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Bramley Fall Stone belongs to the
The attraction of Bramley Fall stone that it is comparatively easy to quarry in large blocks. It has considerable strength and weathers well. The stone can withstand shock, making it ideal for engine beds and defensive works, such as the Napoleonic Martello Towers around the south-eastern coast of England. The mean crushing strain of this stone is (upon a 6-inch cube) 265.7 tons per foot super. It is resistant to water and tends to strengthen on exposure, making it particularly suitable for canal and harbour engineering work.
Millstone Grit
Millstone Grit is any of a number of coarse-grained sandstones of Carboniferous age which occur in the British Isles. The name derives from its use in earlier times as a source of millstones for use principally in watermills. Geologists refer to ...
series, of the Namurian
The Namurian is a stage in the regional stratigraphy of northwest Europe, with an age between roughly 331 and 319 Ma (million years ago). It is a subdivision of the Carboniferous system or period, as well as the regional Silesian series. The Na ...
stage of the Carboniferous
The Carboniferous ( ) is a Geologic time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...
Period. It is one of the cheapest and best-adapted English stones for extensive engineering works, docks, locks and railways, and for large millstones, grindstones, engine-beds and foundations. The stone was formerly quarried at or near the village of Bramley, Leeds
Bramley is a district in west Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is part of the City of Leeds electoral ward of Bramley and Stanningley, which had a population of 21,334 at the 2011 census. The area is an old industrial area with much 19th ...
. Evidence of the quarries, which were discontinued around 1930, remain in Bramley Fall Park. A similar Millstone Grit stone also occurs over an extensive area at Calverley
Calverley is a village in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England, on the A657 road, about from Leeds city centre and from Bradford, and lying north of the town of Pudsey. The population of Calverley in 2011 was 4, ...
where Ann Husler ran a quarrying business in the 19th century, and at Ilkley
Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within ...
and Pateley in Yorkshire. A somewhat similar stone, which can be very coarse, approaching a conglomerate is found at Weetwood
Weetwood is an area between Headingley and Meanwood in north-west Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is bounded on the north by the A6120 (Outer Ring Road), on the west by the A660 (Otley Road), on the east by Meanwood Beck and to the sout ...
, Meanwood
Meanwood is a suburb and former village in north-west Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.
The area sits in the Moortown ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds North East parliamentary constituency.
Origins and history
The name Meanwood goes back ...
and Horsforth
Horsforth is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, five miles north-west of Leeds city centre. Historically a village within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it had a population of 18,895 ...
. Similar Millstone Grits have also been quarried in Derbyshire.
Properties
The attraction of Bramley Fall stone that it is comparatively easy to quarry in large blocks. It has considerable strength and weathers well. The stone can withstand shock, making it ideal for engine beds and defensive works, such as the Napoleonic Martello Towers around the south-eastern coast of England. The mean crushing strain of this stone is (upon a 6-inch cube) 265.7 tons per foot super. It is resistant to water and tends to strengthen on exposure, making it particularly suitable for canal and harbour engineering work.
Quarrying today
The modern main source of Bramley Fall stone is the Blackhill Quarry operated by Mone Bros Ltd at Kings Road, Eccup, Bramhope, Leeds. The quarry is next to Golden Acre Park. In 2011, four thousand tonnes of Bramley Fall sandstone, sourced at Blackhill, was used to widenBlackfriars Bridge
Blackfriars Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge, carrying the A201 road. The north end is in the City of London near the Inns of Court and Temple C ...
when the new railway station was being constructed.
Architectural use of Bramley Fall stone
Bramley Fall stone is a generic term and unless its source can be shown to come from the Bramley quarries, it can refer to stone sourced over a wider area around Leeds and as far asKnaresborough
Knaresborough ( ) is a market and spa town and civil parish on the River Nidd in North Yorkshire, England. It is east of Harrogate and was in the Borough of Harrogate until April 2023.
History
The Knaresborough Hoard, the largest hoard of ...
in North Yorkshire.
Examples of the use of Bramley:
* Kirkstall Abbey
Kirkstall Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery in Kirkstall, north-west of Leeds city centre in West Yorkshire, England. It is set in a public park on the north bank of the River Aire. It was founded . It was disestablished during the Dissol ...
* Euston Arch
The Euston Arch, built in 1837 (and demolished in 1962), was the original entrance to Euston station, facing onto Drummond Street, London. The arch was demolished when the station was rebuilt in the 1960s, but much of the original stone was late ...
* Leeds Town Hall
Leeds Town Hall is a 19th-century municipal building on The Headrow (formerly Park Lane), Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Planned to include law courts, a council chamber, offices, a public hall, and a suite of ceremonial rooms, it was built be ...
* Leeds Corn Exchange
The Leeds Corn Exchange is a shopping mall in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The structure, which was commissioned as a corn exchange, is a grade I listed building.
History
The first corn exchange in Leeds was located at the north end of Brig ...
* Armley Gaol. Constructed in 1847 in a turreted Gothic Style to designs of the architects William Belton Perkin and Elisha Backhouse. The stone was supplied by John Husler from the Weetwood Quarry.
* Westminster Bridge
Westminster Bridge is a road-and-foot-traffic bridge crossing over the River Thames in London, linking Westminster on the west side and Lambeth on the east side.
The bridge is painted predominantly green, the same colour as the leather seats ...
, London (1854–1862). Stone supplied by Ann Husler from the Weetwood Quarry.
* Port of Dover
The Port of Dover is a cross-channel ferry, cruise terminal, maritime cargo and marina facility situated in Dover, Kent, south-east England. It is the nearest English port to France, at just away, and is one of the world's busiest maritime pas ...
Seaward facing exterior
* Valley Bridge, Scarborough
Further reading
*References
{{reflist Sandstone in the United Kingdom Geology of the United Kingdom Quarries in England Geography of Leeds