Churnet Valley Geotrail Section 1 Froghall c1918

Overview From Foxt, follow the road From the 16th to 19th centuries the Churnet Valley was the scene of intense industrial activity, with downhill and take a 6 furnaces, forges, mills and mines. The underlying bedrock of the Churnet Valley contained ores of iron, footpath on the left to an copper and lead, as well as coal, limestone and sandstone. The River Churnet provided water power and exposure (6) of red/orange the woods provided charcoal. Tramways were constructed to carry limestone from the Cauldon Low Chatsworth Grit. Beyond quarries and local coal and ironstone to the Caldon (1778) and Uttoxeter (1809) canals. The Churnet the stile, head down to Valley Railway (1849) transported copper products and industrial sand from Oakamoor. Shirley Brook. A short Features in this area Alternative routes to return or make circular walks are indicated. detour left leads to a tramway bridge and an Iron From the historic Froghall wharf (1) follow the exposure of the Roaches The Froghall Ironstone seam was mined around Froghall ‘Green Walk’ towards Foxt. The path 2 Grit (7). Froghall where spoil is still visible (2). follows the outcrop of Froghall Ironstone. Look out The last use of iron was for the production of ochre for several old mineshafts and a stream which In the next valley (8), Namurian mudstones are pigment for paint and dyes at Froghall (48). dissects red mine spoil (2). If the bridge is closed, exposed, providing a rare glimpse of this dominant return down the trail to a path on the left across a Carboniferous rock type. Copper stream, taking the left fork after 100m to stops (3) Copper wire manufacture 12 and (4) and then rejoin the trail. The trail climbs back up to the tramway cutting (9) and brass (copper & zinc) in Chatsworth Grit. Look out for the bleaching of the production replaced iron In Whieldon’s Wood (3) the Woodhead Hill Sandstone sandstone next to minor faults. (An alternative route smelting. The Cheadle is exposed in the stream. Upstream, look out for an back to Froghall Wharf follows this tramway Brass & Copper Co was set ochre layer from the processing of ironstone for downhill.) up in 1734. Extensive coloured dye. The trail passes an outfall (4) draining mining of copper ore at a mine in the overlying Crabtree Coal and then Return uphill and take the right fork (10). Cross Ecton in the Manifold Valley climbs out of the valley past more coal workings. Whiston Common and turn right, over the A52 and required building a new take Black Lane into Whiston village (11) (12). copper smelting works at Try to locate buildings made of blocks of copper slag Whiston (1768) (11). Blocks of copper slag can be – waste from the Whiston smelter, now demolished. seen in local buildings and walls (11) (12). By 1828 (From Whiston, an alternative route back to Froghall most copper wire production was handled at the new Wharf continues along the lane to the A52, before mills at Oakamoor. following a footpath along a former tramway back to the start of the trail.) Limestone 1 In 1775 the Cauldon Low quarries were leased to Caldon Lime Co. A tramway 1 from the quarries to the Caldon Canal (1) at Froghall Wharf was part of the Canal Act. Several tramway lines were built – 1778 (7), 1785 (10), 1804 (11), 1847 (9).

In many places lime kilns can be seen - Froghall Wharf 3 (1), Oakamoor and Consall. These were used to burn limestone to make lime for use in agriculture and construction. The limestone was, and continues to be, Continuing towards Foxt, a break in slope (5) marks used as a flux in iron smelting and, with mudstone, in the line of a fault, separating the Rough Rock the manufacture of cement. sandstones of Namurian age from the younger Westphalian mudstones down in the valley. From this Coal point onwards notice the use of different sandstones Coal had long been used as a fuel, though not in early in buildings and walls. smelters as only charcoal generated the necessary heat. Mine shafts can be seen north of Froghall (2, 5) and this trail follows several former tramways.

www.churnet-valley.guide Staffordshire Peak District Tourism Association Section 1 KEY Churnet Valley Geotrail GEOTRAIL Major road GEOTRAIL / Minor road road shared 1 Interest Point River Froghall Wharf - Foxt - Whiston Car Park Canal P Toilets Railway WC This geotrail is designed to give the visitor a Information glimpse of the rocks, minerals, fossils and Disused railway industrial heritage of the area, all of which Disused tramway PH Public House are intimately linked to the local geology. View point S Shop Café Parking: Froghall Wharf, Churnet Valley Railway, Fault with direction Whiston Village Hall, Foxt Village Hall. of downthrow 0 1 km

0 Recent alluvium and Quat. Alluvium Pleistocene (Ice Age) deposits 2 245 Unconformity

Hollington Sandstone M (HLS) and mudstone (M) - HLS meandering river deposits

Hawksmoor Sandstone (HKS) and Freehay Conglomerate (FC)

SCYTHIAN FC - fast flowing braided river LOWER TRIASSIC LOWER deposits

HKS

250 HB Huntley Breccia (HB) - alluvial fan deposits Unconformity

313 WC Cyclic succession of deltaic KS distributary channel CC sandstones and grits (Kingsley Sandstone - KS, Approximate age in millions of years of millions in age Approximate FI Woodhead Hill Sandstone - WHS WHS, Rough Rock - RR,

WESTPHALIAN M Chatsworth Grit - CG, Roaches Grit - RG, RR Ipstones Sandstone - IS) M with interdistributary C mudstones (M), coals (C, CG Woodhead Coal - WC, Crabtree Coal - CC),

UPPER CARBONIFEROUS C RG ironstones (Froghall Ironstone

NAMURIAN M - FI) occasional marine bands

IS Not to scale 318 This trail is dedicated to the memory of Ken Rout, founding member of SRIGS. The trail mainly follows public footpaths and other marked trails, including part of the Staffordshire Way. Visitors should note that some of these have steep sections and muddy, uneven terrain so suitable footwear is advised. There are also some sections along minor roads where care should be taken of the traffic. Visitors are encouraged to view all features of interest from the geotrail itself unless a permitted access route away from the trail is indicated. Reproduced from Ordnance Survey Mapping with the permission of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, Crown Copyright 2016, Staffordshire Wildlife Trust License 100018777/SWT28504 - Geological information based upon BGS Geological Map Sheet 124 www.churnet-valley.guide (Ashbourne & Cheadle, S & D) at 1:50 000 scale with permission IPR/97-19C British Geological Survey (c) NERC. All rights reserved. Staffordshire Peak District Tourism Association