The Building Stones of Clifton - Part 1

 

Dolomitic limestone and red sandstone used in a farm building on Common Lane

When I first visited St. Peter’s church in Old Edlington in July 2023, I was very intrigued to discover that the fabric contained blocks of red/brown sandstone, which I thought was very unusual when the vast majority of the stone used in the fabric is dolomitic limestone from the Cadeby Formation. 

 

St. Peter's church in Old Edlington

Although I have seen a few sites immediately below the Carboniferous-Permian unconformity, where Pennine Upper Coal Measures Formation sandstones have been partly reddened, except for Rotherham Red sandstone, I had never encountered uniformly reddened sandstone in any outcrops until I came across those on Holmes Lane in Hooton Roberts, when I first visited St. John’s church in 2016. 

 

Views of outcrops of red sandstone on Holmes Lane in Hooton Roberts

I didn’t think about this again until I visited St. Helen’s church in Burghwallis during Church Explorers Week in 2024, when I noted that red sandstone has also been used in the fabric, which here comprises dolomitic limestone from the Brotherton Formation for the walling and from the Cadeby Formation for the dressings. 

 

The geology around Hooton Roberts, Clifton and Old Edlington

 

At the end of my walk around The Crags in Conisbrough at the beginning of March 2025, I met various members of CRAG (Conisbrough Research and Archaeology Group) at Conisbrough Library who were cataloguing finds from the Firsby mediaeval pottery production site. I mentioned that I was interested in the red sandstone at St. Peter’s church and was told by a Clifton resident that red sandstone is seen in many historic buildings in the village. 

 

A boundary wall on the corner of Beacon Lane and Common Lane

I had once passed through Clifton when undertaking the survey of potential RIGS (Regionally Important Geological Sites) back in 1997, so I decided to combine a visit with my attendance of the Save Our Greenbelt event in Braithwell. Arriving at the south end of the village after walking from Micklebring, I immediately noted red sandstone in the boundary wall on the corner of Beacon Lane and Common Lane, which is mainly built with dolomitic limestone. 

 

A sheep wash on Beacon Lane

 

Continuing along Beacon Lane, a sheep wash that first appears on the 1929 Ordnance Survey (OS) map appears to have been built on the boundary wall to a large field on its south side. The wall also looks like it has been partly rebuilt with a buff/yellowish coloured limestone and blocks of red sandstone are incorporated into the whole structure. 

 

A detail of the walling stone used to build the sheep wash

 

Looking closely at the limestone used for the walling, some of it is very coarse grained, open textured with voids and, looking more closely, is largely composed of brachiopod shells. I had seen similar shelly beds at North Cliff Quarry, where the limestone is laid down as massive  horizontal beds and is overlain by a bryozoan reef. 

 

A detail of coarse grained and shelly dolomitic limestone

 

After taking note of the variations in colour, texture and porosity of the walling stone, I then made my back along Beacon Lane, where a small outcrop of limestone forms the foundations of a section of the boundary wall on the north side of the road. 

 

Limestone forming the foundation to a boundary wall on Beacon Lane

 

A full appraisal of Clifton Conservation Area has not been undertaken, but the summary describes it as an agricultural settlement, based on farms and homesteads and that the village was part of the mediaeval Manor of Conisbrough. 

 

Clifton on the 1854 OS map

 

The form of the village, as seen on the 1854 OS map, remained essentially unchanged until to the mid C20, with the name Back Lane suggesting that it has retained its old street plan. Within this street layout, several buildings have been demolished with subsequent infill development and many houses have been built to the east of Back Lane, but virtually the entire village is included in the Clifton Conservation Area. 

The Clifton Conservation Area

As also seen along the principal streets in Hooton Pagnell and Palterton on the Magnesian Limestone escarpment, various farm buildings and a farmhouse occupy the west side of Common Lane, with the old OS maps showing the Manor House sited on the opposite side of the road. 

 

The farm and farmhouse on Common Lane

 

A high wall forms the western boundary to the grounds of the now demolished Manor House, with an archway presumably being its entrance but, except for the Braithwell, Micklebring and Clifton History and Heritage website, I haven't much information about historic architecture in the village.

