This document provides an overview of the geology and historic architecture found in South Yorkshire, England. It includes geological maps of the region showing the different rock formations. Examples are given of various building stones that were locally quarried, such as sandstone and limestone, and how they were used in historic structures like Conisbrough Castle, Roche Abbey, and the Palace of Westminster. The effects of weathering on the stones over time are also discussed.

1. Geology & Historic Architecture
An introduction to...
in
South Yorkshire

2. A geological map of the British Islands

3. A collection of building stones and faience tiles

4. A geological map of South Yorkshire and the surrounding counties

5. A sand and gravel pit at Ash Holt in Doncaster

6. Triassic Sherwood Sandstone overlain by Quaternary fluvio-glacial sand and gravel – Ash Holt

7. The Yellow Sands Formation – an aquifer and source of moulding and building sand

8. Brodsworth Hall, showing the restoration of low level stones affected by rising damp

9. Weathering of fine details

10. A weathered scroll bracket

11. An old quarry face showing variation in bed thickness and joints and fractures

12. The Quarry Garden at Brodsworth Hall

13. A simplified map of the geology around the Don Gorge

14. Conisbrough Castle. The ashlar masonry to the keep is exceptionally well preserved

15. All round views from the keep at Conisbrough Castle

16. A bryozoan reef at North Cliff Quarry – a source of stone for Conisbrough castle?

17. Roche Abbey – relatively simple masonry with the stone still in good condition

18. The Palace of Westminster

19. Architectural details at the Palace of Westminster

20. Charles Dickens described the stone
as being “the worst ever used in the
capital”, having seen the need for
constant, expensive repair.

21. An old quarry face in 1996

22. 2014

23. Detail of drill holes for the plug and feathers method of extracting large blocks of stone

24. Differential weathering of the Cadeby Formation in Anston Stones Wood

25. A pinnacle at South Anston Memorial Gardens

26. A section of a mullion from the Palace of Westminster - at Clifton Park Museum

27. “”Rotherham Red” sandstone at All Saints church and the Chapel of Our Lady on the Bridge

28. Boston Park – massive and flaggy sandstone, with beds full of ironstone pellets

29. An old “Rotherham Red” sandstone quarry at Boston Park in Rotherham

30. St. Helen’s church in Treeton – the limestone in the tower is said to come from Roche Abbey

32. Reddened soil overlying the Mexborough Rock to the south of Rotherham

33. The keep at Peveril Castle – fine sandstone ashlar with a limestone rubble core

34. Carboniferous limestone used for walling
The interior of the keep – cavernous decay within the sandstone walls

35. Views over Castleton from Peveril Castle

36. Cave Dale – a landscape resulting from collapsed caverns and erosion in a periglacial climate

37. The Chatsworth Grit at Burbage Rocks - a coarse gritstone formed in a deltaic environment

38. A detail of the Chatsworth Grit – a coarse gritstone with pebbles of predominantly vein quartz

39. A view south along Curbar Edge – a further example of the Chatsworth Grit

40. Sheffield Town Hall & The Peace Gardens – Millstone Grit from Derbyshire & Huddersfield

41. Greenmoor Rock at the old Green Moor quarry – once occupied by the Rock Inn

42. The Green Moor Quarry RIGS before cleaning of loose rock and vegetation

43. The Green Moor Quarry RIGS after cleaning – now part of the Stoneway Manor housing estate

44. A view north along the escarpment at the Isle of Skye Quarry in Green Moor

45. A local application of the Greenmoor Rock for dry stone walling and the village stocks

46. St. John the Baptist church in Penistone