The Horbury Rock at Storrs Hill Quarry

 

A view of Storrs Hill Quarry

From the time that I alighted from the No. 126 bus in Horbury to finishing my British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge at Sowood House, I had spent just over 4 hours looking at the Church of St. Peter and St. Leonard, the historic architecture of Horbury and Ossett and the granite monuments and Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstones in Holy Trinity churchyard. 

 

Quarries on the Horbury Rock

 

My plan for the last leg of a walk was to follow the escarpment of the Horbury Rock and then drop down to the Horbury Quarry, which is listed by the West Yorkshire Geology Trust as a Local Geological Site and has been used by the Leeds Geological Association (LGA) and other geology groups for their field trips. 

 

The topography between South Ossett and Horbury

After photographing Sowood Farmhouse, I followed the public footpath path across a field and was interested to see Rock House (c.1881), which although not a listed building has its roofline dominated by large Dutch gables on each elevation and Tudor style chimney stacks. 

 

Rock House

 

The house was built for George Harrop, who made his fortune in woollens manufacturing and owned the Albion Mills at nearby Horbury Bridge. His son John, one of 10 children, is buried with other members of his family at Holy Trinity church in Ossett. 

 

The Harrop family monument at Holy Trinity church

 

Following the badly eroded path as it dropped down the escarpment, I noticed a very small exposure of flaggy Horbury Rock but, not having my Estwing hammer with me to break off a small piece, I didn’t try and obtain a specimen. 

 

An exposure of Horbury Rock next to the public footpath

 

Turning sharply to the south-east, I was very surprised to see the expensive exposure of the Horbury Rock in the old Storrs Hill Quarry, which for some strange reason I had not noticed when undertaking online research for my day out using various maps. 

 

My first view of Storrs Hill Quarry

 

When looking through various websites on the history of Ossett, it is asserted that stone from this quarry was used to build Sowood Farmhouse and for the rebuilt but since demolished Holy Trinity church in Market Place. Zooming in to the photo that I took of Rock House, the sandstone used for the rear of the house, at least, looks like it has probably come from this quarry.

 

Another view of Storrs Hill Quarry

 

Access to the quarry face was prevented by a sturdy fence topped with barbed wire and I only took a few general photos from a distance. LGA had visited the quarry back in 2016 and the field report refers to the well developed cross-bedding, which is considered to be indicative of a low energy braided river system. 

 

Thick massive beds in the lower section of the quarry face

 

The general physical characteristics of colour and texture could be clearly seen and many parts of the exposure exhibit pronounced orange iron staining. As I have seen in many exposures of Pennine Coal Measures Group (PCMF) sandstones, the lower sections are composed of thick massive beds, with flaggy beds in the upper parts. 

 

A section showing massive lower and upper flaggy beds

 

This change in bedding reflects differences in the flow regime between the lower and upper parts of the river channel in which the sandstone was deposited. The flaggy beds have been subjected to surface physical and biological weathering that lead to the formation of the soil profile. 

 

A section showing flaggy beds

 

Looking on old Ordnance Survey (OS) maps, it can be seen that there is a substantial quarry face to the north side of the path from Sowood Farmhouse, with the area to the south of the section of the path along which I had been walking shown as large mounds of waste rock, which are now thickly covered in gorse. 

 

Gorse covered mounds of waste rock

 

Although a brief description accompanies a photo of graffiti in the Ossett Picture Gallery, I haven’t seen any documentation that records the history or production at this quarry, but it seems to have been quite substantial and I presume that many buildings in Ossett were built with this stone. 

 

The quarry section below the boundary wall to Rock House

 

Continuing past the boundary wall to Rock House, I came to a small exposure of flaggy Horbury Rock exposed beneath waste rock, where I was able to obtain a loose piece of sandstone and break it into smaller pieces by smashing it against the outcrop. 

 

An exposure of flaggy sandstone covered by waste rock

 

Except for the lack of feint iron banding, the fine grain size and muddy grey brown colouration are essentially identical to the specimen of sandstone that I had retrieved from a section of an old dilapidated boundary wall in Horbury. 

 

Specimens of Horbury Rock from Storrs Hill Quarry

 

Stopping briefly to take in the panoramic view across the lower Calder Valley, with the gently undulating landscape underlain by PCMF strata, which included the Emley Moor transmitting station in the distance, I carried on down the path to Jenkin Road. 

 

A panoramic view from the Storrs Hill Quarry

I stopped briefly to photograph the Grade II Listed early C19 Jenkin House, with its elegant 2-storey bow windows, before looking for the public footpath down to Horbury Quarry. I saw a snicket that seemed to coincide with the position of the footpath as marked on my copy of the 1:25,000 scale OS map, but I didn’t see the usual distinctive green signpost at its start. 

 

A view of Jenkin House

Since arriving in Horbury, I had been on the constant move for 4½ hours and had walked over 8 km. Although it was still only 2:30 pm, I had managed to see a good exposure of the Horbury Rock and decided that I had done enough on my day out to Horbury and Ossett. After photographing another substantial boundary wall, I then slowly walked up Jenkin Road to High Street, where I caught the No. 126 bus back to Wakefield.