 

The presumed entrance to the Manor House

 

Before my day out to Braithwell, Micklebring and Clifton, I added a local post code into the British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge, which gave no results for Clifton. As I wandered along Common Lane, I found this very surprising as I thought that several buildings would be Grade II listed for group value, if not for their individual architectural merit.

 

A house on Common Lane

Although cream to yellowish dolomitic limestone is used for the vast bulk of the masonry in the boundary walls and those of the houses, uniformly dark red sandstone blocks are scattered amongst the limestone in all of these.

 

Dolomitic limestone and red sandstone used in a farm building

 

Looking at the old farm buildings on the west side of Common Lane, a couple of these have had later building work done, including the changes to the pitch of the roof, and the stone used for these alterations is again dark red sandstone.

 

Dolomitic limestone and red sandstone used in a farm building

 

When I first saw the sandstone at the C12 St. Peter's church in Old Brampton, I originally thought that it must have been recycled from an older building - as has been proposed for the Anglo-Saxon churches at Laughton-en-le-Morthen and Burghwallis, using Rotherham Red sandstone from the Roman fort at Templeborough in Rortherham; however, with dolomitic limestone being readily available nearby, I can't see why anyone would bring red sandstone from afar and this suggests that this was once quarried locally.

 

Dolomitic limestone and red sandstone used in a converted farm building

 

A Walk From Micklebring to Clifton

 

A view of Beacon Hill in Clifton from Micklebring

After spending a couple of hours at the Save Our Green Belt Coffee Morning, talking with various people potentially affected by the Whitestone 1 Solar Farm at Conisbrough Parks, my friends Lindsey and Pete gave me a lift to Micklebring where they showed me the Millennium Viewpoint, which has a toposcope that show places of interest in the landscape. 

 

The Millennium Viewpoint

 

Set on the Magnesian Limestone escarpment, although it does not provide a good view of the western part of Conisbrough Parks to the north of the M18 motorway, where the bulk of the 327 hectare solar farm is proposed, the prominent local landmark of Beacon Hill and its television masts can be clearly seen. 

 

A panoramic view from the Millennium Viewpoint

I was interested to see a dry valley a short distance to the north, which formed the head of The Brook, a stream that flows northwards across Conisbrough Parks and joins Kearnsley Brook, which is joined by Den Brook and then culverted under Sheffield Road and Low Road, before flowing down to the River Don. 

 

A dry valley marking the head of The Brook

 

The area known as Five Lane Ends in Conisbrough is in a medium risk flood zone, which residents fear will be exacerbated by runoff from the solar panels and, looking at the topographic map of the area, the drainage pattern of the above mentioned brooks is well established. 

 

The topography of Conisbrough Parks

 

Conisbrough Parks is essentially underlain by impermeable mudstones of the Pennine Upper Coal Measures Formation above the Ravenfield Rock and a Google search with the question “do industrial scale solar farms cause drainage problems where underlain by impermeable rocks?” suggests that residents’ concerns may be justified – although a hydrologist experienced in such matters needs to be consulted.

 

The geology of the area around Conisbrough Parks

 

Leaving Lindsey and Pete to get on with the rest of the day, I walked up Greaves Sike Lane and, from a higher elevation, I had a better view of the agricultural land below the Magnesian Limestone escarpment at Clifton, which would be covered by solar panels to a point that is only just over 500 metres to the west of the village. 

 

A panoramic view from Greaves Sike Lane

Continuing to the Grade II Listed C17 Manor House, which I photographed for the British Listed Buildings website, I was about to take the public footpath to Clifton when I bumped into a couple who was coming the other way. 

 

The Manor House

 

During a long impromptu conversation about Conisbrough Parks and the proposed solar farm, like most people that I had spoken to, we agreed that brownfield sites and roofs on industrial buildings and warehouses would be much more appropriate than building them on unspoiled farmland. 

 

The Ordnance Survey map of Micklebring and Clifton

Passing under the motorway, I had panoramic views of the productive arable fields that stretch from the limestone escarpment westwards as far as the eye can see. I found it quite incredible that anyone would think that it is a good idea to cover this land with solar panels that are said to be as high as a double decker bus. 

 

A panoramic view to the north from the path to Clifton

 

Continuing along the public footpath, I looked back to the south-west to take in the panoramic views of the escarpment at Micklebring that I just left and those to the west. The Whitestone proposals have since been strongly objected to by every MP in South Yorkshire whose constituents might be affected - except for Ed Miliband with his Net Zero policy - for the proposed scale, loss of amenity and wildlife value and negligible benefits to the local communities. 

