A Recce in Sheffield Botanical Gardens

 

A block of coal in the Evolution Garden

For the November 2023 meeting of the Sheffield U3A Geology Group at the Sheffield General Cemetery, the plan for the afternoon was for me to lead the group from the Kenwood Hall Hotel through Nether Edge to Brincliffe Edge and then down Ecclesall Road to examine the Greenmoor Rock – here known as the Brincliffe Edge Rock – in quarry exposures and building stones.

 

The geology around Ecclesall Road and Nether Edge

Due to the cold weather, the day was cut short but, following the postponement of the April field trip to Alport Castles, which I had always considered to be badly thought out, I stepped forward to arrange a field trip that would include a walk around Nether Edge and an exploration of the Sheffield Botanical Gardens and Endcliffe Park.

 

A map of the Sheffield Botanical Gardens

Since the COVID-19 Pandemic, while exploring the Sheffield Board Schools and undertaking many British Listed Buildings Photo Challenges, I had discovered several places in Sheffield where I could devise an ‘urban geology’ field trip for the group and the riven paving stones on Thompson Road – probably locally quarried Brincliffe Edge Rock - was a good start.

 

Paving on Thompson Road

 

The Grade II Listed gatepiers at the entrance to Sheffield Botanical Gardens are built with a medium grained sandstone with a uniform colour and texture, which looks like the same stone used for the glasshouses. On my previous visit in November 2021, I had a good look at both of these and concluded that it is probably Stoke Hall stone from the Kinderscout Grit at Grindleford.

 

The gatepiers on Thompson Road

 

The south lodge is built with another sandstone that is again quite different to those previously seen, but I can’t readily identify it. The nearest source of stone for general walling is the Brincliffe Edge Rock, which was produced by several quarries in the near vicinity, but the medium grain size and colour is not typical of this formation and it could be Crawshaw Sandstone.

 

The walling stone at the south lodge

My next stop was the Evolution Garden, where the Lepidodendron stump and the large blocks of coal provide the geological highlights of the gardens, with no similar specimens now being seen in any other part of Sheffield - although a replica of the now buried stumps at Middlewood Hospital can be found at Wadsley Park Village.

 

The Lepidodendron and blocks of coal

 

Post of the gardens are underlain by mudstones and the recent heavy rain had made it waterlogged and quite slippery in places. Taking care while crossing areas of muddy ground, I got back on to the footpath and made my way past several large blocks of massive, cross-bedded gritstone that was presumably obtained from the Chatsworth Grit in the Rivelin Valley.

 

The Rock and Water Garden

Large blocks of gritstone and flagstones are also used extensively in the Rock and Water Garden, which was redesigned in 1926 by Clarence Elliott, the gardener and naturalist who was also responsible for Whinfell Quarry Garden.

 

The blue plaque for Robert Marnock

Continuing to the north gateway, which is built with coarse grained Chatsworth Grit, which contains quartz pebbles the size of a little fingernail, I was interested to see the blue plaque for Robert Marnock, who was a consultant for Sheffield General Cemetery and designed the gardens in Weston Park and Kenwood Hall.

 

Various stones and rocks in the pavilions

 

One of my previous visits to the Sheffield Botanical Gardens, which coincided with an Art in the Gardens event, I was interested to see that scattered amongst the various tropical plants and cacti, which were laid out in large Stoke Hall stone planters in the pavilions - following the restoration in 2003 – there are numerous large rock and mineral specimens, which include rough siltstone slabs, well rounded sandstone boulders and lumps of gypsum. 

 

Rough siltstone slabs in the pavilions

Wardsend Cemetery Heritage Park

 

An information board at Wardsend Cemetery Heritage Park

Towards the end of February 2024, prompted by a committee member who had read my Language of Stone Blog post about my walk from Burngreave to Owlerton, I was contacted on Facebook by the Chair of the Friends of Wardsend Cemetery, to ask if I could help to produce a geological guide for Wardsend Cemetery Heritage Park. 

 

The location of Wardsend Cemetery Heritage Park

 

Having been involved with projects at Bolsterstone, the Sheffield General Cemetery and Moorgate Cemetery in Rotherham, as well as photographing very many Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstones, I was very interested in the idea – especially since I had visited their stand at the Sheffield Heritage Fair the previous year, when I was impressed by the various projects that were being developed there. 

 

A leaflet about Wardsend Cemetery

 

On the two occasions that I had visited the cemetery, with the last time being towards the end of a walk from Birley Edge, I had been following the outcrop of the Greenmoor Rock, which at Wadsley Bridge, the Upper Don Trail and Parkwood Springs is split into two leaves and at Neepsend is predominantly argillaceous – a property that made this formation suited to brick making. 

