'Jurassic Park' in the making (From Tewkesbury Admag)

'Jurassic Park' in the making

A PROPOSAL to create a 'Jurassic Park' in the Cotswolds promises to boost the local tourist industry.

A campaign has been launched to designate 1,500sq-km of the area a site of international geological interest.

If this bid to become a Global Geopark is successful, the new status would bring with it access to European Union funding and international recognition as a venue for geologists.

The Geopark initiative is designed to supplement the UNESCO's World Heritage Site scheme. Since it was launched in 2000 19 sites have been designated in Europe and several others in China.

Dave Owen, spokesman for the Gloucestershire Geoconservation Trust, said the new status would benefit businesses throughout the area.

"The phrase that is being bandied about at the moment is 'geo-tourism'. The idea is to bring groups into the Cotswolds to show them what we have here and also to set up visitor centres.

"This would be of great benefit to accommodation providers in the area because this sort of tourism would continue throughout the year - not just in the traditional high season."

The bid could also see other facilities developed in the area, along the lines of the seismology centre that is being developed on the Malvern Hills - an area which has already been designated as a Geopark.

"One of the ideas for the Cotswolds would be to develop a hydrology station. This would be of great relevance to the way things are going at the moment with climate change."

Mr Owen added that geology already underpinned much of the attraction for visitors to the area. "When people talk about the beautiful honey-coloured buildings and dry stone walls they are really talking about the geology of the rock that there is all around us.

"In fact the Cotswolds has the thickest sequence of Jurassic rock to be found in inland Britain - which has the benefit of being easily accessible."

The Cotswolds also has strong historical claims to become a Global Geopark.

The world's first dinosaur was found in the area in the 1880s. The discovery of the megalosaurus near Minchinhampton happened years before the word 'dinosaur' had even been coined. "There's all sorts of fossils lying around," said Mr Owen, "and an awful lot of pterosaurs in particular."

The Cotswolds was also home to William Smith, a man who is still known as 'the father of British Geology'. Mr Smith, who was born in 1769, was the first person to create a map depicting the physical make up of the British Isles.

His career as a surveyor began in Stow with the firm of Edward Webb in 1787 and he developed his theories while building canals for the Somerset coalfields.

His life's work is still commemorated at Churchill and Sarsden Heritage Centre, near Chipping Norton, where he had his home.

Mr Owen said he now wanted to hear from anyone with ideas about developing the bid for Geopark status. To contact him call 01452 864438.

For more information about the Gloucestershire Geoconservation Trust visit www.glosgeotrust.org.uk.