Geological Sites | Leeds
| Bradford | Calderdale
| Kirklees | Wakefield
 STATUS:
Local Geological Site
OTHER DESIGNATIONS:
COUNTY: West Yorkshire
DISTRICT: Bradford
OS GRID REF. SE 074 472
OS SHEET 1:50,000 Landranger 104 Leeds and Bradford
OS SHEET: 1:25,000 Explorer 297 Lower Wharfedale and Washburn Valley
BGS 1:50,000 Geological Sheet 69 Bradford (Solid and Drift edition)
FIRST DESIGNATED by West Yorkshire LGS Group in 1996
DATE OF MOST RECENT SURVEY West Yorkshire Geology Trust in January 2009
SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION produced by Neil Aitkenhead
DESIGNATION SHEET UPDATED August 2009
SITE DESCRIPTION:
The Addingham Edge Grit, of Namurian age, crops out on Addingham High
Moor as a
craggy escarpment along the 350m contour line between Nab End and the
outskirts of
Ilkley. The millstone quarry, known as ‘Millstone Lumps’ (SE
072 472) contains
exposures of cross bedded, coarse gritstones with pebble bands and impressions
of large
plant stems. The slopes below the quarries include several mapped post-glacial
landslips.
There are also numerous scattered blocks of Addingham Edge Grit, up
to several metres
in length and height, some of which have been fashioned into millstones
in various stages
of completion. These blocks also show various types of cross bedding
and fossil plant
remains.
There is a photo of the site looking from the slope below, featuring
a millstone, in the
Sheet Description 2000 Plate 1 p40 (see details below).
 HISTORICAL
ASSOCIATIONS:
The exposure has been quarried for millstones since the seventeenth
century and possibly
from much earlier times, as Iron Age querns have been found in the
fields below the
escarpment.
EDUCATIONAL VALUE:
The site is suitable for observing sandstone structures, quarrying
of millstones and to
observe the general geology of the district.
AESTHETIC CHARACTERISTICS:
It is an ideal viewpoint to observe the geological features of
Wharfedale and the Skipton
anticline to the north with the Askrigg Block beyond.
ACCESS AND SAFETY:
Good parking on Light Bank Lane (SE 061 470) or ascend from Addingham
Moorside
which has limited parking facilities. The site is approximately
1km from either parking
site using public footpaths. These are not suitable for wheelchairs.
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