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| A datestone on Hall Farmhouse |
My brief exploration of Wath-upon-Dearne and West Melton started when alighting from the No. 22x bus on Manvers Way and then continued with a walk up Station Road to High Street, before going up Sandygate and back down to Church Street and then finished at West Street, via All Saints’ churchyard.
According to the various British Geological Survey solid and drift maps that I have access to, I had traversed the alluvium deposited by the River Dearne and continued up onto the north-east facing dip slope of the Oaks Rock - the angle of which is not recorded on the map.
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| Brook Dike to the north of Brook Farmhouse |
Looking at the England topographic map, I had started my walk at an elevation of 20 m above sea level, reaching a high point of 49 m at the top of Sandygate before coming back down to All Saints church at 39 m and dropping further to 30 m at Brook Dike, as seen north of Brook Farmhouse.
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| The topography around Wath-upon-Dearne and West Melton |
When continuing my walk to West Melton, finishing at Christ Church at a height of 57 m, I had barely noticed the change in topography but, when following the path back to towards Wath-upon-Dearne, I was very surprised to see that the Brook Dike occupied a very distinct valley cut into the Oaks Rock – with an altitude of 21 m being measured here.
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| Newhill Grange |
Making my way up to Newhill Grange, where a group of agricultural buildings have now been converted to residential use, I eventually was able to pinpoint the Grade II Listed mid C18 Newhill Grange Farmhouse and photograph it for the British Listed Buildings website.
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| Newhill Grange Farmhouse |
Whilst looking for the farmhouse, I collected a small sample of Oaks Rock from the adjacent ploughed field which, apart from being slightly finer grained, looks extremely similar to the sample that I had obtained at No. 155 Melton High Street.
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| A specimen of Oaks Rock from Newhill Grange |
Continuing my walk along Newhill Road, I briefly stopped to look at the ridge of the Abdy Rock in the distance, upon which Hoober Stand has been built. It is one of the highest points in Rotherham and, like Keppel’s Column – another folly on the Wentworth Estate – it can be seen from miles around and forms a very distinctive landmark.
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| A view towards the ridge of Abdy Rock on which Hoober Stand is set |
At Newhill Park, I couldn’t help but notice a couple of large blocks of sandstone that seem to be deliberately maintained as a feature – because the surrounding vegetation has been sprayed with some kind of weedkiller.
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| Blocks of sandstone in Newhill Park |
Moving on to Hall Farmhouse (1690), I noted that it is built in soft yellow coloured Oaks Rock, with the front elevation having apparently been inappropriately restored with sand and cement in the not too distant past.
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| Hall Farmhouse |
When planning my walk, I noticed that the 1855 Ordnance Survey map showed a few quarries at the point where Newhill Road joins Quarry Hill Road. Although they have long since closed, I brought my Estwing hammer with me on my walk and went to investigate – in hope that I would find another exposure of the Oaks Rock.
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| Exposures of the Oaks Rock |
I had a quick wander around the vegetated waste tips and encountered steeply sloping worked ground to the south, which I presume to be on the escarpment, but I didn’t encounter any rock faces – except for a couple of very small exposures. From the largest of these I collected a small sample, which is medium grained, finely bedded and contains dark iron bearing minerals scattered throughout the body of the stone.
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| Samples of Oaks Rock collected during the day out |
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