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Local Geology - Landscapes - Page 1 , 2 |
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Coal Measure Landscapes |
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The regional tilt of the local rock is eastwards. The
weathering and
erosion of rock strata has created a series of escarpments with
steep westward facing scarp slopes and gentler
dip slopes to the east.
To the northwest from Castle Hill, sandstone beds form the Hall Bower and Newsome benches, with shales forming the intervening steep slopes of the Coal Measure escarpments. Beneath these escarpments, hidden in the depths of the Holme valley lies the boundary between the Coal Measures and the older Rough Rock, which forms the uppermost bed of the Millstone Grit. Further benches of Grenoside and Greenmoor sandstones have provided flat, well-drained sites for the nearby villages of Almondbury to the east and Farnley Tyas and Shepley to the southeast, where many of the traditional stone buildings are built from locally quarried sandstone. For more information about the rocks which make up the coal measures see our Local Geology - Rocks section.
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Millstone Grit Landscapes |
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| West of Castle Hill beyond the Holme Valley, the Coal Measures have been removed by erosion. Underlying beds of Millstone Grit have weathered into west facing gritstone escarpments such as Pule Hill and Standedge. Many of these edges have eroded into strange shaped blocks and boulders. Gritstone edges characterise Pennine landscapes, often forming a series of landmarks, proudly standing out against distant skylines. | |
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Eastwards from Castle Hill towards Fenay Beck and Kirkburton the
landscape takes on a gentler appearance, influenced by the underlying
shales of the
Coal Measures and the relative lack of thick sandstones.
Clay soils, developed from the weathering of shales, led to the
establishment of pleasant stretches of deciduous woodland found at
Royd House Wood, Farnley Bank and Carr Wood.
The valley below seems too deep for the small Rushfield Dike running
north eastward, which may be described as a misfit stream, suggesting that
the valley was previously shaped by a much larger and more powerful river,
perhaps glacial meltwater.
To the east of Fenay Beck, Lepton Edge forms the next escarpment, with the villages of Emley, Flockton and Grange Moor on sandstones benches, which dip gently at about 5 degrees to the east. This scarp and dip landscape, although not visible from Castle Hill, continues further to the east beyond the district, where the Woolley Edge escarpment forms the high ground beyond West Bretton. The highest terrain of the district lies to the south west where Huddersfield White Rock sandstone underlies the peat covered moors of Black Hill and Holme Moss. On this tree less and exposed landscape only resilient mosses, moor grasses and the distinctive cotton grass can survive in the harsh climate on impoverished acid soils which develop from a quartz rich sandstone. In places where vegetation has been removed by acid rain and erosion, the exposed peat is cut into deep drainage channels. |
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The flanks of these upland gritstones plateaux are dissected by numerous
steep rocky cloughs, containing waterfalls where streams tumble over
alternate beds of soft shales and resistant sandstones.
Natural processes are continually modifying the landscape. On steep slopes such as March Hill, north west of March Haigh Reservoir near Marsden, and West Nab near Meltham, down-slope movements have resulted in landslips. The upland areas receive high levels of rainfall and are the source of much of the district's water supply as they replenish the numerous reservoirs dotted across the landscape. This stored water is used mainly for Yorkshire Water's public supply but also by local industry and to maintain the Huddersfield Narrow Canal's water level. For more information see our Local Geology - Water section
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The rocks of an area are often revealed in the selection of materials used
for the building of houses and dry stone walls. In many Pennine villages
and farms, the use of locally quarried
sandstone
creates a distinctive
landscape where dark weathered buildings blend naturally into the local
scenery. The use of hedges and fences as field boundaries indicates the
presence of shales and the scarcity, or even absence, of local sandstones.
In many areas of the Coal Measures, where shales and clays form a high
percentage of the underlying rock, bricks were often manufactured and
replaced sandstones as the predominant building material. For more information
about the use of local stone see our
Local Geology - Quarrying section.
For more information about the Rocks and Landscapes of Huddersfield see our other pages on Local Geology and our guide to the Geology of Huddersfield. Publications |
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