A Trip to Norton

In Norton

When undertaking my surveys of mediaeval churches in and around South Yorkshire during 2016, there were a few that I didn’t manage to visit, including St. James the Great in Norton; however, having planned to start the next leg of the Sheffield Round Walk at nearby Meadowhead, this gave me the incentive to go and take a good look at a village that dates back to at least Saxon times.

A Google Map view of the area around Norton

As with previous days out, I inevitably discovered a few things that relate to my professional interests in geology and building conservation and my first stop off point – taking the bus from Sheffield along and up the Chesterfield Road - was at a large old quarry that I had passed a few times before when travelling on this route.

The quarry at Woodseats now occupied by Homebase and Dunelm Mill

The A61 follows the outcrop of Greenmoor Rock – once highly valued for paving, kerbs and gravestones - which forms a distinct escarpment that rises up to Norton where, together with the succeeding Grenoside Sandstone, it forms a high point on the southern outskirts of the city.

Greenmoor Rock at Morrisons Car Park in Meadowhead

At Woodseats and further up the hill towards Meadowhead, however, it is the underlying mudstones and siltstones that have been exploited to make bricks. The old quarries here are now occupied by national retail outlets, which makes access to the remaining rock faces quite difficult – and rock netting partially obscures them - but there are sufficient exposures to provide a good insight into the geology of the region.

A geological map of the southern outskirts of Sheffield

Making my way across Graves Park, an unnamed brook - which has been dammed to provide various ponds in the former Norton Hall estate – has cut down through the Greenmoor Rock to form a steep sided valley and, although I didn’t see them, I have been informed that there are several good outcrops in its lower parts.

An exposure of sandstone in Graves Park

Arriving in Norton, the vernacular architecture, which is essentially built from the local stone, contrasts strongly with the red brick and render interwar housing estates – with grey Welsh slate roofs - that have engulfed the old village. I didn’t have the time to thoroughly explore the village but various sandstones have been used here.

Greenmoor Rock used as basic walling stone

Greenmoor Rock is frequently seen as a general walling stone but it is Grenoside Sandstone which has been preferentially used for both walling and dressings in the various Listed Buildings that can be found here.

The Old Rectory

I didn’t get near enough to Norton Hall or its stable block, with its similarities to Wentworth Woodhouse, to assess the sandstone that has been used for the fine ashlar on its principal elevation but – at a distance – the colouration suggested that this could be Grenoside Sandstone.

Norton Hall Stable Block

Just before I finally got to the church of St. James the Great, I also came across a few interesting monnuments that deserve further investigation, including those to Annie Hall and Sir Francis Chantrey –  former residents of Norton who have been commemorated with granite monuments.

The Chantrey Memorial

Both of these, and also the nearby public war memorial, provide examples of white granite that appear from a distance to be typical of Cornwall or Devon and which - when examined closely - clearly display large crystals of white feldspar and easily recognisable quartz and mica.

The War Memorial in Norton

Monuments like this have been used all over the world as an educational resource, to introduce students of all ages to the wonders of the Earth Sciences - and the use of various optical instruments that professional geologists and mineralogists use for their work.

An elaborate granite monument dedicated to Anne Hall

Although I hadn’t planned my visit to Norton with any ideas for educational walks or talks in my mind, I had by now seen a wide variety of stone related points of interest on my journey to make this quite possible – which included a brief encounter with the remains of an old cross of a type that I had last seen in Worksop and Maltby.

The remains of a mediaeval cross in Norton