 

A boundary wall on Jenkin Road

 

Graveyard Geology in Ossett

 

Granite monuments in Holy Trinity churchyard

My brief exploration of the historic architecture of Ossett included a very brief visit to Holy Trinity church, where I just took a few general photographs of its exterior, but I did spend some time looking at the large granite monuments in the north-west section of the churchyard. 

 

The north-west section of Holy Trinity churchyard

 

Over the last couple of years, I had helped my friend Catherine with her Bolsterstone Gravestone Project with the preparation of a Sheffield U3A Geology Group visit to Sheffield General Cemetery, led a walk around Moorgate Cemetery in Rotherham and had a look at the memorials in Wardsend Cemetery – all of which had prompted me to revive an interest in these. 

 

London Illustrated Geology Walks - Book 1

 

When working in the building restoration industry in London, it was necessary to develop stone identification and matching skills, to satisfy a typical specification required that “all materials used shall match the existing”. To help me this, I made reference to Dr. Eric Robinson’s London Illustrated Geological Walks to help with this. 

London Illustrated Geology Walks - Book 2

 

A major disadvantage of these is that they were illustrated with black and white photographs and it was therefore necessary to visit the locations mentioned, to get a good appreciation of each type of granite and the often considerable variation in colour and textures found in them. 

 

A selection of British and Irish granites in the Natural Stone Directory

This was the time before the internet and digital cameras enabled photographs to be taken cheaply and the only other resource available to me was the Natural Stone Directory, where my 1995 edition had photos of less than 20 granites from the British Isles. 

 

The Triton Stone Library in London

 

After developing a reasonable working knowledge of the general physical characteristics of granites from the Cornubian Batholith in Devon and Cornwall, Shap light and dark varieties from Cumbria, Rubislaw, Kemnay, Corrennie and Peterhead from Aberdeenshire, Ross of Mull from the Isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides and others from Ireland, I included many of these in the Triton Stone Library - a unique resource that has now been rehoused in the Redmires Building at Sheffield Hallam University. 

 

An educational resource by Peter Kennett

 

In practice, I can only recall a single occasion when I was approached to potentially find a source of Shap granite to repair the plinth of a statue owned by the Mercers' Company; however, nothing came of this and, as a geologist, I have since just been curious about these for my own interest and make good use of a resource produced by Peter Kennett for schools. 

 

A granite wheel cross

 

At the time of my visit to Ossett, it had rained very heavily and the various monuments and the surrounding ground were very slippery and with the overcast conditions preventing me from seeing these in the best light, I just took a few quick snaps of the granites that caught my eye. 

 

Various granite monuments

 

I have seen pink Peterhead granite this very many times when wandering around cemeteries and churchyards, as well as in Victorian banks and public buildings where it is often used in conjunction with Rubislaw granite and I saw this in a few of the monuments at Holy Trinity church. 

 

Various granite monuments

 

There were other grey granites that I did not recognise, which are probably from Scotland, but the offices of the British Geological Survey in Scotland and England have photographed their comprehensive collections of rock specimens and made these available online. 

 

A detail of Rubislaw granite (21 mm diameter coin)

 

Having had a quick look at the granite memorials, I then had a wander around the churchyard to find some of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) headstones, which had now become a feature of my days out whenever the route for a British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge included a churchyard or cemetery. 

 

A detail of the headstone of Corporal C. Fisher

 

I was most interested in finding regimental crests that I had not encountered, with the first of these belonging to Corporal C. Fisher of the 24th (Tyneside Irish) Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers. The colour of the stone was obscured by algae and it was only after I looked closely that I could see the shell fragments that identify as Portland stone, which is the most common stone used for the CWGC headstones. 

 

A detail of the headstone of Lance Corporal E. Jessop

The Portland stone headstone of Lance Corporal E. Jessop of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers was free of algae but, very nearly 100 years after it was made, the detailing on the crest is not very clear and shell fragments have been weathered proud. 

 

A detail of the headstone of Private A. Sheard

The shell content of the Portland stone headstone of Private A. Sheard of the 4th Battalion of the Training Reserve is also quite visible. Limestone reacts with the carbonic acid in rainwater and weathering of this nature is only to be expected, but this would have been exacerbated by the sulphurous emissions from the burnt coal that powered steam engines at the many textile mills in Ossett and led to the severe blackening of the stonework to Holy Trinity church. 

 

Botticino marble headstones

 

The atmospheric pollution may explain the fact that 4 of the WWII headstones that I saw, with inscriptions and the regimental crests cut by a CNC milling machine, are Botticino marble replacements. These were presumably originally made of Portland stone, as the monumental mason’s worksheet for 3 of these includes Private G.E. Hallawell of the Lincolnshire Regiment and Guardsman G. Gosnay of the Grenadier Guards in the same order, whose Portland stone headstones are still quite legible. 

 

The headstones of Private G.E. Hallawell and Guardsman G. Gosnay

 

By now, I had seen nearly 500 hundred CWGC headstones on my travels and I had always been impressed by the way that they were kept clean and I was therefore surprised to see that these are covered in algae; however, Botticino marble, which is actually a Jurassic micritic limestone and not a true marble, weathers to reveal stylolites, veins and organic and inorganic inclusions and the algae highlights the textures formed by these.

