A Walk From Royston to Felkirk

 

Plant fossils in a piece of red shale from Rabbit Ings Nature Reserve

When drawing up a list of potential places to visit in 2023 by public transport - to continue my investigation of mediaeval churches, undertake British Listed Buildings Photo Challenges or see some new geology – I was acutely aware that it was becoming increasingly difficult to do this, due to the limited bus services to what were becoming increasingly remote destinations. 

 

Medieval Churches of West Yorkshire

 

Not long before I made plans to visit the Church of St. John the Baptist in Royston, I purchased the book - Medieval Churches of West Yorkshire by Peter Ryder - whose earlier work on the Anglo-Saxon churches has been very useful to me in the last few years. 

 

The Ordnance Survey map of the area between Royston and Felkirk

 

Looking through this, I discovered St. Peter’s church in the small hamlet of Felkirk, which is just over 2.5 km from St. John's church as the crow flies and, after exploring the latter, I planned to walk to Felkirk via the Rabbit Ings Nature Reserve – starting firstly by having a look at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstones in Royston detached churchyard. 

 

A detail of the headstone of Driver F.D. Dearden

 

As usual, I was on the lookout for new regimental crests, which I think are excellent examples of fine relief sculpture and are part of an ongoing photographic project, but I didn’t see any that were new to me; however to make a record of the condition of the Portland stone, I photographed the headstone of Driver F. D. Dearden of the Royal Army Service Corps and a few others. 

 

The headstones of Private C.N. Hill (L) and Private H. Halstead (R)

 

I was very interested to see that the Portland stone headstone of Private H. Halstead of the King’s Own Light Infantry seems to be much shorter than the standard design and also that the headstone of Guardsman S. Bell of the Coldstream Guards is made of a sandstone that may be another example of Woodkirk Blue stone from near Morley. 

 

The headstone of Guardsman S. Bell

 

After taking a photograph of the elaborate Italian white marble headstone of Reuben Griffiths d.1923), where the weathering has left the lead lettering standing very proud, I set off along Church Hill on my way to Felkirk. 

 

The headstone of Reuben Griffiths

 

Passing late Victorian/Edwardian terraced and interwar semi-detached houses, I stopped only once to have a quick look at the disused Barnsley Canal. This was built in the 1790's to provide a transport link from Barnby Basin near Cawthorne, where foundries owned by the Spencer family had long been using the local iron ore - later developing into a very important industrial centre once they had began to fully exploit the thick coal seams in the area. 

 

A view of the Barnsley Canal on Church Hill

 

Continuing up Cross Lane to Lund Hill Lane, I eventually arrrived at the entrance to Rabbit Ings Nature Reserve, which has been landscaped from the former colliery yard and spoil heap of the Monckton Colliery and the Royston Drift Mine. To the east of the railway line, the British Geological Survey map shows that the land between here and Felkirk is mostly made of infilled ground, resulting from coal mining in the area that started in 1875 and ended in 1989. 

 

The geological map of the area between Royston and Felkirk

Making my way along the path to the north of the landscaped tip, I stopped to ask for directions to the area of exposed red shale that, according to the Sheffield Area Geology Trust (SAGT), is a good source of plant fossils. 

 

A wooden dragonfly seat

 

During a good conversation with a former councillor, who now volunteers to undertake such tasks as mowing the grass around the seating areas at the nature reserve, I learned that the waste products of the coking plant here, which is marked on the 1906 edition of the 1:25,000 map, have not been without their problems here.

 

An exposure of ceramacised red shale

 

The SAGT website had previously drawn my attention to the magnificent plant fossils that have been found in similar ceramicised red shale at the Waverley Estate near Treeton, which has been used for the footpaths. I was hoping to find some interesting specimens but, despite spending 20 minutes rummaging through the shale, I found just one fossil of an indeterminate plant that I wanted to add to my growing rock collection.

 

A piece of ceramicised red shale from Rabbit Ings Nature Reserve

 

I quickly made my way along Sandybridge Lane and Slack Lane to the tiny hamlet of Felkirk, where there is only St. Peter’s church and half a dozen houses, with the Grade II Listed Felkirk House being the most substantial of these. 

 

Felkirk House