Geological Sites | Leeds
| Bradford | Calderdale
| Kirklees | Wakefield
 STATUS:
Local Geological Site
OTHER DESIGNATIONS: SEGI
COUNTY: West Yorkshire
DISTRICT: Bradford
OS GRID REF. SE 142 401 (Trig point)
OS SHEET 1:50,000 Landranger 104 Leeds and Bradford
OS SHEET: 1:25,000 Explorer 288 – Bradford and Huddersfield
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 Visited January 2009 by West Yorkshire Geology
Trust
SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION produced by Neil Aitkenhead
DESIGNATION SHEET UPDATED August 2009
SITE DESCRIPTION:
Baildon Moor is a faulted outlier of Lower Coal Measures strata. Exposures
of 80 Yard
Rock, which forms the summit of Baildon Moor, and 48 Yard Rock, which
forms the
main platform, are difficult to find. To the north of Baildon Hill,
Namurian Rough
Rock is faulted down along several NW-SE trending faults. At SE 153
405 there is a
Rough Rock quarry near Hawksworth Road which exposes the junction
between the
Rough Rock and the Rough Rock Flags. Eaves Crag Quarry at SE 149
405 also exposes
Rough Rock and there are crags of Rough Rock at the east end of the
LGS
Mudstones and siltstones below the 48 Yard Rock can be seen in a
few gullies. At SE
137 397 above Crook Farm, old coal pit spoil heaps contain numerous
marine fossils,
including Gastrioceras, Dunbarella and Lingula
The site contains many geological and archaeological features, including
fossil sites,
ganister rich in plant fossils and medieval bell pits where the Hard
Bed and Soft Bed
coals were mined.
Evidence of quarrying for stone can be found in abandoned workings,
where rock was
split along
micaceous partings to produce flagstones.
 HISTORICAL
ASSOCIATIONS:
In medieval times Baildon Moor contained ironstone pits and bloomery
sites. Evidence of
smelting can be found on Baildon Hill at SE 140 402 where thick
layers of reddened
shale have been dumped. There are bell pits where the Hard Bed
and Soft Bed coals
were mined. In Green and Russill (1878) p553 there is an interesting
account of the
faulting and the mining history on Baildon Moor. The thick clay
which underlies the
Hard Coal is worked on the western side of the hill for making
tiles and chimney pots.
EDUCATIONAL VALUE:
This is an excellent educational area as the geology can be clearly
seen in the landscapes
of Baildon Moor. There is also a long history of exploitation
of sandstone and coal on
the moor.
AESTHETIC CHARACTERISTICS:
There are excellent views in all directions from Baildon Moor,
to the south across the
Upper Carboniferous Coal Measures to the Millstone Grit of
the Pennines and to the
north into the Lower Carboniferous rocks of the Yorkshire
Dales.
ACCESS AND SAFETY
There are numerous car parks surrounding Baildon Moor. However,
by parking near
Bracken Hall Countryside Centre, Shipley Glen and Baildon
Moor may be visited during
a 4km excursion on foot.
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