 

The geology around Wardsend Cemetery and Parkwood Springs

 

Due to a combination of a persistent muscle strain and continuing bad weather since my trip to Pilsley and Baslow in February, which turned out to be the 4th wettest on record, March passed without going out on any trips and I finally arranged to meet with Howard and Hugh at the cemetery in the first week of April. 

 

A view of the escarpment of Greenmoor Rock from Livesey Street

 

Alighting from the Supertram at Hillsborough, I made my way along Bradfield Road to Livesey Street, where there is a view of the escarpment of the Greenmoor Rock beyond the Owlerton Stadium. Continuing along this, I was very interested to see a long stretch of rubble walling on another road that is also called Livesey Street, which is built with Carboniferous Limestone. 

 

A wall built with Carboniferous Limestone on Livesey Street

I arrived at the cemetery in plenty of time for my meeting and had a quick look at the area around to the north of the old chapel, where the Hillsborough Barracks war memorial is in the form of a simple obelisk made of a massive sandstone. 

 

The site of the chapel

During previous visits, I had walked down the path from the railway line and was surprised to see what is effectively woodland, in which I noted that the vast majority of headstones are relatively plain slabs of a type that can be seen in the oldest parts of the large Victorian cemeteries that I had encountered in Sheffield – including Burngreave, Abbey Lane and City Road. 

 

Victorian headstones

These, I have always presumed, are made from the variety of the Greenmoor Rock that is known in Sheffield as the Brincliffe Edge Rock, which was famed for its memorial quality stone supplied by several quarries located on the escarpment that runs from Brincliffe Edge down to Brocco Bank. 

 

The Westnedge family memorial

As with most cemeteries that I have visited, I had expected to see a various large granite memorials, but the Westnedge family memorial (1879), in the form of an obelisk with a hipped slab on a sandstone  plinth at the base, is the only one that I saw. 

 

A hipped tomb slab at the Westnedge memorial

Looking closely at the hipped slab, I recognised the pale grey granite slab as being Kemnay granite, which was formed during the Caledonian orogeny approximately 475 million years ago (mya) in the Ordovician period. It is classified as a biotite-muscovite granite, with the alignment of the black biotite giving it a foliated appearance, due to subsequent regional metamorphism.

 

A detail of the Kemnay granite on the hipped slab

This is one of the granites that I first encountered, when learning stone identification and matching skills in the building restoration industry. Described in the late Dr. Eric Robinson’s London Illustrated Geological Walks as having an oatmeal texture, it was one of many granites quarried in Aberdeen and along with the Tom’s Forest Grey variety was included in the Triton Stone Library – which will soon reappear in a new form at the Redmires building at Sheffield Hallam University. 

 

A detail of the grey granite used for the obelisk

The stepped plinth is made of a very similar granite, which has a similar mineralogy except that the biotite is slightly more abundant but is not foliated. The general colour has made me think that this could be Rubislaw granite (470 mya) which was also quarried in Aberdeen, but this typically has a greater ferromagnesian mineral content, which typically makes it much darker. 

 

Red granite on the Westnedge memorial

 

I think that the red granite is Ross of Mull granite from the Silurian period (425 mya), which has dark red potassium feldspars that appear slightly fractured. A distinctive characteristic of this granite is not only the colour of the feldspar but it also contains small amounts of greenish hornblende, which I can just discern when enlarging my photographs. 

 

A detail of the Ross of Mull granite

 

Following the path towards the railway for a short distance, I noted a couple of kerbed headstones from the late inter-war period that I think are made of the dark pink Silurian Peterhead granite (425 mya) and a grey granite from the Permian Cornubian Batholith (280-275 mya), which outcrops as the tors of Devon and Cornwall. 

 

A kerbed headstone made of Peterhead granite

 

When Howard and Hugh turned up, we had a talk about the various projects that were being planned and, in particular, I was interested to note that it was intended to incorporate these into plans for the regeneration of Parkwood Springs, which has been awarded £19m Levelling Up funding. I had highlighted the geological importance of Parkwood Springs to various members of the Friends of Parkwood Springs in recent years at the Sheffield Heritage Fair and this therefore presented a good opportunity to take this forward. 

