Spreadsheet: 080efa3c-19d5-4860-9803-2282e77ba323
Sheet: Stones

BUILDING_STONE_ID | STONE_NAME | PARENT BUILDING STONE  ID | ALTERNATIVE_NAMES | [NAME] | COLOUR | COLOUR_VARIATION | WEATHERED COLOUR | LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY | CHRONOSTRAT | STONE_LITHOLOGY | GRAIN_SIZE | [NAME] | KEY_IDENTIFICATION_FEATURES | FAILURE_WEATHERING | CONTEXT_OF_USE | LOCALITY_OF_USE | DATE_COMPILED | COMPILED_BY | MINERAL PLANNING AREA | English Heritage Atlas Area | SOURCE_OF_INFO | retrieval_date
1576 | Dunhouse Sandstone | 1 | Dunhouse Buff Sandstone | Meso-micro crystalline arenite | BUFF |  |  | PARENT DATA NOT YET ENTERED [HIERARCHY CODE] |  | SANDSTONE | FINE GRAINED |  | Non-calcareous, slightly micaceous, generally [NAME] coloured sandstone. |  | Replacement/Repairs | Abberley |  | J.Donaldson | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | British Geological Survey lexicon. The British Stone Stone List. | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2201 | Cleveland Dyke Rock | 1 | [NAME] | These basaltic dyke rocks may be distinguished from those of the Whin Sill by their porphyritic character, with small phenocrysts of feldspar and pyroxene set in a dark grey, fine-grained groundmass. | BLACK | Mottled | Dark greyish, blackish, bluish-grey | ARMATHWAITE-CLEVELAND DYKE | PALAEOGENE | BASALT AND BASALTIC ANDESITE | Fine grained | The dykes are typically less than 15m wide, and generally vertical or steeply subvertical in aspect. A well developed columnar jointing structure is often visible, and in places ([NAME]) spheroidal, pillow-like structures are present. | Fine-grained to medium-grained tholeiitic basalts and dolerites, dark coloured. The more coarser grained varieties exhibit a mottled texture with dark pyroxene (sometimes also olivine) crystals interlocking with pale feldspar (anorthite) phenocrysts. Matrix glassy, commonly devitrified or microcrystalline. [NAME] amygdaloidal. | Very hard and resistant. | Used mainly as a source of roadstone and aggregate. Because of their hard, intractable nature and restricted occurrence, these igneous rocks have not been employed as building stones except locally in dry stone walling near accessible outcrops. | Occurs in a restricted area near Middleton-in-Teesdale and Eggleston. | 2012-02-24 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | [NAME], 2003; Mills & Hull, 1976; Smith & Francis, 1954; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2202 | [NAME] | 1 | Cleveland Dyke Rock | These basaltic dyke rocks may be distinguished from those of the Whin Sill by their porphyritic character, with small phenocrysts of feldspar and pyroxene set in a dark grey, fine-grained groundmass. | BLACK | Mottled | Dark greyish, blackish, bluish-grey | ARMATHWAITE-CLEVELAND DYKE | PALAEOGENE | BASALT AND BASALTIC ANDESITE | Fine grained | The dykes are typically less than 15m wide, and generally vertical or steeply subvertical in aspect. A well developed columnar jointing structure is often visible, and in places ([NAME]) spheroidal, pillow-like structures are present. | Fine-grained to medium-grained tholeiitic basalts and dolerites, dark coloured. The more coarser grained varieties exhibit a mottled texture with dark pyroxene (sometimes also olivine) crystals interlocking with pale feldspar (anorthite) phenocrysts. Matrix glassy, commonly devitrified or microcrystalline. [NAME] amygdaloidal. | Very hard and resistant. | Used mainly as a source of roadstone and aggregate. Because of their hard, intractable nature and restricted occurrence, these igneous rocks have not been employed as building stones except locally in dry stone walling near accessible outcrops. | Occurs in a restricted area near Middleton-in-Teesdale and Eggleston. | 2012-02-24 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | [NAME], 2003; Mills & Hull, 1976; Smith & Francis, 1954; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2203 | [NAME] | 1 | Zechstein Group Dolomitic Limestone | The 'Magnesian Limestone' in a general sense (including evaporite