 

A panoramic view to the south-west and west  from the path to Clifton

 

Earlier in the day at the Ruddle Centre, I had seen a display of the remains of a Romano-British villa that had been discovered at Conisbrough Park Farm, which received Scheduled Monument status later on in the year. It makes me wonder how many more archaeological finds are still to be made, to add to those currently marked on the Heritage Gateway map. 

 

Archaeological features and finds shown on the Heritage Gateway map

Ascending the Magnesian Limestone escarpment, I walked along the footpath towards the centre of Clifton village, which runs along the side of a ploughed field and, as I had seen during very many walks where the underlying bedrock is the Permian Cadeby Formation, Mid-Pleistocene glaciofluvial pebbles are scattered in the soil. 

 

Glaciofluvial pebbles

 

Before going to have a look at the historic architecture in Clifton, which during a visit to The Crags at the beginning of the month I had been told contains a lot of reddened sandstone, I took in the panoramic views of the landscape, which are as good as any I have seen along the Magnesian Limestone escarpment in Doncaster and Rotherham.

 

A panoramic view from the escarpment at Clifton

Save Our Greenbelt in Braithwell

 

An invitation to a Coffee Morning by Save Our Greenbelt

At some time in autumn 2024, I received some information about the proposed Whitestone solar farms in South Yorkshire in the post, but it was so vague that I didn’t take much notice of it, until a couple of days after my exploration of Darnall Cemetery, when a good friend from Micklebring asked me to help Save Our Greenbelt to fight the proposed Whitestone 1 Solar Farm planned for Conisbrough Parks - in my capacity as a geologist.

 

The Whitestone 1 Solar Farm Masterplan as at July 2026

I don't have the knowledge or experience of the drainage and flooding problems that have been anticipated, due to the run off from the array of solar panels, and I therefore advised that the input of a hydrologist would be required, but also that my experience of producing the Doncaster Geodiversity Assessment for Doncaster MBC with the British Geological Survey might be of use. 

 

The Doncaster Geodiversity Assessment

As part of the Local Development Framework, which Doncaster MBC were beginning to prepare, the implementation of Planning Policy Statement 9: Biodiversity and Geological Conservation (PPS9) place equal weight on biodiversity and geodiversity. 

 

An extract from the Doncaster Geodiversity Assessment

Threats posed by inappropriate site development (or the infilling of quarries), which would not be tolerated in wildlife or archaeological sites of comparable scientific or educational value, now need to be taken into account and this not only includes individual sites but also the geomorphology and landforms too – of which the Magnesian Limestone escarpment that runs from the north to the south of Doncaster is a very important example. 

 

An extract from the Doncaster Geodiversity Assessment

Although the geomorphology and landforms were not specifically highlighted in the Doncaster Geodiversity Assessment, the Magnesian Limestone escarpment and the Don Gorge are topographic features that have greatly influenced the history of the borough, including that of Conisbrough Parks. 

 

A Coffee Morning at the Ruddle Centre in Braithwell

I therefore decided to attend the Save Our Greenbelt coffee morning at the Ruddle Centre in Braithwell, before getting a lift to Micklebring from my friends and then walking to Conisbrough via Clifton, which would give me an insight into how the solar farm would affect this area. 

 

Conisbrough Parks shown on the Ordnance Survey map

To give me a bit of background to the Whitestone proposals, I looked at their website only to see a map that was so small that I had to use my hand lens on the computer screen to try and find the places that would be affected, which didn’t leave a very good impression on me. 

 

An updated map of the proposed Whitestone Solar Farms

 

Furthermore, when trying to find Clifton and its Conservation Area on the Doncaster Heritage Map, I was astounded to discover that the proposed solar farm is underlain by a zone that is described as “Major archaeological objection to the development of the site”. 

 

The Doncaster Heritage Map showing Conisbrough Parks

A Walk From Darnall to Attercliffe

 

The aqueduct on the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal

Just before leaving Darnall Cemetery, where I had photographed the Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstones and found some unusual headstones made with various stones, I had a quick look at the sandstone used to build the north-western boundary wall. 

