The distinctive golden stone of the Cotswolds is Great Oolite limestone, formed around 170 million years ago during the Jurassic period. At that time, this area lay beneath a warm, shallow sea near the equator. The limestone is made up of tiny spherical grains called ooliths (from the Greek for 'egg stone'), each formed as layers of calcium carbonate built up around a grain of sand. The stone varies in colour from pale cream in the north (around Broadway) to deeper honey and amber tones in the south (near Bath). This gradual colour change is visible as you walk the Cotswold Way.
“The limestone is made up of tiny spherical grains called ooliths (from the Greek for 'egg stone'), each formed as layers of calcium carbonate built up around a grain of sand.”
