Great Rocks Dale
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/Tunstead_Quarry_-_geograph.org.uk_-_865006.jpg/220px-Tunstead_Quarry_-_geograph.org.uk_-_865006.jpg)
Great Rocks Dale is a dry valley in the Derbyshire Peak District, known for its extensive quarrying.
Geography and geology
The valley runs from Peak Dale down to Blackwell Mill at Chee Dale on the River Wye.
The scenery is of limestone, which extends to a depth of around 380 metres.[1] It contains the only dikes in the White Peak.[2]: 63 Boreholes have enabled the extraction of significant amounts of water, used by local industry.[2]: 176
Before the quarrying, the southern part of the valley was described as "narrow, flat-bottomed, rocky... [with] almost perpendicular cliffs of limestone on either side...", whereas the northern part was broader and grassy.[3]
History
The dale fell within the bounds of the mediaeval Forest of High Peak. The surrounding land was first farmed in about 1250, by people connected with the nearby hamlet of Tunstead.[4]: 167
In 1867, an extension of the
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Tunstead_Quarry_-_geograph.org.uk_-_450083.jpg/220px-Tunstead_Quarry_-_geograph.org.uk_-_450083.jpg)
The valley is now dominated by Tunstead Quarry, a large
In 1932, quarrying opened a fissure which contained remains of bison, Irish elk and deer, washed down from the surface in the distant past.[10] In 1957, the painter Peter Lanyon visited the valley to study the faces of the quarry, seeing them as revealing both the geological and human history of the area.[11]
See also
References
- ISBN 978-0118801157.
- ^ a b Ford, Trevor (1977). Limestones and caves of the Peak District. Norwich: Geo Abstracts.
- ISSN 0370-291X.
- ^ a b c Millward, Roy; Wardle Robinson, Adrian Henry (1975). The Peak District. Eyre Methuen.
- ISBN 978-1873775080.
- ISBN 978-1852843151.
- ^ ISBN 978-0715373460.
- ^ "Limestone Quarrying at Old Moor, near Wormhill: Appeal by Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd, and Explanatory Inquiry into Expediency of Modifying Planning Permission" (PDF). Department of the Environment. 31 January 1980. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
- ^ "Superquarries: Tunstead". British Geological Survey. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
- ASIN B000P90XC6.
- ISBN 978-1861892751.