The Building Stones of Beauchief

The approach to Beauchief Abbey

When investigating various mediaeval churches built from the Rotherham Red sandstone, I have had to wait to gain access to the interiors of some of them and so, having visited St. Mary the Virgin in Beighton - and with spring arriving - I decided to take a look at some more geology and historic churches in Sheffield, starting at Beauchief Abbey.

A geological map of the south side of Sheffield

Set just above the floodplain of the River Sheaf, which cuts a valley through a succession of Lower Pennine Coal Measures Formation sandstones and shales, there are many places from which its building stone could once have been obtained.

Semi-detached houses built in the 1930's

As seen in Beighton and Wales, the local Coal Measures sandstones have been used to good effect in a wide variety of buildings - old and modern - and it is probable that these unnamed sandstones provided the abbey with some of its stone.

Greenmoor Rock used for walling and roofing

It is likely, however, that the nearby Greenmoor Rock was more widely exploited – especially since this rock formation, which runs from Sheffield to Leeds, once supplied high quality paving nationwide, as well as being widely used in this region for building stone, kerbs and setts.

The old Beauchief Railway Station - dated 1870

Walking to the abbey from Abbeydale Road, various houses and old walls show good examples of the local building stone and, as seen in Beighton, there has also been a differential use of coarse and fine grained sandstone for the dressings and basic walling here.

Beauchief Abbey Farm