This volume summarizes the results of a survey of British Palaeozoic palaeobotany sites, undertaken between 1978 and 1990 as part of the Geological Conservation Review. The Review was the first attempt to assess the scientific significance of all Britain’s geological sites and has proved a landmark in the development of a coherent geological conservation strategy in this country. To ensure that the assessments were based on a firm logical and scientific foundation, the range of scientific interest was divided into 97 discrete blocks, reflecting the natural divisions of stratigraphy, palaeogeography and geological process; Palaeozoic palaeobotany was one of these blocks. The first stage in the survey was a review of the literature to establish a comprehensive database of sites. From this, a provisional list of potentially significant sites was made and this was circulated to all relevant specialists in this country and abroad. At the same time, the sites were visited to assess their physical condition and whether the interest was still extant. In some cases, this excavation (so-called site-cleaning ) was carried out to see if the interest of a site could be resurrected or enhanced. The comments made by the specialists and the field observations were then used to produce a second site list, which again was circulated for comment. This process of consultation continued until a consensus was reached among the specialists about which Palaeozoic sites were of sufficient palaeobotanical interest to justify conservation. The minimum criterion was that it was the best in Britain for yielding a particular assemblage of plant fossils. The resulting GCR sites were thus, at the very least, of national scientific importance, although many, such as Craig-y-Fro Quarry, Rhynie and the various Lower Carboniferous petrifaction sites, were also of international importance. These GCR sites have been used as building-blocks for establishing, a new set of Sites of Special Scientific Interest. If there was no other significant interest at or adjacent to the site, a proposal was made to establish it as an SSSI on the palaeobotanical interest alone. In many cases, however, a site showed other potentially significant features, or it adjoined another site of significance. In these cases, a composite proposed SSSI would be constructed from a set of GCR sites. Despite the heterogeneous nature of such sites, it is important to remember that the palaeobotanical interest is sufficient on its own to justify the conservation of the part of the site yielding the plant fossils. The SSSI proposals that have arisen out of this survey have been sent to the appropriate country conservation agencies (English Nature, Countryside Council for Wales, Scottish Natural Heritage), whose governing Councils are responsible for the final decision to notify them.
