Listed Buildings in the Loxley Valley

 

Sandstones at the Robin Hood public house

My brief exploration of the Stannington Ruffs geological SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) ended by walking up the path through Acorn Hill to see the Robin Hood Inn (1804), the first of six buildings in the Loxley valley that I wanted to photograph for the British Listed Buildings website. 

 

The Robin Hood Inn

It is built with an iron stained sandstone, which contains a high proportion of orange coloured blocks that I didn’t see when previously exploring the old centre of Stannington, where I had assumed that the sandstone used here came from a quarry on the escarpment of Crawshaw Sandstone to the west of the village. I didn’t examine it closely, but from my photos I can see that it is much finer grained than the dressings, which is very probably Chatsworth Grit.

 

The east elevation of the Robin Hood Inn

Looking at the 1855 Ordnance Survey map, there was a quarry less than 250 metres away ESE of the inn, which worked the Loxley Edge Rock, with others nearly 1 km away to the south-west, which were located on the Middle Band Rock – a sandstone formation that I am not familiar with. 

 

A Latin inscription at the Robin Hood Inn

On the rear of the building, I photographed a Latin inscription that is cut in a sandstone that, along with a band course in similar stone, is more massive and coarser grained than the basic walling stone, but does not contain small pebbles as seen in the lintel and sill below and above them. 

 

Olive Cottages

I then followed the path down to the River Loxley, where several mills once operated – as along the River Rivelin, the River Sheaf and the Porter Brook - and took a few quick snaps of Olive Cottages and Olive House, a sandstone built house that has been rendered. 

 

Olive House

Continuing through Wisewood Cemetery to find the Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstones, which I will briefly describe in my next post, the next building on my list to photograph was the Early C19 Grade II Listed cowhouse on Loxley Road.

 

The cowhouse on Loxley Road

 

Next on my list was the dilapidated Grade II* Listed Loxley United Reformed Church (1787), where I met various members of the Friends of Loxley Cemetery. Again, I didn’t look at the stone closely but it is not dissimilar to the sandstone seen at the Robin Hood Inn. A couple of small quarries on the Crawshaw Sandstone are marked on the 1855 map within 1 km of the chapel, with others in the Loxley Edge Rock a little further away, including those at Wadsley Common but, without documentary evidence, this highlights how difficult it is to identify the sandstones around Sheffield.

 

The Loxley United Reformed Church

The very fine grained sandstone used for the various headstones is very distinctive and is most likely the variety of Greenmoor Rock known locally in Sheffield as the Brincliffe Edge Rock, which developed a very good reputation for its memorial grade stone. A few years previously, I had been very impressed by the size of the grave slabs and the very fine letter cutting at the Hill Top Chapel in Attercliffe, but one particular grave that I should have measured is the largest slab of this sandstone that I have seen.

 

An extremely large grave slab

Returning to Loxley Road, I was surprised to find a hooded outlet to a spring on a boundary wall that links to a series of troughs, which I thought was very unusual and is locally listed. Although I was very tempted by the Loxley Beer Festival, which I had discovered was taking place at the nearby Wisewood Inn, I decided that it would be better to catch a bus to Hillsborough and make my way back home to Treeton.

 

A spring feeding various troughs

 

The Stannington Ruffs Geological SSSI

 

Crags of Crawshaw Sandstone at the Stannington Ruffs SSSI

June 2022 proved to be a very interesting month, for the further improvement of my knowledge of the geology of Yorkshire – at West Melton and Wath-upon-Dearne in Rotherham, Otley Chevin in West Yorkshire and around the parish of Hunshelf in Barnsley. 

 

The geology around Stannington Ruffs

Having further investigated the Greenmoor Rock, which is the sandstone formation that I am most familiar with in Sheffield, my next trip was to the Loxley valley in Sheffield, where the British Geological Survey memoir (1957) describes the Crawshaw Sandstone as forming abrupt cliffs accentuated by landslips, where 24 feet of wedge bedded sandstone overlie 6 feet of silty and sandy mudstone. 

 

The description of the Stannington Ruffs SSSI

Volume 11 of the Geological Conservation Review (1996) further states that these crags, known as Stannington Ruffs - a geological SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) - is the best exposure of mouth-bar deposits at the delta front facies in the Crawshaw Sandstone Formation. I had only seen the Crawshaw Sandstone in situ on a couple of visits to Bole Hill in Crookes, where it is a different facies, formed by transverse bars in low-sinuosity rivers – with the sandstones being much coarser and showing mainly planar cross-bedding. 

