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Geology Of Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is one of the most geology, geologically and scenically diverse counties in England, with rocks from the Precambrian through to the Jurassic represented. These varying rock-types are responsible for the three major areas of the county, each with its own distinctive scenery and land-use - the Forest of Dean in the west, bordering Wales, the Cotswolds in the east, and in between, the Severn Vale. Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean, situated between the rivers Severn and River Wye, Wye, is formed of a raised basin of Palaeozoic rocks folded in the Variscan Orogeny, similar to the South Wales Coalfield to the west. Underlain by great thicknesses of the Old Red Sandstone, the basin is filled with Carboniferous limestones, sandstones and Forest of Dean Coalfield, coal measures - all of which have contributed to the industrial history of the region. Sometimes called ‘the prettiest coalfield in Britain’, the Forest's main coal output was in the 18th, 19th and early 20th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freeminer
''Freeminer'' is an ancient title given to coal or iron miners in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, who have earned the right to mine personal plots, known as ''gales''. History of Freemining For hundreds of years, mining of the Forest of Dean Coalfield and iron reserves has been regulated through a system of Freemining, with the Free Miner's Mine Law Court sitting at the Speech House from 1682. The earliest known existing copy of ''Dean Miners’ Laws and Privileges'', known locally as the ''Book of Dennis'', dates from 1610 but the copy itself contains references to much earlier origins. It also claims that Freemining rights were granted to Foresters by Edward I who, in so doing, also confirmed that such 'customes and franchises' had existed since 'tyme out of mynde'. Freeminers had been instrumental in recapturing Berwick-upon-Tweed several times (1296, 1305 and 1315) and it is thought that these privileges were granted as a reward for their endeavours. A plaque b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Symonds Yat
Symonds Yat is a village in the Wye Valley in the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, and a popular tourist destination. It straddles the River Wye, and is within a few miles of Monmouthshire and the Welsh border. The two settlements either side of the river are known as Symonds Yat West and Symonds Yat East and are linked by a footbridge and passenger ferries. Nearby is Symonds Yat Rock, a scenic hilltop viewpoint. The Seven Sisters Rocks are an outcrop of rocks forming cliffs above the Wye at Symonds Yat. Toponym The first recorded use of ''Symonds'' ''Yat'' in connection with the area is in a Patent Roll of 1256, where the place appears as ''Symundesyate'' and ''Symondesyate''. This may contain the Old English personal name '' Sigemund'', or a very early surname deriving from it. ''Yat'' represents the Old English word ''geat'' (pronounced "yat"), meaning 'gate' and describing the gorge. Thus overall, a familiar cognate translation of the name might b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dolomite (rock)
Dolomite (also known as dolomite rock, dolostone or dolomitic rock) is a sedimentary rock, sedimentary carbonate rock that contains a high percentage of the mineral Dolomite (mineral), dolomite, CaMg(CO3)2. It occurs widely, often in association with limestone and evaporites, though it is less abundant than limestone and rare in Cenozoic rock beds (beds less than about 66 million years in age). One of the first geologists to distinguish dolomite from limestone was Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu, a French mineralogist and geologist after whom it is named. He recognized and described the distinct characteristics of dolomite in the late 18th century, differentiating it from limestone. Most dolomite was formed as a magnesium replacement of limestone or of Lime (mineral), lime mud before lithification. The geological process of conversion of calcite to dolomite is known as dolomitization and any intermediate product is known as dolomitic limestone. The "dolomite problem" refers to the v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wye Valley
The Wye Valley () is a valley in Wales and England. The River Wye () is the Rivers of Great Britain#Longest rivers in the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the United Kingdom. The upper part of the valley is in the Cambrian Mountains and is enclosed by hills as it descends through Rhayader, Builth Wells and Hay-on-Wye before reaching the England-Wales border and becoming a broader vale through Hereford. The lower part of the valley meanders past Ross-on-Wye and Monmouth, where it becomes the England-Wales border, before reaching the Severn Estuary at Chepstow. Much of this section features limestone gorge scenery and dense native woodlands, which made the Wye Valley historically important as one of the birthplaces of the modern tourism industry. The lower part of the valley is designated as the Wye Valley National Landscape, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, protected as an internationally important landscape. This designation covers covers surrounding a stretch o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bixslade Quarry
