Wednesday 2 September 2015

Building Stones in Cambridge


Architectural details at the Sedgwick Museum

The starting point of the Cambridge Geological Trail is at the museum building itself – where you can see various Jurassic limestones, the unique Caithness flagstone and at least 3 varieties of brick – whose colours reflect the mineralogical composition of the clay from which they are made.

A few views of historic buildings in Cambridge

With less than an hour before I had to rejoin the Heart of England summer school, I could only take a quick look at a couple of buildings that have been highlighted in this brief introduction to the building stones of Cambridge; however, I now have a much better understanding of the buildings, constructed in several varieties of Jurassic limestone, which I have seen whilst walking around the centre of this beautiful historic city. 

Ancient monuments, modern architecture and art in Cambridge
 
A day out in Cambridge provides many opportunities for the Geotourist: ancient monuments, spectacular historic architecture and some fine art, as well as a fantastic collection of fossils; having earmarked this very special place for further investigation, I turned my attention to the next project – an exploration of the city walls in York.