33-559: Brockham Limeworks is a 45-hectare (110-acre) nature reserve north of Brockham in Surrey . It is owned by Surrey County Council . Part of it is a Scheduled Monument , and it is part of the Mole Gap to Reigate Escarpment Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation . Digging on this former chalk quarry continued on the site until 1936. It had two batteries of lime kilns, which have become roosting sites for bats. Some of
66-484: A new combined primary school now named The North Downs Primary School. There are three tiers of local government covering Brockham, at parish, district, and county level: Brockham Parish Council, Mole Valley District Council, and Surrey County Council. Until 1933, Brockham formed part of the civil parish of Betchworth , which was administered as part of the Reigate Rural District. A civil parish of Brockham
99-633: Is mined from chalk deposits both above ground and underground . Chalk mining boomed during the Industrial Revolution , due to the need for chalk products such as quicklime and bricks . Most people first encounter chalk in school where it refers to blackboard chalk , which was originally made of mineral chalk, since it readily crumbles and leaves particles that stick loosely to rough surfaces, allowing it to make writing that can be readily erased. Blackboard chalk manufacturers now may use mineral chalk, other mineral sources of calcium carbonate, or
132-610: Is a fine-textured, earthy type of limestone distinguished by its light colour, softness, and high porosity. It is composed mostly of tiny fragments of the calcite shells or skeletons of plankton , such as foraminifera or coccolithophores . These fragments mostly take the form of calcite plates ranging from 0.5 to 4 microns in size, though about 10% to 25% of a typical chalk is composed of fragments that are 10 to 100 microns in size. The larger fragments include intact plankton skeletons and skeletal fragments of larger organisms, such as molluscs , echinoderms , or bryozoans . Chalk
165-404: Is a soft, white, porous , sedimentary carbonate rock . It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor . Chalk is common throughout Western Europe , where deposits underlie parts of France, and steep cliffs are often seen where they meet the sea in places such as
198-508: Is also the only form of limestone that commonly shows signs of compaction. Flint (a type of chert ) is very common as bands parallel to the bedding or as nodules in seams , or linings to fractures , embedded in chalk. It is probably derived from sponge spicules or other siliceous organisms as water is expelled upwards during compaction. Flint is often deposited around larger fossils such as Echinoidea which may be silicified (i.e. replaced molecule by molecule by flint). Chalk
231-428: Is applied to the hands and feet to remove perspiration and reduce slipping. Chalk may also be used as a house construction material instead of brick or wattle and daub : quarried chalk was cut into blocks and used as ashlar , or loose chalk was rammed into blocks and laid in mortar. There are still houses standing which have been constructed using chalk as the main building material. Most are pre- Victorian though
264-518: Is commonly used as a drying agent to obtain better grip by gymnasts and rock climbers. Glazing putty mainly contains chalk as a filler in linseed oil . Chalk and other forms of limestone may be used for their properties as a base . Chalk is a source of quicklime by thermal decomposition , or slaked lime following quenching of quicklime with water. In agriculture , chalk is used for raising pH in soils with high acidity . Small doses of chalk can also be used as an antacid . Additionally,
297-571: Is now usually made of talc (magnesium silicate). Chalk beds form important petroleum reservoirs in the North Sea and along the Gulf Coast of North America. In southeast England, deneholes are a notable example of ancient chalk pits. Such bell pits may also mark the sites of ancient flint mines, where the prime object was to remove flint nodules for stone tool manufacture. The surface remains at Cissbury are one such example, but perhaps
330-586: Is so common in Cretaceous marine beds that the Cretaceous Period was named for these deposits. The name Cretaceous was derived from Latin creta , meaning chalk . Some deposits of chalk were formed after the Cretaceous. The Chalk Group is a European stratigraphic unit deposited during the late Cretaceous Period. It forms the famous White Cliffs of Dover in Kent , England, as well as their counterparts of
363-401: Is typically almost pure calcite, CaCO 3 , with just 2% to 4% of other minerals. These are usually quartz and clay minerals , though collophane (cryptocrystalline apatite , a phosphate mineral) is also sometimes present, as nodules or as small pellets interpreted as fecal pellets. In some chalk beds, the calcite has been converted to dolomite , CaMg(CO 3 ) 2 , and in a few cases
