About the Cover

Hermitage Quarry, Maidstone, Kent, is one of the last two remaining Kentish Ragstone (Hythe Formation) quarries. The rock mass, a calcareous sandstone, contains sediment-infilled voids that have been described as periglacial gulls resulting from cambering as well as dissolution features developed along jointing within the carbonate-rich bedrock. The infilled pipes present a significant geotechnical hazard in the area. Photograph by Dave Giles