It was notified in 1989 under Section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and the local planning authority is Central Bedfordshire Council.

[3] The quarry was established to provide chalk and marl for the Sundon cement works,[4] which operated between 1899 and 1976.

Interesting chalkland plants found here include ploughman’s spikenard, wild liquorice and woolly thistle, and what is probably the largest colony of the Chiltern gentian in England.

[1] The quarry has one of the most important assemblages of insect species in Bedfordshire, including sixteen species of dragonfly and damselfly, and twenty-one of butterfly, including the uncommon Adonis blue.

There are a number of uncommon beetles including Apion astragali, the larvae of which feed solely on the wild licorice, itself a scarce plant in Britain.