New Red Sandstone facts for kids

Vivid New Red Sandstone, Triassic period. It shows cross-bedded dune sandstone formed in a desert. Devon, near mouth of the River Exe

McClellan Gate, Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia

Powys Castle, Wales

New Red Sandstone at Locharbriggs, Scotland

The New Red Sandstone is a sandstone rock in Britain and elsewhere. It was laid down in desert conditions from the Permian (280 million years ago) to the beginning of the Triassic (240 million years ago). It underlies the Jurassic Lias, which are marine rocks such as the Blue Lias.

The term distinguishes it from the Old Red Sandstone, which is largely Devonian in age. The New Red Sandstone is much brighter and redder in colour than the Old Red Sandstone, as the examples show. The colour is caused by iron oxides in the rock.

Images for kids

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  Exeter, Devon, ancient city walls of Isca Dumnoniorum with medieval and Roman elements

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  Exeter Castle, Devon, c1068 Anglo-Saxon and Norman elements of New Red Sandstone with reused earlier Roman elements