 

Planar cross-bedding in the Crawshaw Sandstone at Crookes

Arriving on the No. 81 bus from Sheffield city centre, I followed one of the public footpaths on the printed extract from the 1:25,000 map that I had brought with me, but I soon discovered that this didn’t take me very near to the crags and that the rough, steeply sloping terrain beneath them would not easily be negotiated. 

 

The Ordnace Survey map of the area around Stannington Ruffs

I therefore had to be content with just taking a general set of photos at a distance but, apparently, trough cross-bedding is well developed, forming sets about 1 m thick with gently curved basal erosive surfaces, and there is also some ripple cross-lamination, particularly in the upper beds. 

 

The crags at Stannigton Ruffs

 

Although was not able to get to the crags, the landslips here have left very many large blocks on the lower slopes, from which it was possible to obtain small samples of the Crawshaw Sandstone from them with my Estwing hammer. 

 

A slipped block of Crawshaw Sandstone

 

The samples I obtained from these are a light buff and very fine grained sandstone, weathering to a mid brown colour on joint planes and weathered surfaces, with muscovite mica on the well developed bedding planes that can be seen in them. 

 

A sample of very fine grained Crawshaw Sandstone

 

The Geological Conservation Review also mentions that very patchy outcrops of siltstone occur below the main exposure, but there is no evidence of the Subcrenatum Marine Band which lies just below the Crawshaw Sandstone. 

 

Loose blocks of Crawshaw Sandstone

I didn’t see any evidence of this siltstone but when walking down the path, which in places was very eroded by water that must flow here during periods of heavy rainfall, I encountered other examples of very thinly bedded sandstone with an abundance of muscovite on the bedding planes, whose brown colouration contrasts with the light buff body of the very fine sandstone. 

 

Samples of very micaceous Crawshaw Sandstone

Although I still have a very comprehensive textbook from my university days, which I still refer to from time to time, I have never studied sedimentary petrology in any great depth, or spent time closely examining the sedimentary structures in the various outcrops of Carboniferous sandstone that I have seen in South Yorkshire. 

 

Sedimentary Environments and Facies

The mouth-bar deposits such as those seen at Stannington Ruffs are not normally preserved, being removed either by wave-action, or by the subsequent progradation of the delta; however, the Crawshaw delta appears not have migrated further west than this part of South Yorkshire, and wave-action in the Edale Gulf basin into which it prograded was minimal. 

 

A track in Acorn Wood

 

In several places, the path through Acorn Hill is in the form of a track that is crudely surfaced and there are the remains of walls in the vicinity, sometimes quite substantial, which made me think that there were once mines or quarries; however, most of the ganister mines and coal pits were dug around Stannington Wood and it is probable that these belong to the rifle range, which first appears on the 1924 Ordnance Survey map along with one old quarry.

A section of walling at Acorn Hill

A Geological Recce at Hunshelf - Part 2

 

The Victoria Quarry at Green Moor

One of the highlights of a geology field trip to Hunshelf is the view that can be obtained from Hunshelf Bank on a fine summer’s day and, having taken advantage of the good weather to enjoy our lunch here, Barry and I continued with our recce – passing the Methodist Chapel and the old school before arriving back in the centre of Green Moor. 

 

A datestone at the old school

 

The first stop was to look at the RIGS (Regionally Important Geological Site) in the Stoneway Manor housing development, where a public viewing point had been incorporated into the scheme, after discussions with the planning officer at Barnsley MBC. Despite a large area of the old quarry face being cleared of vegetation, the close mesh of the rock netting that was specified by the geotechnical engineer, has not enabled subsequent maintenance to be undertaken. 

 

The RIGS at Stoneway Manor

Although Barry had accompanied me and another group member Tim, on the recce for the previous Sheffield U3A Geology Group field trip in 2017, he didn’t go on the field trip itself and instead organised the opening of the pump house that is sited at the edge of Stoneway Manor; however, on this occasion, it would not be opened because he was the group leader for the day. 

 

The pump house

On the opposite side of the road, Ivy Millennium Green forms a small public garden that the group took advantage of on the previous visit, to have a very late lunch. Although we had established that we would be taking our lunch at Hunshelf Bank, from here there are good views of the scarp and vale topography in this part of South Yorkshire. 

 

The village stocks at Ivy Millennium Green

For the last part of our trip, Barry proposed that we have a look at the site of the old Victoria Quarry, which was excavated into the steeply sloping ground on the south bank of the River Don. This had not been identified during the desk top research, on which my survey of potential RIGS in Green Moor back in 1996 was based, yet it forms the most extensive exposure of Greenmoor Rock that I have yet seen. 

