SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

Hello!I am a student at Park Lane College and am planning a GPS trail on 'man's impact on the landscape' for the Landscape History module. I am doing my trail in Bramley Falls park. Does anybody know where I can find more information regarding the quarry in Bramley Falls park? I believe it was called Newlay Quarry.Near to the quarry, there is an old, collapsed dry stone wall and the remains of a building for which I would also like to find the origin/use of.Any information at all would be greatly appreciated!Thanks in advance!Emma

Some of the stone from the quarry was used in the town hall and Corn Exchange, It was also shipped as far as London for the construction of Millwall docks. I think the building you refer to was some type of hopper, maybe for crushed stone, That's what appears to be still in there anyway.

As far as I am aware the quarries at Bramley Falls and Newlay exploited an economically important bed of sandstone known as the Rough Rock (for pavers and general building stone). The Rough Rock sits at the very top of the Millstone Grit series (Namurian series of the Carboniferous Period) laying approximately 600' below the Better Bed Coals and 900' below the extremely economically important Beeston CoalsAs far as I am aware the 'Bramley Falls Stone' which is probably a generic name from stone won in the immediate vicinity was used at:Moorlands House in Albion Street - built between 1852-55, where to construct plinths of large, boldy vermiculated, rusticated blocks of Bramley Fall Stone were used [ground floor/venetian windows used stone from Pool Bank Quarry and the two upper storeys used Rawdon Hill Stone ]Kirkstall Viaduct (on the Leeds/Thirsk Railway as it crossed the Aire Valley) was built in 1846 from a quarry in the Rough Rock in the Bramley Falls areaReference: The Building Stone Heritage of Leeds [Francis G Dimes & Murray Mitchell]- Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society 2006

Following up Phill_d post, in chapter 2 of the referenced The Building Stone Heritage of Leeds (see below for details) the authors make the following observation: Quote: Coarse grained sandstones are sometimes referred to as 'Bramley Fall Stone' but this should be regarded as a trade name. The famous original Bramley Fall Quarry worked the Rough Rock (Millstone Grit). Because of the expense of removing am increasing amount of overburden, this quarry ceased production in about 1839 (The Quarry, 1900, p.252). It had supploed very large blocks of coarse grained sandstobe used widely for engineering work, because of its great strength and resistant character. One of its most famous uses was the splendid Doric Arch at Euston Station, built by the London and Birmingham Railway which opened in 1838. Sadlty it was demolished many years later The authors go to point out that the Rough Rock was exploited but referred to as Bramley Falls rock elsewhere (such as at Whitehall Quarry at Hawksworth ) and they state: Quote: It should be noted that sone of the sandstones recorded as from Bramley Fall would not have been from the original quarry but from other Rough Bed workings in the immediate area Perhaps ......... Newlay QuarryElsewhere the authors confirm that the material used to construct the Corn Exchange (1861-63) was Rough Rock but cast doubt on the material being sourced from Bramley Falls (as the production had ceased about 1839)As for the Town Hall (1853 - ?), lordy lordy, the materials appear to have come from all over:Bramley Falls (the authors do not refer to doubts over the exact source - but surely the same applies)Calverley WoodsPool BankRawden HillDarley Dale (Derbyshire)Bolton Woods StoneIt appears that Bramley Falls area and Calverley Woods provided the Rough Rock used for the massive basal blocksI woukld recommend the Dimes/Mitchell book as a useful source and supsect seeking out a copy of the The Quarry may tell you a wee bit more about the history of the quarry (try the Earth Sciences/Mining Engineering section of Leeds Univerisity or the British Geological Survey in Keyworth, Nottingham)Oh aye ........ keep us posted please!    

The stone used for the Corn Exchange looks different from most millstone grit buildings in Leeds (to me, anyway.)It's a grey colour (as opposed to the creamy colour usually associated with this stone - although I haven't knocked a piece off to cheeck!) and has a very open, rough matrix, more similar to some igneous rocks. It doesn't appear to have weathered the same way either, being a uniform colour and not mottled a sooty black.

I think they used different stone from different Quarries in the buildings for there structural qualities. Apparently Bramley stone was used in the Millwall docks and the Euston arch in London, It also went into the York castle walls.Millstone Grit.The Millstone Grits were laid down between 323–313 million years ago, when muchof northern England was covered by a huge river delta. Rivers deposited alternatelayers of sand, mud and silt into channels, outwash falls and swamps in the delta,which were compressed by subsequent layers, gradually forming rock.The resulting sandstones are generally medium to coarse in texture, and oftencontain pebbles of quartz, so are highly valued for their durability as a building stone.These sandstones were extensively quarried in the Hawksworth, Calverley andBramley areas, the latter being noted for its Bramley Fall Rough Rock. KirkstallAbbey, Leeds Town Hall and the Corn Exchange are all constructed from MillstoneGrit quarried from the west Leeds area.

Phill, I thought York's walls were Magnesian Limestone?

I'm just going on information available on the net. All these locations are quoted several times on various sites as having stone used in the construction from Bramley falls.http://www.leeds.gov.uk/fol/fol_50.html

Perhaps they used millstone grit to under-pin the walls when they were restored? Makes sense to me.

I think they obvious used different sources of stone for differing qualities, Strength, water durability and dressed quality would have all had there places. It would have saved cost as well i presume.