 

A kerbed headstone made with granite from the Cornubian Batholith

 

I had hoped to take a much better look at the rest of the cemetery but Hugh, who had done most of the work on the headstones, had to get to another appointment. Making arrangements to meet again during the meeting of the Friends of Wardsend Cemetery on the coming Saturday, I returned to Sheffield and whilst doing some shopping at LIDL, I stopped to photograph the old paving stones on Mulberry Street, which I think are an example of the use of the Rough Rock for paving, which is the first that I have seen in the city centre.

 

Rough Rock paving on Mulberry Street

 

A Walk From Pilsley to Baslow

 

A panoramic view of Baslow Edge

My exploration of the historic architecture of Pilsley took me 2 hours and 10 minutes, with well over half of this time spent talking to people who I had met and briefly visiting Chatsworth Farm Shop and, just before setting off on my walk to Baslow, I bumped into a walking group from Sheffield who I also got talking to. 

 

My route from Pilsley to Baslow

 

Eventually continuing on my way, I stopped by the roadside to take in the view towards Baslow Edge, which I had traversed a couple of years earlier when taking a good look at the Chatsworth Grit that is exposed between Clodhall Crossroads and Fox House. 

 

A panoramic view

 

While taking a few more photographs of the gritstone edges on the skyline, the Sheffield walking group soon overtook me and, seeing that that they were taking the same public footpaths that I had planned for my walk, I followed them along the roadand across the fields. 

 

The Sheffield walking group

 

When leaving the village, the road follow the dip slope of the Ashover Grit, which outcrops in the area has a dip of about 5 degrees to the east; however, when taking the public footpath that heads north, it drops down steeply for 50 metres into a wooded valley along which runs the A619 road. 

 

The geology between Pilsley and Baslow

 

I had driven along this road very many times, which here forms an accident black spot known as the 13 Bends and, while keeping my eyes on the road, never realised that it occupied a valley cut down through the Ashover Grit into the mudstones and siltstones of the Marsden Formation by a precursor to Rymas Brook. 

 

The topography between Pilsley and Baslow

Taking my time to walk down the public footpath, which was quite steep and muddy in places, I had a good look at the topography of my surroundings, which I hadn’t appreciated before. By the time I reached the A619, members of the walking group were still waiting to cross this busy road.

 

The public footpath down to the A619

Following them up the hillside on the other side of the A619 and crossing Wheatlands Lane, I then followed the public footpath alongside a dry stone wall down towards Baslow. In places this was extremely muddy, following the recent period of heavy rain that had led to the cancellation of a field trip to Cressbrook Dale earlier in the week. 

 

The footpath from Wheatlands Lane to Baslow

I stopped very briefly to have a look one section of the dry stone boundary wall, where the gritstone was home to an extremely thick covering of moss, which looked liked the sphagnum that I had seen in the boggy ground formed at springs beneath the Chatsworth Grit at Burbage Edge. 

 

Spaghnum moss on a gritstone boundary wall

 

Reaching the Grade I Listed Baslow Bridge (1608), I stopped for a moment to take in the views of the River Derwent, which was in full flow, along with the uncommon C13 broach spire of the Grade II* Listed St. Anne’s church. 

 

A view from Baslow Old Bridge

 

Crossing over the bridge, I took a couple of photos of the tollbooth, which had been repaired since my previous visit and then a photo of the K6 telephone kiosk, which was one of the 12 listed buildings that was recorded on a British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge for Baslow. 

 

The tollbooth on Baslow Old Bridge

 

Continuing to School Lane, the Grade II Listed Corner Cottage and Willow Cottage were next on my list to photograph. The Historic England description says that they possibly date to the C17, with C18 and C19 additions, but I didn't look at them closely and only took a couple of photos, from which I noted the gritstone walling and the stone slate roof. 

 

Corner Cottage and Willow Cottage

From the road, I took a photo of Baslow House, which is surprisingly not a listed building but has some interesting features, including two 2-storey bay windows and a large entrance porch that are built in gritstone with some elaborate carving.

 

Baslow House

 

Noting the time before I had to catch the No. 218 bus back to Sheffield, I continued up School Lane to The Old Chapel (1706), an elegantly proportioned building constructed with squared and coursed gritstone, with massive quoins and dressings to the central doorway, which has a segmental arch and a keystone. 

 

The Old Chapel

 

Historic Architecture in Pilsley - Part 2

 

A datestone on the lintel at the east end of Duck Row

Continuing my Photo Challenge while exploring the historic architecture of Pilsley, the next listed building to photograph was the Grade II Listed late Georgian Smithy House, sited in an area called the Lompits, which is in the traditional vernacular style of this period and contrasts with the early Victorian houses designed by Joseph Paxton. 

