Geological Sites | Leeds
| Bradford | Calderdale
| Kirklees | Wakefield
 STATUS: RIGS
OTHER DESIGNATIONS: Site of Special Scientific Interest
COUNTY: West Yorkshire
DISTRICI': Leeds
OS GRID REF. SE 378 423
OS 1:50,000 Landranger 104 Leeds and Bradford
OS 1:25,000 EXPLORER 289 Leeds
BGS 1:50,000 SHEET 70 Leeds
FIRST DESIGNATED West Yorkshire RIGS Group in 1997
DATE OF MOST RECENT SURVEY December 2007 by West Yorkshire Geology Trust
SITE DESCRIPTION:
The nature reserve is largely a large abandoned quarry in the Permian
Cadeby Formation (Lower Magnesian Limestone).
Although heavily overgrown, several faces (up to 5m high) are visible.
They display well bedded and jointed horizontal, pale limestone. The
beds show fine algal lamination, with solution cavities often lined with
calcite or dolomite crystals. There is a small cave in one face.
HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS:
This is a quarry from which a large amount of stone has been extracted.
It may have been used for lime for agricultural use or for building
stone. It is clear from the Geological Memoir 1950 (details below)
p71 that the quarry was disused then.
EDUCATIONAL VALUE:
The area is probably of most value for secondary, further and higher
education use. The limestone rock types indicate what Permian marine
environments might have been like. When examined in context with Hetchell
Crags, the unconformity reveals the changing geological history of
the area. The limestone area also shows contrasts in scenery, natural
vegetation and land use with the underlying Carboniferous rocks.
AESTHETIC CHARACTERISTICS:
The flora of the limestone and the management style of periodic clearing
and burning of encroaching trees and undergrowth used in the wood are
interesting.
ACCESS AND SAFETY:
There is good access from the car park on the lane between Thorner and
East Keswick. Keep to paths within the nature reserve to minimise damage
to protected flora. Faces can be overgrown in summer. Rock faces appear
stable.
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