A Geology Field Trip in Nottingham

 

The Park Tunnel

Following my exploration of the geology and historic buildings of Grenoside, Whitley and Ecclesfield, in Sheffield, my next day out was to lead the Sheffield U3A Geology Group on their October 2022 field trip to Nottingham, to look at some Triassic geology and the historic architecture around the Lace Market. 

 

Page 1 of the report on the field trip to Nottingham

 

After spending very many hours on its preparation, as well as undertaking a full day recce with the group leader Paul, I have to say that a turnout of only 7 of more than 45 members was really quite disappointing – especially since 19 members had made the effort to get to Leeds on a cold February day in 2019. 

 

A report in the Mercian Geologist

 

Drawing on my own professional experience as a geologist, with specialist interests in historic architecture and stone matching learned in the building restoration industry in London, I had essentially based the walk on a very long day out that I spent in the city during the 2019 Easter Bank Holiday; however, for the granites that we had encountered on Old Market Square during the recce, I was relying on the report in the Mercian Geologist by Turner and Waltham. 

 

The Chester Formation in the Park Tunnel

 

Arriving at the tram stop on Old Market Square, where I had arranged for us to meet, I was a bit dismayed to discover that preparations for the forthcoming Nottingham Winter Wonderland event were well underway and, being unable to see anything, we quickly walked up to Derby Road to the St. Barnabas Roman Catholic Cathedral before going to take a good look at the Park Tunnel. 

 

A section through cross-bedding in the roof of the Park Tunnel

 

This provides outstanding examples of the various lithologies and sedimentary structures – particularly the three dimensional views of the cross-bedding - found in the Chester Formation, which I thought would be the highlight of the day and we spent 25 minutes looking at these. 

 

A pebble of metaquartzite

 

From part of the exposure hidden behind bushes, I pulled out a loose pebble of purple metaquartzite that is thought to be derived from the Armorican Massif - in what is now Brittany in north-west France. Along with pebbles of white vein quartz, I had found pebbles of this in the Quaternary glaciofluvial gravels in Doncaster, but this was the first sample that I had obtained directly from the Triassic bedrock. 

 

A group photo by Anne Fowles at Park Terrace

Ascending the central stairwell, where the Permian Bulwell stone has been used to build the retaining walls, we stopped to have a group photograph taken outside a house by the eminent Nottingham architect Thomas Chambers Hine, before continuing along Park Terrace. 

 

Sandstone Caves of Nottingham by Tony Waltham

 

Here we stopped for a few minutes to discuss the various caves that have been excavated beneath some of the houses here. Although not usually accessible by the general public, since the recce I had purchased the excellent booklet - Sandstone Caves of Nottingham - by Tony Waltham, which has photographs and diagrams of some of these ornamental caves. 

 

Inspecting the Ancaster limestone on Lenton Road

 

At the end of Park Terrace, we descended the Park Steps and went to have a look at further exposures of the Chester Formation on Lenton Road and, on the opposite side of the road, a few members used their hand lenses to examine the ooliths in the Ancaster limestone that has been used to build the retaining wall. 

 

The Chester Formation on Castle Road

 

Continuing past Castle Rock, we were all very tempted to have a quick half at Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem but, with the permission of the landlord, we instead went to have a quick look at the upstairs bar and rooms, which are excavated into the sandstone – with a promise that the next time we were in Nottingham, we would stay for a drink – before having lunch on Castle Road, opposite the bronze sculptures of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. 

 

In the Nottingham Contemporary

 

After lunch, we made our way to the Nottingham Contemporary art gallery to look at the current exhibition - Hollow Earth: Art, Caves & The Subterranean Imaginary – and browse in the shop, before heading along High Pavement to look at the various sandstones in the County Gaol, the adjoining Shire Hall and then St. Mary’s church, which I made sure we saw before it closed. 

 

Outside the entrance to the Shire Hall

 

When I previously visited the interior of the church, it was being prepared for a service and chairs had been laid out along the nave and I just took a quick set of general record photographs. I hadn’t realised that during the C19 investigation of structural problems, the remains of the earlier Norman church were discovered – including parts of columns upon which the Perpendicular Gothic arcade had been laid. 

 

Norman masonry beneath the Perpendicular Gothic arcade

 

Moving on down to Hollow Stone, we had a quick look at a series of small excavated cellars that I had discovered during online research since the recce, before heading along Bellar Gate and up Plumptre Street - to have a good look at the various multi-storey warehouses and workshops that are at the heart of the rejuvenated Lace Market district of Nottingham. 

 

An outcrop of the Chester Formation on Hollow Stone

 

Many of these very impressive red brick buildings have been demolished, but there are still many examples with their Ancaster stone dressings and elaborately carved surrounds to the entrances, which architects such as Hine and Watson Fothergill were employed to design and reflect the prosperity of their owners. 

 

At No.12 Plumptre Street

 

By this stage of the field trip, we had visited all of the rock outcrops and nearly all of the historic buildings that I wanted the group to see, so we had a very leisurely stroll around Stoney Street - stopping every now and again to further examine the Ancaster limestone with our hand lenses and to admire the fine details. 

 

Views of the Lace Market

 

Taking a break from leading the group, while still close at hand if anyone had any queries, I set about taking photographs of various buildings for the British Listed Buildings website, which were on our route back to Old Market Square, before we finished for the day at the former Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Bank (1882) - considered to be the finest work by Watson Fothergill. 

 

A detail of a doorway on Warser Gate