A Walk Along Lindrick Dale

A view of the limestone cliff and an architectural detail

Lindrick Dale, although on a route popular with walking groups, is probably best known for the exclusively priced residential properties that are built along its 550 metre length, with Anston Brook passing through their immaculate landscaped gardens.

The geology around Lindrick Dale

For the geologist, however, along with the Don Gorge, Roche Abbey, Creswell Crags and the nearby Anston Stones Wood, it is notable for being a limestone gorge that provides regional evidence for the existence of an ice sheet and subsequent erosion by glacial meltwater during the Quaternary Period.

Traditional vernacular architecture at Wood Mill

Having briefly looked at the geology in Wood Mill Quarry, I started my walk along Lindrick Dale at the confluence of Anston Brook and Pudding Dike to form the River Ryton and, from the public footpath, I could see outcrops of the Cadeby Formation in the garden of Wood Mill.

Exposures of limestone at Wood Mill

Alongside the path here, which leads to Lindrick Golf Club, there is a partly overgrown outcrop of massive limestone that I think is part of the Wetherby Member of the Cadeby Formation, but I didn’t closely examine it or take any samples.

An exposure of the Wetherby Member

From this point along Lindrick Dale to the A57, there is no opportunity to get anywhere near to the dolomitic limestone cliffs that back on to the houses. Nonetheless, from the roadside, the massive nature of the limestone, a well developed pattern of jointing and distinct overhangs can be seen and, with a pair of binoculars, there are plenty of well exposed sections here to examine closely.

Well developed jointing and overhangs

The 1854 Ordnance Survey map shows various buildings along Lindrick Dale, which would undoubtedly have been built in the local limestone and, although I didn’t stop to examine or photograph any of the building materials that I saw during this part of my walk, it is only the old boundary walls that are obviously built with limestone.

The entrance to The Lake House

The landscaping in some of the gardens makes good use of large limestone boulders and stone that has presumably been recycled from pre-existing buildings; however, the extensive use of bland artificial stone and what looks like sandstone for large stretches of walling certainly lower the aesthetic value of what are otherwise very expensive properties.

A recently built parking area with sandstone walling

In a National Park or a Conservation Area, there are strict regulations relating to design and materials that ensure new buildings fit in with the surrounding landscape. Although not subject to such requirements, Lindrick Dale is within the green belt and has considerable natural beauty, but it seems that the planners at Rotherham MBC have given little consideration to the building materials used here.

A house above Lindrick Dale

Continuing beyond the newly formed parking area, a house perched on the edge of the cliff looks like it is again built in pale coloured sandstone – this time with a Welsh slate roof – but the limestone filled gabions are aesthetically quite pleasing and their texture complements the solution hollows in the limestone immediately beneath it.

Crags on the west side of Lindrick Dale

On the other side of Lindrick Dale, the very attractive grassed and landscaped west bank of Anston Brook, which has been reinforced with stone walls in several places, rises up to a wooded area where limestone crags can be seen.

A view along Anston Brook

Further up the dale, the gardens are again more notable than the architectural quality of the houses, but the bricks and red pantiles used here are at least some improvement on the artificial stone previously encountered.

Modern houses in Lindrick Dale

Looking at the geology of the cliffs, the solution hollows in the limestone here appear to be more noticeably associated with thinner beds of limestone, with the overhang marking a change to thick beds of massive limestone below – a natural feature that has been exploited by a builder.

A view of the limestone cliff