Geological Sites | Leeds
| Bradford | Calderdale
| Kirklees | Wakefield
 STATUS:
Local Geological Site
OTHER DESIGNATIONS:
COUNTY: West Yorkshire
DISTRICT: Bradford
OS GRID REF. SE 156 371
OS SHEET 1:50,000 Landranger 104 Leeds and Bradford
OS SHEET: 1:25,000 Explorer 288 Bradford and Huddersfield
BGS Geological 1:50,000 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 Upper Carboniferous (Lower Coal Measures) Stanningley Rock and 48
Yard Rock
and associated strata in the quarry comprise a total exposure of about
30m in two quarries
for the former brickworks. The lower quarry reveals an inter-bedded sequence
of
siltstones and fine sandstones with about half a metre of recumbent slump
folds which
may be related to instability on the bed of a lake.
The upper quarry exposes
mudstones and siltstones coarsening upward into the sandstone
of the 48 Yard Rock. This sandstone may be interpreted as deposition
in a mouth bar. A
rock fall in 2004 has revealed many well preserved plant fossils together
with the sand
filled burrows referred to as Arenicolites carbonarius.
HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS:
This is the site of the former Wrose Hill brickworks where the section
included the 36
Yard Coal, ganister and pipe clay which were worked for the manufacture
of firebricks
and sanitary tubes. Green and Russell (1878) recorded that the fireclay
was 5ft thick and
quite white. The Halifax Hard Bed Coal was seen to be 1ft 10inches thick
and rested
directly above the fireclay (p111).
 EDUCATIONAL
VALUE:
This is a suitable site for higher level students to investigate depositional
environments
and palaeocurrents.
AESTHETIC CHARACTERISTICS:
Extensive views of the Aire Valley towards Baildon Moor.
ACCESS AND SAFETY:
Access to the site is via Carr Lane. There is parking in nearby residential
roads. The
lower quarry is visible from the road and footpaths run below the face.
The area beneath
the lower quarry is grassed and level, giving good sight of the rock
faces, especially when
the trees are not in leaf. In places the site is somewhat overgrown with
trees, bushes and
vegetation and will require ‘gardening’ at some future date.
The talus slopes beneath the
quarry faces are loose and should not be climbed.
The upper quarry is
accessed from steps on Carr Lane and the face can be seen from
below. A wooden fence and warning notices have been erected below the
main face of
the upper quarry, which is subject to rock falls.
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