk

 The Coralline Crag rock formation is a series of marine deposits found in and around the North Sea coast of Suffolk. It was laid down during the Pliocene Epoch of the Neogene Period. Small areas of the rock may be found at Boyton and Tattingstone to the south of Orford as well as offshore at Sizewell. The rock is full of Bryozoan debris.

Bryazoa are a phylum of aquatic colonial invertebrate animals. Individuals in Bryazoan colonies are called zooids. Over four thousand living species are known with only one genus being solitary the rest being colonial.

Crag is a local word for a shelly sand. Historically the crag was used for building and there are a number of abandoned small quarries in and around the area. The tower at St Peter's Church, Chillesford was constructed using the stone. The quarry from whence the stone probably came is just behind the church.

St Peter's Church, Chillesford, Suffolk