A Trip to Dore

Arriving at High Street in Dore

During the 2018 Heritage Open Days, in addition to organising events at St. Helen’s church in Treeton – I made the most of this initiative for my own pleasure and I managed to visit Kenwood House, All Saints church in Wath-upon-Dearne and St. James’ church in Braithwell. 

Dore & Totley Railway Station

On the last Sunday, the weather turned out fine again and I took a bus to Dore and Totley railway station, from which I walked up Dore Road to the centre of the village of Dore – famous for being at the border of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria and where King Ecgbert received the submission of King Eanred, to become the first king of all England. 

The geology of south-west Sheffield

From the valley bottom that is now occupied by the River Sheaf, Dore Road - built by the Duke of Devonshire to connect his village to the station - follows an outcrop of sandstone from the Pennine Lower Coal Measures Formation and, looking at the large late Victorian and Edwardian detached houses that line both sides of the road, it is easy to see why Dore has a long established reputation of being Sheffield’s wealthiest suburb. 

Victorian and Edwardian houses on Dore Road

The houses nearest to the railway station, around which the buildings form an area of special architectural interest, display a wide range of individual designs in a range of architectural styles and, although I know nothing about the precise source of the building materials, they are all built from Coal Measures sandstone, with Millstone Grit used for the dressings. 

An entrance to Dore Manor

Continuing further up the hill towards Dore village, modern houses are generally built out of materials other than stone, although the brand new Dore Manor continues the stone built tradition, with the gateposts providing a good example of a very coarse gritstone, which contrasts with the finer grained Carboniferous sandstone used in the general walling. 

Coarse Millstone Grit used for a gatepost at Door Manor

On the outskirts of the village, work to the front garden area to one of the modern houses provided a temporary exposure of the Pennine Lower Coal Measures Formation sandstone, which here is very flaggy in nature.

An exposure of the Pennine Lower Coal Measures Formation

At the top of the hill, High Street marks the beginning of the Conservation Area and, finding the Dore Village Society in Dore Old School, I picked up a Dore Heritage Trail leaflet and set off to explore the old village.

The Dore Heritage Trail