 

A detail of the Botticino marble headstone of Fusilier J.W. Davis

 

Historic Architecture in Ossett - Part 2

 

A detail of the west door surround at Holy Trinity church

Including the time when I had to shelter from the very heavy rain, I spent less than 20 minutes looking at the historic architecture around Market Place in Ossett and then went to find the first of the 4 buildings that were on my British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge. 

 

The former rag warhouse on Wesley Street

The former rag warehouse of the premises of Edward Clay and Son, who manufactured shoddy and mungo and still produce mainly felt, was built in the early to mid C19 but I just took a single photograph and headed along Ventnor Way back towards the town centre. 

 

The commemorative plaque on Ventnor Way

 

In the boundary wall of the King’s Way Methodist Church is a limestone plaque, which commemorates the end of the Napoleonic Wars and was was originally set in the Church of England day and Sunday school, which was demolished to make way for Ventnor Way. 

 

A view of Market Place

 

After taking a photo of the K6 telephone kiosk on Dale Street, I had another quick look at Market Place and the area around the town hall, where many of the Victorian buildings to the north of it – including mills and rag warehouses – were demolished and the area redeveloped in the second half of the C20 with various nondescript buildings. 

 

The corner of Town End and New Street

Making my way to Church Street, I immediately noticed the United Methodist Free Church (1857) on Dale Street, which has been converted into flats. As with various buildings that I had seen in Ossett and in Horbury, I thought that this would be listed and it does make me wonder what criteria Historic England and ultimately the Secretary of State apply when selecting listed buildings. 

 

The United Methodist Free Church

 

Continuing along Church Street, the Holy Trinity C of E Primary School, which first appears on the 1894 Ordnance Survey (OS) map, looks typical of the board schools that were built following the Elementary Education Act of 1870. 

 

The Holy Trinity C of E Primary School

 

I just took a few general record photos, which show that it is built in local sandstone that is probably quarried from the Horbury Rock although, as mentioned in my last post, the Thornhill Rock was quarried not far away. 

 

Northfield Mill

 

The former Northfield Mill (1888), now apartments, is built with a similar sandstone but again I only took a couple of photos before continuing to the Grade II* Listed Holy Trinity church (1865) by W.H. Crossland, a Huddersfield born architect who was a pupil of Sir George Gilbert Scott. 

 

Holy Trinity church

 

The church was not open and I spent most of my time looking around the churchyard and trying to get the very tall spire in my camera shots from a distance and, except for a quick look at the ornate surrounds to the west door, I didn’t get close enough to have a good look at the stonework. 

 

The west door of Holy Trinity church

 

My next stop was the Grade II Listed mid C19 Springstone House, which is built with coursed local sandstone walling, ashlar dressings and a Welsh slate roof. I just took a single photograph and made my way along Dewsbury Road, where there are a couple of old brick built mills of no great architectural merit. 

 

Springstone House

 

Turning into Dale Street, I headed back towards the centre of Ossett and passed several sandstone built houses, which included modest detached villas and short terraces. The 1854 OS map marks several rows of tenters, used for stretching and drying cloth, at the back of the buildings at the southern end of the road, which shows that commercial and residential areas were not yet separated. 

 

Houses on Dale Street

 

Returning to Market Place, I carried on down Bank Street to Illingworth Street, where some of the Victorian buildings still remain, but a car park occupies a space where some have been demolished. These include the Temperance Hall (1888), which is now the New Spring Church and a rag warehouse, used as a children’s play centre and a venue for learning martial arts. 

 

The entrance to the Temperance Hall

 

Turning onto Prospect Road and starting off on my walk back to Horbury, I quickly stopped to look at section of rock-faced walling, where the lowest courses have weathered to reveal a body of grey sandstone, which contrasts strongly to the orange coloured weathered stone. 

 

Weathered sandstone to walling on Prospect Road

 

This looks like another use of the Horbury Rock, as also seen at the former Mount Zion Primitive Methodist Church (1863) on Queen Street, which has well squared and coursed walling with a broached finish and ashlar dressings. 

 

The former Mount Zion Primitive Methodist Church

 

Carrying on down the hill to The Green, I stopped briefly to look at the blue plaque dedicated to the philosopher Hannah Pickard, which is attached to the large detached house on the corner of Southdale Road, Green Mount. 

 

The blue plaque on Green Mount

 

Further down the hill is the Grade II Listed Christ Church, which was not part of my Photo Challenge. Looking at it it from a distance, it didn't appear to have any features and I just took a single photo from a distance and continued down to Sowood Road. 

 

Christ Church

 

Sowood Farmhouse, which has C19 alterations that obscure its actual date of 1689, was the last building on my Photo Challenge. With the farmhouse being set at right angles to road and the front elevation obscured by a high garden hedge, I just took the best photo that I could and then headed off to find the footpath that would take me back to Horbury.

 

The front elevation of Sowood Farmhouse