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#1732880732297396-723: The Cap Blanc Nez on the other side of the Dover Strait . The Champagne region of France is mostly underlain by chalk deposits, which contain artificial caves used for wine storage . Some of the highest chalk cliffs in the world occur at Jasmund National Park in Germany and at Møns Klint in Denmark . Chalk deposits are also found in Cretaceous beds on other continents, such as the Austin Chalk , Selma Group , and Niobrara Formations of
429-525: The Dover cliffs on the Kent coast of the English Channel . Chalk is mined for use in industry, such as for quicklime , bricks and builder's putty , and in agriculture , for raising pH in soils with high acidity . It is also used for " blackboard chalk " for writing and drawing on various types of surfaces, although these can also be manufactured from other carbonate-based minerals, or gypsum . Chalk
462-496: The MRSA (for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ). The site became Beecham's Chemotherapeutic Research Centre. The site is now a housing estate. In August 2018, retrospective planning permission was granted by Surrey County Council for a secondary oil wellbore in Brockham. Brockham Primary School merged with The Acorns Infant School in nearby Betchworth in 2010 to create
495-534: The River Mole flowing west through the village. At the time of the 2021 census, it had a population of 2,198 . Brockham, originally 'Brook-ham' (bend in a brook) is so called from the Anglo Saxon meaning 'river meadow by the brook' and is first recorded in 1241. It is often mistakenly believed that there is an association with badgers but this is a modern affectation from the 1950s when Cecily M Rutley created Brock
528-551: The Badger in a children's story [1] . On a spur of land to the north west of the village stands Betchworth Castle , originally built by Richard FitzGilbert on land granted to him by William the Conqueror soon after the Norman invasion in 1066, but later replaced by a medieval house which was probably built in the mid-to-late 14th century. Only a few ruins survive today. Christ Church,
561-544: The Brockham Brick Company Limited until 1911 and by the Brockham Lime and Hearthstone Company until 1936 when the works closed. From 1945, Beecham Research Laboratories Ltd (which merged with SmithKline in 1989, then with Glaxo, to become GlaxoSmithKline in 2000) operated from Brockham Park at the southern end of the village. In 1959, Brockham Park became famous when Beecham scientists there discovered
594-698: The North American interior. Chalk is also found in western Egypt (Khoman Formation) and western Australia ( Miria Formation ). Chalk of Oligocene to Neogene age has been found in drill cores of rock under the Pacific Ocean at Stewart Arch in the Solomon Islands . There are layers of chalk, containing Globorotalia , in the Nicosia Formation of Cyprus , which formed during the Pliocene . Chalk
627-595: The UK's largest bonfire and firework display, and was first recorded in 1886. Around 20,000 people gather round the village green, over 4 tonnes of fireworks typically light up the sky and the event is widely regarded by local residents as the highlight of the Mole Valley's calendar. Dorking Rugby Club on Kiln Lane, opens for the event, as the Club House is near to the bonfire. In the 20 years to 2023, almost £450,000 has been raised by
660-548: The chalk came mostly form low-magnesium calcite skeletons, so the sediments were already in the form of highly stable low-magnesium calcite when deposited. This is in contrast with most other limestones, which formed from high-magnesium calcite or aragonite that rapidly converted to the more stable low-magnesium calcite after deposition, resulting in the early cementation of such limestones. In chalk, absence of this calcium carbonate conversion process prevented early cementation, which partially accounts for chalk's high porosity. Chalk
693-485: The dolomitized chalk has been dedolomitized back to calcite. Chalk is highly porous, with typical values of porosity ranging from 35 to 47 per cent. While it is similar in appearance to both gypsum and diatomite , chalk is identifiable by its hardness, fossil content, and its reaction to acid (it produces effervescence on contact). In Western Europe, chalk was formed in the Late Cretaceous Epoch and
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#1732880732297726-437: The early Palaeocene Epoch (between 100 and 61 million years ago). It was deposited on extensive continental shelves at depths between 100 and 600 metres (330 and 1,970 ft), during a time of nonseasonal (likely arid) climate that reduced the amount of erosion from nearby exposed rock. The lack of nearby erosion explains the high purity of chalk. The coccolithophores, foraminifera, and other microscopic organisms from which
