It varies in thickness from zero to 75 m. It is predominantly a glauconitic fine-grained sandstone, locally becoming silty.

It has been quarried as a building stone from Roman times, and used in London and the area of its outcrop from Devon to East Sussex.

[2] Reigate Stone was mined from the Upper Greensand in north east Surrey throughout the Middle Ages and early modern period,[3] forming the most important source of freestone in Medieval London.

In southeastern Devon, the Bindon Sandstone was quarried near Branscombe and used in buildings such as Exeter Cathedral.

[4] Other building stones quarried from the Upper Greensand in the county include Salcombe Stone from near the border with Somerset, and the Green Glauconitic Sandstone from the western side of the Blackdown Hills.