Geological Sites | Leeds
| Bradford | Calderdale
| Kirklees | Wakefield
 STATUS:
Local Geological Site
OTHER DESIGNATIONS:
COUNTY: West Yorkshire
DISTRICT: Calderdale
OS GRID REF. SE 118 259
OS 1:50,000 Landranger 104 Leeds and Bradford
OS 1:25,000 Explorer 288 Bradford and Huddersfield
BGS 1:50,000 Sheet 77 Huddersfield (Solid and Drift)
FIRST DESIGNATED by West Yorkshire LGS Group in 1996
MOST RECENT SURVEY West Yorkshire Geology Trust February 2008
DESIGNATION SHEET UPDATED August 2009
SITE DESCRIPTION:
There are several old quarries in this site, some of which are very
overgrown and have
precipitous drops. The main quarry is not overgrown and has an excellent
section of the
Elland Flag sandstones and siltstones from the Upper Carboniferous
Langsettian (Lower
Coal Measures) in a 15m high face. The exposure illustrates the fine
grained, micaceous
nature of the Elland Flags, which allows the stone to be worked for
flags, slates and
building blocks.
HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS:
The approach to the quarries is along a flagged quarry track, with
evidence of wear by
sled runners.
Wood Head Quarries provided building stones for many of
the 17th century buildings in
Hipperholme and Coley.
There are adits exposed in the lower part of the
main quarry face. These were used for the
mining of the best flags, which were too deep to be easily quarried
from the surface in
early times. Mine adits are recorded in the BGS report Mining
in the Elland Flags (see
reference below) as Woodhead mine at Hipperholme, owned by A.
Longbottom and
worked from 1904-1905. There is no mention of this quarry in
the Huddersfield and
Halifax memoir 1930 (details below) so perhaps it was closed
by that time.
 EDUCATIONAL
VALUE:
This site has previously been used for educational purposes by
local schools. There is a
great variety of rock types, so it is useful for the identification
of sedimentary rocks and
structures. Evidence of worm burrows and plant fossils can be seen
in fallen blocks.
The site overlooks the Coal Measures escarpment at Beacon Hill,
Halifax. Several
benches of Elland Flags can be seen gently dipping to the south
east towards Brighouse
and beyond to Castle Hill, Huddersfield.
AESTHETIC CHARACTERISTICS:
The site overlooks the historic Shibden Valley and has views across
the Coal Measure
landscapes to the Millstone Grit landscapes of the Pennines.
ACCESS AND SAFETY:
There is public parking next to the Grammar School. Access is
from a footpath leading
off from Kirk Lane.
The quarries are not safe for members of the public.
The quarries have unprotected steep
rock faces and fallen blocks which maybe unstable. The quarry
face should not be
approached without hard hats. It is full of rusty cars and
other rubbish and many of the
slopes are made of quarry spoil which is overgrown and therefore
unstable. There is also
an unprotected mine adit at the base of the quarry which
should not be entered.
|
