High Rocks is a geological

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

west of

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

. It is a

Geological Conservation Review The Geological Conservation Review (GCR) is produced by the UK's Joint Nature Conservation Committee. It is designed to identify those sites of national and international importance needed to show all the key scientific elements of the geological ...

site.

Prehistory

The location was formed when a melting ice sheet at the end of the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

uncovered hardened silt deposited when the area was part of the

Wealden Lake Wealden Lake was a shallow freshwater to brackish lake which existed over the lands of what is now northern France and southern England during the Berriasian to Barremian ages of the Early Cretaceous epoch (approximately 145 to 125 mya). The sedim ...

. There are traces of

Middle Stone Age The Middle Stone Age (or MSA) was a period of African prehistory between the Early Stone Age and the Late Stone Age. It is generally considered to have begun around 280,000 years ago and ended around 50–25,000 years ago. The beginnings of ...

and

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

residents, including a 1st-century A.D. fort guarding against the Roman invasion.

Recent history

After King James II visited Tunbridge Wells and made the woodland a resort in the 17th century, High Rocks became a tourist attraction which also offered a maze, a bowling green, gambling rooms and cold baths. The ''Aerial Walk'', a series of bridges linking the tops of the crags, was built in the 19th century. A halt served by the local railway was established in 1907, and was used until 1952. The Spa Valley Railway, a

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...

, now connects the High Rocks pub beyond the High Rocks turnstiles to

, Groombridge and

Eridge 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 ...

(on the London-Uckfield line of Southern Railway).

Geology and geomorphology

High Rocks is a key

geomorphological Geomorphology () is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topography, topographic and bathymetry, bathymetric features generated by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or near Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. Ge ...

site for

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 ...

weathering Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals (as well as wood and artificial materials) through contact with water, atmospheric gases, sunlight, and biological organisms. It occurs '' in situ'' (on-site, with little or no move ...

features developed on the highest cliffs in the

Weald The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex, and Kent. It has three parts, the sandstone "High W ...

. The Ardingly Sandstone has suffered gentle deformation, and joints have opened out to form spectacular gulls (tension cracks) which are wide enough in places for a person to enter. Open gulls are comparatively rare in Britain, except in the central Weald, and they are nowhere better revealed than in the numerous open passages at High Rocks. The Ardingly Sandstone is friable and poorly cemented, but the surface develops a protective crust and displays a variety of micro-weathering features, notably honeycombing and polygonal cracking. The origin of this cracking is problematic but may relate to freezing and thawing under periglacial conditions during the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

. This type of cracking is found in Britain only on the sandstone outcrops in the central Weald, and is most strikingly displayed at High Rocks. Image:Tunbridge_Wells_High_Rocks_steps.jpg, Steps leading up to the Aerial Walk. Image:Tunbridge_Wells_High_Rocks_big_chasm.jpg, The large chasm and one of the bridges. Image:Tunbridge_Wells_High_Rocks_climber.jpg, A rock climber scaling a sandstone crag. Image:Tunbridge_Wells_High_Rocks_Crooked_Bridge.jpg, The Crooked Bridge of the Aerial Walk.

Current use

The crags are visited by rock climbers and other members of the public. It is also frequently used for wedding receptions. Footpaths lead around the rocks, and it is possible to walk across the top of crags on footbridges. The main area is fenced in and there is a £6 entrance fee (£3 for children) to enter the site. An unfenced and free access section of the ridge of rock outcrops can be reached by following the public footpath east of the pub, next to the railway bridge.

References

{{SSSIs Kent Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Kent Geological Conservation Review sites Sites of Special Scientific Interest in East Sussex Climbing areas of England Sport in East Sussex