 

A dry stone wall made with flaggy sandstone in Darnall Cemetery

 

In one place very thinly bedded flaggy sandstone has been laid as a dry stone wall, which is a characteristic of the Brincliffe Edge (Greenmoor) Rock and to a lesser extent the Penistone Flags, both of which are Pennine Lower Coal Measures Formation sandstones. It is extremely unlikely that this would be brought in for a dry stone wall, but I don’t ever recall seeing other walling like this in this part of South Yorkshire and its source is a bit of a mystery. 

 

The geological map of the area around Darnall and Attercliffe

In the area around Darnall and Attercliffe, unnamed sandstones from the Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation (PMCMF) provide the underlying geology and another section of the wall is built with more massive plane bedded sandstone, which is essentially grey with some iron staining. It is similar to the sandstone seen in the boundary wall of St. Lawrence’s churchyard and along Bawtry Road in Tinsley, which is again underlain by an unnamed PMCMF sandstone. 

 

A section of wall made with massive sandstone in Darnall Cemetery

I then set off along Darnall Road past the Ball Inn and the former Darnall Road Board School to undertake my British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge, which consisted of 6 brick built industrial buildings that formed part of the various steelworks that once operated in Darnall, but have very little interest to this Language of Stone Blog.

 

The listed buildings on my Photo Challenge

The former Sanderson's Darnall Steelworks and Don Valley Glassworks on Darnall Road, which is a Scheduled Monument, contains four Grade II listed buildings comprising two sets of crucible steel shops (1871 and 1872), the former offices (c.1872) and the lodge, weighbridge cabin and boundary wall (c.1872).

 

Listed buildings at the Sanderson's Darnall Steelworks

 

Continuing down Darnall Road, the Grade II listed workshop (1913) at the Darnall Works was the next building on my list. It is an example example of a steel framed structure with glass and brick infill panels and concrete dressings, with a corrugated iron roof, but to my eye doesn't possess great architectural merit. 

 

The workshop at the Darnall Works

Although not on my list, I took a couple of general record photos of the aqueduct and adjoining raised footways that form part of the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal, before retracing my steps and heading along Allende Way to Coleridge Road, to find the last building on my Photo Challenge. 

 

The aqueduct on the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal

The crucible steel melting shop (c.1890), now a store, was built for Huntsman and Co. which had associations with Benjamin Huntsman, the inventor of the crucible steel making process, whose tomb can be found in the graveyard of Attercliffe Chapel. 

 

The crucible steel melting shop

Walking down to Pothouse Bridge, I was quite surprised to see that the boundary walls on both sides of the road are built with sandstone similar to the massive stone seen in the walls of Darnall Cemetery. Except for window cills and heads, red brick is used for all of the industrial buildings and associated housing that I had seen and several brickworks in the area are marked on the old Ordnance Survey maps. 

A boundary wall on Coleridge Road

Although the brick pits would be mainly extracting the mudstone, the associated unnamed sandstones would presumably have been good enough to use for boundary walls in the immediate vicinity such as this, because the transport of stone adds significantly to its cost. 

 

Crozzle topping a boundary wall

 

As is very commonly seen in Sheffield in the boundary walls of later Victorian houses, one of the walls is topped with a type of slag known locally as crozzle, which was formed during the cementation process of making steel. 

 

The aqueduct on the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal

 

Having completed my Photo Challenge, I completed my walk by walking along the canal towpath back to Attercliffe, with my first stop being the aqueduct that I had seen 20 minutes earlier. As with many other civil engineering projects in Sheffield, such as the Wicker Arches, it uses the coarse grained and often pebbly Chatsworth Grit from the Rivelin Valley. 

 

Supports on the Shirland Lane Bridge

Continuing along the towpath to the Shirland Lane Bridge, I stopped briefly to have another look at the PMCMF sandstone that forms its foundations, where the same colouration as in the boundary wall on Coleridge Road can be seen. 

 

PMCMF sandstone beneath Shirland Lane Bridge

 

I had found this in April 2021, when investigating the Dunsil Coal and associated Coal Measures strata a little further along the canal and just took a few photos before leaving the towpath at Pinfold Bridge and walking to Attercliffe Road, where I caught a bus to Sheffield.

 

PMCMF sandstone beneath Shirland Lane Bridge