Graves Park Revisited

A stream bed exposure of Greenmoor Rock in Graves Park

At the beginning of April 2019, with my friend Paul May, I walked from Meadowhead to Brincliffe Edge to prepare the September field trip for the Sheffield U3A Geology Group. 

The Greenmoor Rock between Meadowhead and Brincliffe Edge

Whilst there were enough points of interest, over a walk of 7 km, I was concerned that, if the Group wasn’t allowed access to the excellent exposure of Greenmoor Rock behind the Morrisons supermarket at Meadowhead, the timing and location of our lunch break could be problematic – given that the stretch of the walk beyond the Woodseats end of Graves Park was in a built-up area without a convenient stopping place. 

The online Ordnance Survey map of Graves Park

As a contingency, I therefore decided to go and have another look at Graves Park, to see if I could find further exposures of rock along the course of the stream that runs westwards from the series of artificial lakes that occupy the eastern part of the park. 

An exposure of sandstone, siltstone and mudstone

Immediately to the west of the ponds, the stream flows through a steep sided valley, in which are exposed thin bands of sandstone and relatively thick sequences of mudstone that I had not encountered in Cobnar Wood during previous visits. 

A rock exposure in Graves Park

Moving further west the steep sided valley flattens out, with the stream meandering over generally boggy ground that is fed by springs. In the stream bed, small thin outcrops of flaggy sandstone can be frequently seen, as well as mudstone in the stream banks, and I also encountered further examples of yellowish clay. 

Exposures of flaggy sandstone in the stream bed

Taking a detour to investigate the open area of Graves Park to the north, which is now largely occupied by playing fields, I was curious about a couple of linear features that the Friends of Graves Park consider to be lynchets, but which reminded me of a marked geological fault that can be found in Clifton Park in Rotherham.

A linear feature in Graves Park of geological/archaeological interest

This further exploration of Graves Park didn’t add significantly to the variety of rocks that I had previously encountered on the planned route of our walk, however, from an archaeological and historical point of view, I found several interesting features that would provide a backup on the day, should permission to visit the Morrisons site be refused.

A spillway in Graves Park