Exploring the River Wear-Part 1

Armchair Adventurers Explore The River Wear G eog rap Part 1 from the Pennines to the outskirts of Durham hy A period. On the sea bed a limy ooze full of the rch y aeo eolog log G decaying skeletons of sea creatures built up. y Rivers washed down sand and gravel building His up deltas, and forests flourished on the deltas tory and swampy margins. Periodically the seas rose, drowned the deltas and forests and more Geology ooze was deposited; then sea levels dropped The River Wear rises in the North Pennines and and the deltas and forests returned. This cycle flows in an easterly direction to empty in the with compression gave rise to sedimentary North Sea at Sunderland. Weardale is in an rocks. The oozes became limestone, the sands, gravels and muds became shale and sandstone, and the forests became coal. Limestone and sandstone are resistant to erosion, whereas the softer shales wear away more easily. This contrast has produced the terraced hillsides which are characteristic of the whole area and the hard limestone outcrops form waterfalls created by the erosion. area designated for it’s Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is also a UNESCO Global Geopark. A Geopark is a place of outstanding geological heritage which is used to support sustainable development through conservation, education, interpretation and nature tourism. High Force Waterfall Limestone is the dominant rock in Upper The landscape has evolved over 500 million Weardale. Its main constituent, calcium years. During that time the valley has been carbonate, is soluble in rainwater which is liquid molten rock, desert,tropical sea,swamps, acidic and has eroded it to form sink holes, and an ice sheet. The oldest rocks are a caves and limestone pavement containing Devonian igneous rock formed when the North fossils of plants and animals that lived in the Pennines were spectacularly volcanic about 400 ancient seas and swamps such as ferns, trees, million years ago. Spectacular volcanoes fed poisonous six feet long centipedes, scorpions from a huge underground reservoir of boiling and dragonflies the size of seagulls, the more liquid rock called magma. Eventually the oxygen rich atmosphere of the time aiding their magma cooled and solidified into a solid rock growth. which is known as a batholith. (Other examples of batholiths are the moors of the West Country Move ment of tectonic plates enabled a sheet – Bodmin, Dartmoor and Exmoor). The batholith of magma to intrude and become an igneous is composed of granite and its geological name rock called dolerite creating the Great Whin Sill, is Weardale Granite. Although it is a very hard part of which is in Weardale. A major exposed rock it is less dense than many to is relatively outcrop can be seen at High Force waterfall. buoyant and floats higher than other rocks and has formed upland areas for millions of years. Around 20,000 years ago the area was under an ice sheet a kilometre thick. As this gradually Around 300 million years ago the British Isles moved it created the smoothed fells and dales had moved close to the Equator, the Pennines we see today and the deposits of ground changing to become shallow tropical seas moraine. The bare rocks left by torrential melt alternating with swamps of the Carboniferous waters were eventually colonised by arctic flora. Armchair Adventurers Honiton U3A 2020 [5] 1 of 35 Peat formed around 7,500 years ago. In 2004 a borehole was drilled at Eastgate into to have been a trade route, the distribution of the Lower Carboniferous and Weardale finds must therefore be an indication of sites granite, a depth of nearly a thousand metres. where they were originally used. They found abundant brines at a temperature of 46 C suggesting a future opportunity for Prehistoric settlements and field systems are geothermal heating. known to be preserved beneath the peat in the Westgate area. A link has been found between Farming the presence of axe heads and evidence of elm decline from pollen analysis suggesting that The upper River Wear is a spate river [rain fed land clearance was prevalent until the middle and fast flowing] and has been heavily Bronze Age. influenced by previous government funded drainage schemes involving the digging of ditches, known as gripping, with a view to improving marginal agricultural land. The upper Wear has 9 tributaries. Weardale is rough upland moorland pasture and is broken with dry stone walls for controlling animals as well as providing some weather protection. Post ice-age the area was heavily forested and during the Bronze age much was cleared Crawley Edge Barrow Cemetery for farming livestock. The Crawley Edge Barrow Cemetery, near River Wear Catchment Management Plan Stanhope, is a large cairnfield of at least 41 [March 1995], notes that agriculture is the round barrows and cairns