 

A view of the old Victoria Quarry

Most of the group members are still fit enough to manage the descent to see the principal rock exposures, which he had proposed on the walk, which display further examples of large scale cross-bedding, as well as a succession of horizontal beds where the lower parts are finer grained and have been differentially weathered. 

 

Large scale cross-bedding and differential weathering

 

We then walked down to the riverbank, where the stepping stones across the River Don have been reinstated, which was quite manageable on the descent; however, he then led us back to Well Hill via another footpath that I found quite demanding and which I thought would be too difficult for some of the group members. 

 

The River Don

 

After stopping briefly at Barry’s house for a cup of tea, we then continued down Well Hill until we reached a hairpin meander in the River Don, at which Wortley Top Forge is situated, before going to have a look at an old quarry where some of the Grenoside Sandstone is quite reddened. 

 

A quarry exposure of Grenoside Sandstone

Making my way past old cars that look like they are waiting to be scrapped, I obtained a couple of specimens with my Estwing hammer. Both are medium grained and the bedding planes are covered in muscovite, with one of the samples being quite yellow and the other reddish in colour. 

 

Specimens of Grenoside Sandstone

 

A Geological Recce at Hunshelf - Part 1

 

A view from the east end of Hunshelf Bank

A few days after my day out to Elsecar, when I learned a lot about the industry and its historic architecture, I returned to the borough of Barnsley to look at some more geology – this time to accompany Barry, a retired chemist, on a recce of Hunshelf for the Sheffield U3A Geology Group field trip in August 2022. 

 

The Greenmoor Rock at Hunshelf

 

Barry is a resident of Green Moor and very knowledgeable about the archaeology and industrial history of the surrounding parish of Hunshelf and, although he had arranged a previous trip to Wharncliffe Crags and Wortley Top Forge, he asked me for help on the geology. Having surveyed the area in 1997 for the South Yorkshire RIGS (Regionally Important Geological Sites) Group, advised Shepherd Homes on the Stoneway Manor development in 2013/2014 and led our group on a field trip to Green Moor in 2017, I was pleased to help. 

 

The former Wortley railway station

Having managed to get from Treeton to Deepcar, involving trips on two buses and the Supertram, Barry drove us to the Cote Green car park, which is just a short walk to the old Wortley railway station. It was opened in 1845 by the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway on the line from Penistone to Sheffield Victoria station, but closed in 1955. 

 

The railway bridge at Wortley station

 

This railway was instrumental in the expansion of the quarrying industry in Green Moor, which once supplied the best quality paving stone from the Greenmoor Rock to the rest of England - with the Green Moor Wharf on the River Thames in London being built to accommodate this trade. 

 

Stepping stones on the River Don

Carrying on past the site of Wortley Mill to the River Don, with its stepping stones, we then took the footpath above the mill pond at Wortley Tin Mill, continuing up the steep slope at Tin Mill Rocher, without seeing any rock outcrop until we reached the eastern end of Hunshelf Bank. 

 

A delf at the east end of Hunshelf Bank

Now on the south facing escarpment of the Greenmoor Rock, a small delf exposes very irregular thin beds of sandstone, which is only suitable for dry stone boundary walls. I had seen similar outcrops further to the west, during our previous visit to Green Moor and also further to the south along Birley Edge. 

 

The information panel at Delf Quarry

Our next stop was the old quarry face in the Delf Quarry, which I proposed should be a RIGS (Regionally Important Geological Site), as a much better example of the Greenmoor Rock than the very small spur of rock seen in the car park to the former Rock Inn, which was removed  when the Stoneway Manor housing estate was built. 

 

The Delf Quarry

The site was moderately overgrown at the time of our visit, but it is regularly maintained by Hunshelf Parish Council and Barry assured me that, before our field trip, it would be cleared to reveal the large scale cross-bedding here – a sedimentary structure that I usually associate with much coarser grained sandstones laid down in a large river channel. 

 

Large scale cross-bedding seen in the quarry face

The Greenmoor Rock is typically very fine grained and planar bedded, which is unusual amongst the major sandstone formations in the Pennine Coal Measures Group of South Yorkshire. Obtaining a couple of small samples with my Estwing hammer, I was interested to note that their grain size is no different to several other specimens in my rock collection. 

 

Specimens of Greenmoor Rock from Delf Quarry

Although most of the Greenmoor Rock at Hunshelf was once quarried on a vast scale for its top quality paving stone, as in Sheffield where it is called the Brincliffe Edge Rock, it has been used in the hamlet of Green Moor to build its vernacular architecture. 

