Southern Sandstone is a local name for the Ardingly Sandstone of southeast England, a soft sandstone of Cretaceous age separating the Tunbridge Wells Sands from the overlying Grinstead Clay. The outcrops in the Weald of Kent are the

rock climbing Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending climbing routes, routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in c ...

crags closest to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and are probably the most heavily climbed in the UK.

Geology

The horizon of thick, cross-bedded, fine-to-medium grained

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

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. Sand ...

separating the Tunbridge Wells Sands from the overlying Grinstead Clay is known as Ardingly Sandstone. It is particularly well exposed throughout the region between

East Grinstead East Grinstead () is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the northeast corner of the county, bord ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

, and

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

Climbing

Stone Farm and Harrisons Rocks are managed by the

British Mountaineering Council The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) is the national representative body for England and Wales that exists to protect the freedoms and promote the interests of climbers, hill walkers and mountaineers, including ski-mountaineers. The BMC ...

(BMC). The rock is particularly soft and care needs to be taken to prevent erosion. It is climbed either

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' continuity * Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), a ''Star Wars'' character * Napoleon Solo, fr ...

or on a top-rope. Many bolts have been placed at the top of the crags. Soloing requires no more equipment than

bouldering Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or Climbing wall, artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or Climbing harness, harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers ...

Locations

Southern Sandstone is outcrops of sandstone situated in the Weald of Kent, on the borders of

and

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

.Southern Sandstone Climbs - Climbing Areas
/ref>

Major Outcrops

Bowles Rocks Bowles Rocks is a sandstone crag in the county of East Sussex, on the border with Kent, approximately south of the town of Royal Tunbridge Wells. It is popular with rock climbers due to the excellent, south-facing, quick-drying rock, the range ...

, Harrisons Rocks,

High Rocks High Rocks is a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Tunbridge Wells in East Sussex and Kent. It is a Geological Conservation Review site. Prehistory The location was formed when a melting ice sheet at the end of the last ic ...

, High Rocks Continuation Wall and High Rocks Annexe near

Crowborough Crowborough is a town and civil parish in East Sussex, England, in the Weald at the edge of Ashdown Forest and the highest town in the High Weald AONB, High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is located south-west of Royal Tunbridge ...

* Bull's Hollow Rocks west of

* Chiddinglye Rocks near

West Hoathly West Hoathly is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, located south west of East Grinstead. In the 2001 census 2,121 people, of whom 1,150 were economically active, lived in 813 households. At the 201 ...

Eridge Green Rocks Rotherfield is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. It is one of the largest parishes in East Sussex. There are three villages in the parish: Rotherfield, Mark Cross and Eridge. The River Rother, which ...

Eridge Green Eridge Green is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-east of Crowborough in East Sussex. It is part of the Eridge Rocks nature reserve, which is managed by Sussex Wildlife Trust. This is ancient woodland on clay with outcr ...

, four miles south of Tunbridge Well * Stone Farm Rocks south of

Minor Outcrops

*Basset's Farm Rocks, near

Cowden Cowden () is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks (district), Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. The parish is located on the northern slopes of the Weald, south-west of Tonbridge, and lies close to the borders of both East Sussex and ...

*Chiddinglye Wood Rocks near

*Happy Valley Rocks west of Tunbridge Wells *Ramslye Farm Rocks, south of High Rocks *Jockey's Wood Rocks, Penn's House Rocks, and Rocks Wood are in Penn's Rocks near Eridge. This is an SSI and climbing is not allowed. *Under Rockes, south of

Rotherfield Rotherfield is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Wealden District, Wealden District of East Sussex, England. It is one of the largest parishes in East Sussex. There are three villages in the parish: Rotherfield, Mark ...

References

External links

Code of Practice for climbing on southern sandstoneHarrisons Rocks Management GroupSandstone Volunteers GroupBowles Outdoor CentreSouthern Sandstone ClimbsYe Olde Southern Sandstone & UKCrags
archived sites from 2007
Tunbridge Wells Mountaineering ClubSouthern Sandstone Climbing Crags
on Google Maps