on a south facing predominant land use in the upper catchment, slope on open moorland, probably constructed the metal mine centre of the past leaving a during land clearances for agriculture in the legacy of potential pollution in the form of early Bronze Age. Most are oval or oblong with contaminated land and spoil heaps. diameters between 1.8 and 8.5 metres and up to 1 metre in height. Two cairns were excavated The upper Weardale area is mainly used as in 1976-77, the largest contained a bronze pot grouse moor and for rough grazing. The placed in a pit containing cremated bone, three middle upper area in the Wear catchment jet beads and some charcoal. Radiocarbon supports mainly sheep hill farming with some dating indicated an early Bronze Age date for beef cattle. the site. The second cairn was formed by field clearance. The River Wear supports important stocks of coarse fish, migratory and non-migratory Heathery Burn Cave, 150metres underground, salmonids and eels. Salmon and sea trout are also near Stanhope, is the site of one of the abundant in the upper and middle reaches of most important late Bronze Age [1000-750BC] the river and tributaries. Lamprey found in the metal-work finds in the country. A hoard of 200+ river is used as bait. items including weapons, tools and ornaments Farms have had to diversify due to the hard conditions and have become tourist attractions, some by offering bed and breakfast, others by offering farm experiences. Bronze Age There is insufficient evidence to describe the settlement pattern in the area around Westgate though distribution of stray historic finds, usually flint implements, does suggest Heathery Cave-part of the Bronze age hoard that the area was occupied in prehistoric times. Since the Wear valley is not considered was excavated between 1859 and 1872. the finds consisted of bronze swords, axeheads Armchair Adventurers Honiton U3A 2020 [5] 2 of 35 spearheads, knives, horse fittings, a bucket and two gold bracelets. There were carved Roman Altars have been located in Weardale. objects of bone, antler teeth and sea shells Altars are thought to have originated when along with pottery, a casting mould and a few certain localities such as a rock, stream or tree flint tools. Archaeologists found eight bronze became regarded as holy or inhabited by spirits or gods. Gifts to please the gods were placed on the altars which were often decorated with motifs and an inscription to the god to whom it was dedicated and the name of the wealthy patron donating it. Nave Bands nave bands which are believed to have been mounted on the hubs of carts or chariots to strengthen the hub of a wooden spoked wheel. These represent the earliest known evidence for wheels in Britain until the recent Must Farm excavations in 2015-2016. Roman Altar Stone at Eastgate The altar stone at Eastgate is dedicated to Sylvanus God of the Woods. It is carved from millstone grit and erected by Aelius Aurelius, a Roman cavalry commander. During Roman times it is thought the area was used as hunting grounds during periods of leisure time from the nearby fort of Vinovia. At Chester le Street altar stones have been found dedicated to, among others, Apollo and Mars Condates [means waters-meet in Celtic]. Eastgate Hoard [1] The latter dedicated by Valerius Probanus for himself and his family. They are all carved on The Eastgate Hoard of 25 Bronze Age objects bluff sandstone. was found by a labourer in 1812 under some stones. These included spearheads, axes, a The altar continues as an important feature in chisel and parts of a horse harness. sacred spaces today in churches and temples of various religions. In Latin the word altaria denotes the burning of sacrificial offerings. Quarrying Limestone has been quarried around Frosterly Since the 12th century and in the lower dale around Stanhope from the 1840s. It has been used as roadstone, agricultural lime, cement and in the production of iron and steel. The opening of the Stanhope and Tyne Railway in 1834 paved the way for large scale extraction from Crawleyside incline and from1900, Ashes quarry to supply the expanding steel works. Eastgate Hoard [2] Furnaces helped to remove the impurities, the resultant lime loaded into wagons. A system of Armchair Adventurers Honiton U3A 2020 [5] 3 of 35 ropes, gravity and winding engines hauled the product over one and a half miles up an incline Fluorspar [fluorite] was mined at Rogerley for of 1500 feet above sea level. At the start of use in the steel industry and the in the WW1 the quarry produced136,000 tons of manufacture of Teflon, CFCs for aerosols and limestone in a year. Quarrying ceased in the other products. Although not a precious stone the Weardale fluorite is considered to be Bishopley Limekilns near Frosterly amongst the best in the world.

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