Sunday 21 February 2016

Geology & Geodiversity in Sheffield


Geodiversity and Geoconservation in South Yorkshire

Having set the wheels in motion to undertake a close examination of the various building stones used in the construction of St. Helen’s church in Treeton - as well as other old parish churches in South Yorkshire - I looked forward to my next meeting with the Sheffield  U3A Geology Group.

Preparing the talk
The itinerary for this year’s field trips looks very promising and gives me another opportunity to develop my interests in Geotourism and, on this occasion, I was particularly interested in the illustrated talk that would be given by the Sheffield Area Geology Trust.

I was curious to know a little more about the geology of Sheffield, having already spent much of my working life surveying a wide variety of sites in the other boroughs  of South Yorkshire - in Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley.


Although I know the city of Sheffield quite well, and have surveyed many of the geological sites that fall within the boundaries of the Peak District National Park, I haven’t looked at the geology within the city boundaries in any detail. 

Nether Edge Bowling Club

Over 25 members of the group turned up at Nether Edge Bowling Club – on a very wet day – to listen to a very well prepared and informative illustrated talk that gave me, at least, a much better insight into the structural geology of the Sheffield region than I had had before.

The geology and river drainage systems in South Yorkshire

Friday 12 February 2016

St. Helen's Church - Treeton


A general view of St. Helen's church in Treeton

When working out in the field, people often stop to ask me what I am doing and - when I explain that I am a geologist - many of them continue the conversation by talking about archaeology. 

A geological map of the area around Treeton

A lot of the work that I have undertaken as a building stone consultant entails tasks that might be delegated to an archaeologist, rather than a geologist – such as recording the fabric of an ancient stone building - and following a recent resurgence in my interest in old churches, I decided to investigate the construction history of St. Helen’s church in Treeton.

A general view of the tower at St. Helen's church

Set upon an escarpment of Treeton Rock that overlooks the River Rother, its tower can be seen from miles away and legend has it that the stone used to extend the tower was robbed from Roche Abbey - after its dissolution by Henry VIII...