Bixslade, occasionally written Bix Slade, is a short, steep-sided, valley in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. It begins on high ground at Bixhead, near Broadwell, Forest of Dean, Broadwell, and descends sharply to meet the Cannop Valley at Stonyhill Green. Bixslade has been quarried or mined continuously for over 500 years and has been described as ''"one of the country's finest areas of extractive industrial heritage"''. Many abandoned workings are still evident in the valley and are now home to a variety of wildlife, lichens, mosses and other plant life. Three quarries and a Freeminer, Freemine also continue to operate, largely hidden by the picturesque woodland. Geology The Forest of Dean sits on a basin plateau, formed of a fractured asymmetrical syncline composed of Upper Palaeozoic rocks from the Silurian, Devonian and Carboniferous periods. The rocks of the Bixslade valley consist of massive Pennant Sandstone, interbedded with shale and coal seams. Iron-ore is pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west; it is sited from Monmouth, from Bristol, and east of the England and Wales border, border with Wales. Gloucester has a population of around 132,000, including suburban areas. It is a port, linked via the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal to the Severn Estuary. Gloucester was founded by the Roman Empire, Romans and became an important city and ''Colonia (Roman), colony'' in AD 97, under Nerva, Emperor Nerva as ''Glevum, Colonia Glevum Nervensis''. It was granted its first charter in 1155 by Henry II of England, Henry II. In 1216, Henry III of England, Henry III, aged only nine years, was crowned with a gilded iron ring in the Chapter House of Gloucester Cathedral. Gloucester's significance in the Middle Ages is unde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Severn
The River Severn (, ), at long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in the Cambrian Mountains in mid Wales, at an altitude of , on the Plynlimon massif, which lies close to the Ceredigion/Powys border near Llanidloes. The river then flows through Shropshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. The county towns of Shrewsbury, Worcester, England, Worcester and Gloucester lie on its course. The Severn's major tributaries are the River Vyrnwy, Vyrnwy, the River Tern, Tern, the River Teme, Teme, the Warwickshire Avon, and the River Stour, Worcestershire, Worcestershire Stour. By convention, the River Severn is usually considered to end, and the Severn Estuary to begin, after the Prince of Wales Bridge, between Severn Beach in South Gloucestershire and Sudbrook, Monmouthshire. The total area of the estuary's draina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Over Bridge
Over Bridge, also known as Telford's Bridge, is a single span (architecture), span stone arch bridge spanning the canalised West Channel of the River Severn near Gloucester, England. It links Over, Tewkesbury, Over to Alney Island. Although there was a crossing at Over recorded in the Domesday Book, this bridge was built by Thomas Telford between 1825 and 1828, to carry traffic east–west. It was opened in 1830 and remained in use for traffic until 1974. Until the Severn Bridge was built in the 1960s, this was the lowest point downstream that the Severn could be crossed by road bridge. The arch spans , and was based on Jean-Rodolphe Perronet's 1774 design for a bridge over the River Seine at Neuilly-sur-Seine, Neuilly. It combines both an ellipse, elliptical profile over most of the soffit with a circular segment, segmental profile at its faces. This feature is known as a corne de vache (French for cow's horn). When built, the arch sank by when its timber centering was remove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Telford
Thomas Telford (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotland, as well as harbours and tunnels. Such was his reputation as a prolific designer of highways and related bridges, he was dubbed the 'Colossus of Roads' (a pun on the Colossus of Rhodes), and, reflecting his command of all types of civil engineering in the early 19th century, he was elected as the first president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a post he held for 14 years until his death. The town of Telford in Shropshire was named after him. Early career Telford was born on 9 August 1757, at Glendinning, a hill farm east of Eskdalemuir Kirk, in the rural List of Church of Scotland parishes, parish of Westerkirk, in Eskdale, Dumfries and Galloway, Eskdale, Dumfriesshire. His father John Telford, a shepherd, died soon after Thomas was born. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar, because they are the most resistant minerals to the weathering processes at the Earth's surface. Like uncemented sand, sandstone may be imparted any color by impurities within the minerals, but the most common colors are tan, brown, yellow, red, grey, pink, white, and black. Because sandstone beds can form highly visible cliffs and other topography, topographic features, certain colors of sandstone have become strongly identified with certain regions, such as the red rock deserts of Arches National Park and other areas of the Southwestern United States, American Southwest. Rock formations composed of sandstone usually allow the p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