 

Greenmoor Rock used as a building stone

With lunchtime approaching, we then headed past the cricket ground to the Isle of Skye Quarry, which was purchased by the parish council. Although it has been infilled and is now covered in heather and gorse, large blocks of massive Greenmoor Rock are lying around the site.

 

The Isle of Skye Quarry

 

A Day Out to Elsecar - Part 3

 

A detail of sandstone walling on Distillery Side

Continuing with my day out to Elsecar, my next stop was to photograph the Grade II Listed buildings on Distillery Side, which takes its name from the coal tar distillery that operated here 1814 to 1818. Nos. 1-3 are now cottages, but these have been converted from the original building, which was a National School (1836) thought to have been erected by the 5th Earl Fitzwilliam. 

 

Nos. 1-3 Distillery Side

A little further along Distillery Side, Nos. 4-8 are a row of late C18 to early C19 cottages that were built to house workers at Elsecar New Colliery and, together with Nos. 1-3, are listed for group value as part of the colliery which, with its Newcomen Engine House, is a Scheduled Monument. 

 

Nos. 4-8 Distillery Side

During my previous visit to Elsecar, I had not explored the area beyond Elsecar Heritage Centre, with my investigations concentrating on Wath Road, and I was unaware of the colliery, the engine house or the canal basin a little further to the north. 

 

The Newcomen Engine House

Looking at the 1931 Ordnance Survey map of Elsecar, the first edition that was printed after the Elsecar Main Colliery had been opened, it is hard to imagine today what the village must have once looked like at its industrial prime – especially with the railway sidings being now removed, as I had previously encountered around Victoria Quays in Sheffield. 

 

The 1931 Ordnance Survey map of Elsecar

 

Moving on to Wath Road, I passed the late C18 terrace of cottages at Old Row, which were built by the 4th Earl Fitzwilliam to house workers at Elsecar New Colliery and are one of the earliest terrace of workers’ built for the estate, but I didn’t get close to them. 

 

Old Row

Next on my list to photograph was Station Row, of a similar date, which is thought to be based on plans produced in 1796 for the Earl by the architect John Carr of York, who was the leading architect in northern England at the time and was responsible for additions to the east front of Wentworth Woodhouse and for its stable block. 

 

A view along Station Row to the north

 

As with most private residences that I encounter during my general surveys of the historic architecture and building stones in Conservation Areas such as this, I didn’t stop to closely examine the stonework and just took a set of general record photographs that I would add to the British Listed Buildings website. 

 

A view along Station Row to the south

Approaching Station Row, formerly known as Colliery Row, the southern end comprises a massive well squared sandstone, which contains a considerable proportion of orange to brown coloured blocks; however, the first house is built with a highly weathered greyish siltstone, which has been repaired with very roughly applied sand and cement 'pointing' and patches of render. 

 

Another view along Station Row to the south

 

This sandstone used for the end wall, as with other large sections of walling along the rest of the terrace, looks like it is part of an extensive historic restoration and refacing of the terrace – to replace a building stone that the Fitzwilliam Estate decided was not fit for purpose. 

 

Reform Row

Further along Wath Road, Reform Row (1837) forms another terrace of 28 houses, this time built by the 5th Earl Fitzwilliam. Here, the masonry on the front of each house varies from roughly coursed and squared rubble silty sandstone to large blocks of sandstone, with distinct orange iron staining, which is laid in a snecked pattern. 

 

A view of the rear elevation of Reform Row

 

To the rear of Reform Row, as seen from Cobcar Lane, the masonry that I could see is again predominantly roughly squared iron rich sandstone – as also seen on the opposite side of the road at the Early C19 Cobcar Terrace, which Historic England describe as being “built after the 1849-1850 survey for the 1:10560 Ordnance Survey map, probably for the fifth Earl Fitzwilliam (1786-1857) who also commissioned similarly designed workers’ housing on Fitzwilliam Street”. 

 

Cobcar Terrace

I then took a diversion to take a quick look around the bridge on Wath Road, which crosses both the Harley Dike and a remaining section of the Dearne and Dove Canal, before retracing my steps back to Cobcar Lane. 

 

Harley Dike and the Dearne and Dove Canal

At Nos. 1-9 Cobcar Lane, there is another substantial Mid C19 terrace of 5 houses, again built by the 5th Earl Fitzwilliam, with the central property breaking slightly forward and having a pediment with a round window contained within it. After noting that the sandstone used here is similar to that seen elsewhere, I took a few photos before finding my way back to Church Street and then up to Elsecar railway station.

Nos. 1-9 Cobcar Lane