759-511: The event in aid of local organisations and charities. There is also an annual Victorian fair weekend in mid-July, with a village picnic and live music performances on the Saturday evening, also showcasing local talent. Agriculture previously provided most of the employment for villagers, although further work was to be found in the nearby Brockham Hills from the mid-19th century, when they were quarried for chalk and hearthstone – an operation run by
792-551: The exhibits were moved to the Amberley Museum & Heritage Centre . 51°14′53″N 0°16′30″W / 51.248°N 0.275°W / 51.248; -0.275 Brockham Brockham is a village and civil parish in the Mole Valley district of Surrey , England. It is approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of Dorking and 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Reigate . The village lies south of Box Hill , with
825-552: The floor of the quarry has become species rich chalk grassland, with plants such as broad-leaved helleborine and pyramidal , common spotted , fragrant and bee orchids. There is access from The Coombe in Betchworth . From 1962 the limeworks was home to the Brockham Railway Museum , a collection of narrow-gauge locomotives and rolling stock. A short demonstration line was built. The museum closed in 1982, and most of
858-528: The mineral gypsum ( calcium sulfate ). While gypsum-based blackboard chalk is the lowest cost to produce, and thus widely used in the developing world , use of carbonate-based chalk produces larger particles and thus less dust, and it is marketed as "dustless chalk". Coloured chalks, pastel chalks, and sidewalk chalk (shaped into larger sticks and often coloured), used to draw on sidewalks , streets, and driveways , are primarily made of gypsum rather than calcium carbonate chalk. Magnesium carbonate chalk
891-557: The most famous is the extensive complex at Grimes Graves in Norfolk . Chalk was traditionally used in recreation. In field sports, such as tennis played on grass, powdered chalk was used to mark the boundary lines of the playing field or court. If a ball hits the line, a cloud of chalk or pigment dust will be visible. In recent years, powdered chalk has been replaced with titanium dioxide . In gymnastics, rock-climbing, weightlifting and tug of war , chalk — now usually magnesium carbonate —
924-493: The parish church is relatively recent in origin, having been commissioned in 1847 by Sir Henry Goulburn , who served as both Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secretary . The village green is a focal point for the village. Once popular for its cricket matches – WG Grace is said to have played there – it is a focal point of a Guy Fawkes Night bonfire every year on the closest Saturday to 5 November. It has been at times,
957-401: The penicillin nucleus, 6-APA (6-aminopenicillanic acid); this discovery allowed the synthesis of a number of new semisynthetic penicillins . In 1959, Beecham marketed pheneticillin, followed shortly by methicillin (or meticillin), which is active against the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus ('golden staph'). In time some bacterial strains developed resistance to these antibiotics, such as
990-442: The region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%. The proportion of households in the civil parish who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 35.1%. The proportion who owned their home with a loan compares to the regional average of 32.5%. The remaining % is made up of rented dwellings (plus a negligible % of households living rent-free). Chalk Chalk
1023-436: The small particles of chalk make it a substance ideal for cleaning and polishing. For example, toothpaste commonly contains small amounts of chalk, which serves as a mild abrasive . Polishing chalk is chalk prepared with a carefully controlled grain size, for very fine polishing of metals. French chalk (also known as tailor's chalk) is traditionally a hard chalk used to make temporary markings on cloth, mainly by tailors . It
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1056-539: Was created on 1 April 1933 and transferred to the Dorking Urban District. This parish was classed as an urban parish and so did not have its own parish council, but was directly administered by Dorking Urban District Council. Dorking Urban District was abolished to become part of Mole Valley district on 1 April 1974, and the urban parishes it had contained, including Brockham, became unparished areas . A new parish of Brockham, this time with its own parish council,
1089-470: Was created on 1 April 1982. Surrey County Council elected every four years, has one representative, from Buckland for Dorking Rural: The second party forming the main local opposition in the 2013 election, was the Liberal Democrats gaining 1,527 votes versus the winning candidate's 1,810. 2 councillors sit on Mole Valley borough council, who are: Ward The average level of accommodation in
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