Joe Frost, Hagley Catholic High School
Wren’s nest, Dudley
The Wren's Nest is a site of geological exceptional importance, containing fossils from 400 million
years ago (Silurian period) when Dudley was at a tropical latitude and a coral reef. Over 700 types of
fossil are known to have come from Wren's Nest, one of its most well-known fossils is the 'Dudley
bug' a species of trilobite (Calymene blumenbachi) common to the Wren's Nest site and the large
strata containing Symmetrical ripple marks over 15 meters tall. Unfortunately part of the ripple
beds have been stolen causing it to slide and meaning it is a danger to any fossil pickers so the area
has had to be closed and that area of the Wren's nest is no longer accessible to the public.
The photo above mainly shows two types of fossil some being Crinoids, which are animals known to
exist in shallow water and water up to 6000 meters deep (in this case a shallow reef), they can be
identified as looking like polo mints. And the others are brachiopods, however only their shells have
been fossilised as by studying modern day brachiopods we know their insides are usually too
delicate to have been fossilised. They can be seen on the right of the photo.