 

Smithy House

 

I just took a few photos from a distance, but I can see that the quoins and dressings are made with a uniformly coloured gritstone that looks similar to that used for Top House, which again contrasts with the iron stained walling stone. 

 

Another view of Smithy House

 

Historic England (HE) describes the roof as Westmorland slate, which I associate with the volcanic green slate from the Borrowdale Volcanic Group, but my from photos they look like a purple/grey variety. In an area where the traditional roofing material is stone slate, Welsh slate is normally seen when the roof has been renewed but William Cavendish, who would become the 7th Duke of Devonshire, set up the business that would become Burlington Stone. 

 

Poole House

 

Poole House (c.1840), with its prominent chimney stacks, Venetian windows and a considerable amount of rusty brown gritstone used for the walling, but with a traditional stone slate roof, is again considered by HE to possibly be the work of Paxton. 

 

Views of buildings surrounding The Green

 

Surrounding The Green, there are several unlisted buildings that are all built with the traditional vernacular materials of gritstone and stone slates for the roof, which includes Mary Devonshire Cottages. The latter was built in 1959 to house staff of the estate office, which was previously located in Chesterfield, with it receiving a Civic Trust Award in 1962. 

 

Various unlisted buildings in Pilsley

 

The next buildings on my list to photograph were on Bun Alley and I passed various gritstone buildings with both stone slate and Welsh slate roofs, which included the now closed post office. All of these are marked on the 1883 edition of the Ordnance Survey map and are included in the Conservation Area, but none of them have features of particular interest. 

 

Pilsley on the 1883 Ordnance Survey map

 

Looking at the time, rather than catch the No. 218 bus to Sheffield or Bakewell – neither of which were due very soon – I decided that I would walk to Baslow and therefore firstly went to have a look at the buildings on High Street, before going to Bun Alley. 

 

The Devonshire Arms

 

The Devonshire Arms, which has now been renamed the Pilsley Inn, is not listed but its architectural style contrasts with the of the simple vernacular in the village, with its gabled dormer windows with barge boards and tall blue brick chimney stacks being reminiscent of the work of Paxton. The website, however, refers to it as being 300 years old, which suggests that the High Street elevation has been remodelled and hides an older core.. 

 

Various buildings on High Street

 

Quickly walking further up High Street, most of the houses on the north side are simple detached or semi detached cottages, typically with chimney stacks at each end, with a couple of pairs of early C20 semi-detached houses on the south side. 

 

The annexe to the Pilsley Church of England Primary School

 

Next to the C20 semi-detached houses is what I first thought was an old chapel, with its tall round headed windows with gritstone surrounds but, getting closer, a notice on the wall indicates that this is in fact an annexe to the Pilsley Church of England Primary School. 

 

Top House and Bradley House

 

At the west end of High Street is the Grade II Listed Top House and Bradley House, which dates back to the C17 but was altered and enlarged in the C19. After taking a few general record photos, I retraced my steps down to Bun Alley. 

 

Cottages at the west end of Duck Row

 

The Grade II Listed pair of cottages at the west end of Duck Row, built with coursed and squared gritstone with stone slate roofs, date to the Mid C18 with late C19 and C20 alterations. The style is similar to the houses seen on High Street, with chimney stacks to the gable and No. 2 has a bracketed hood above the door and a plaque above inscribed with the dates 1753 and 1971. 

 

Duck Row Middle Cottage

 

Stopping briefly to photograph the K6 telephone kiosk, I continued to Duck Row Middle Cottage, which HE assign a probable C17 date and is built with coursed rubble gritstone and a stone slate roof, with a 2-storey canted bay and mullions to all of the windows. 

 

The K6 telephone kiosk on Bun Alley

 

The cottage at the east end of Duck Row consists of five cottages, which have since been converted into two and a date of the early C18, based on the 1709 date to a lintel, with late C19 alterations to the windows. It doesn’t have any architectural features that are noteworthy and it is Grade II Listed for group value only. 

 

The south elevation of Lane Side

 

On the other side of the road is the early C19 Lane Side, which is also Grade II Listed for group value only. It is built with coursed and square gritstone with large quoins and HE describe it as having a Westmorland slate roof. As with Poole House, HE describe it as having a Westmorland slate roof, but it is again looks purple/grey and not green. 

 

A view of the west end of Lane Side

 

The last building on my Photo Challenge was the early and mid C19 The Farm, another building in a simple style built with coursed and squared gritstone, with very large massive gritstone quoins and a stone slate roof.

The Farm