units) reaches approx 350-400m in thickness. |  | Uniform | Creamish to yellowish, [NAME], pale brown | ZECHSTEIN GROUP | PERMIAN | DOLOSTONE | Fine grained | Cross-bedded and ripple-bedded dolostones occur, associated with rip-up clasts and minor erosion surfaces. Stylolitic bedding laminae are present in lower parts. | Typically sequences of fine-grained, thinly to massively bedded, occasionally lenticular dolostones and dolomitic limestones, sometimes granular or oolitic. Distinctive units include reefal limestones, beds with rounded calcitic concretions ('cannonballs') and collapse breccias. Evaporite and anhydrite units and shaly mudstones occur at cyclic intervals. | Many thinner dolostones relatively soft, but harder units (especially massive reefal limestones) occur. | Prior to c.1800, the rocks of the 'Magnesian Limestone' were used mainly for local building purposes, and most of the early settlements along the Permian escarpment were constructed of dolomitic limestone and dolostone worked in numerous small, and a few large, quarries. | [NAME] trending broad belt in the eastern third of Co. [NAME], extending all along the coast from north of Seaham to Hartlepool, and inland to a line as far west from Pittington to east of [NAME] via Cornforth and Bishop Auckland. | 2012-01-18 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | BGS, 1977; BGS, 1978; BGS, 1978; Lawrence, 2009; [NAME], 2003; Mills & Hull, 1976; Smith, 1994; Smith, 1995; Smith & Francis, 1954; Smith et al, 1986; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2204 | Upper Magnesian Limestone | 2203 | [NAME] | Formation reaches a maximum thickness of approx 31m and carries a distinctive, abundant fossil fauna of bivalves and algae (including tubular forms). |  | Uniform | Pale grey | ZECHSTEIN GROUP | PERMIAN | LIMESTONE | Fine grained | Cut-and-fill structures, low angle cross-lamination and low amplitude-long wavelength ripples, increase in abundance upwards through the formation. | Predominantly thin-bedded limestone (calcite mudstone/wackestone with some interbedded coquina, packstone, grainstone, mudstone and concretionary limestone) with some dolostone. | Relatively soft, the whole formation being severely disrupted and locally brecciated by foundering arising from solution of the underlying evaporite sequence. | Used locally within the [NAME] area, including for construction of the sea wall. | Restricted to the coastal cliffs and area immediately inland of Seaham, NE corner of Co. [NAME]. | 2012-01-18 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | BGS, 1978; Lawrence, 2009; [NAME], 2003; Smith, 1994; Smith, 1995; Smith et al, 1986; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2205 | Seaham Magnesian Limestone | 2203 | Upper Magnesian Limestone | Formation reaches a maximum thickness of approx 31m and carries a distinctive, abundant fossil fauna of bivalves and algae (including tubular forms). |  | Uniform | Pale grey | SEAHAM FORMATION | PERMIAN | LIMESTONE | Fine grained | Cut-and-fill structures, low angle cross-lamination and low amplitude-long wavelength ripples, increase in abundance upwards through the formation. | Predominantly thin-bedded limestone (calcite mudstone/wackestone with some interbedded coquina, packstone, grainstone, mudstone and concretionary limestone) with some dolostone. | Relatively soft, the whole formation being severely disrupted and locally brecciated by foundering arising from solution of the underlying evaporite sequence. | Used locally within the [NAME] area, including for construction of the sea wall. | Restricted to the coastal cliffs and area immediately inland of Seaham, NE corner of Co. [NAME]. | 2012-01-18 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | BGS, 1978; Lawrence, 2009; [NAME], 2003; Smith, 1994; Smith, 1995; Smith et al, 1986; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2206 | Roker Magnesian Limestone | 2203 | Upper Magnesian Limestone | Formation reaches a maximum thickness of 80m. |  | Uniform | Creamish, [NAME], yellowish | [NAME] | PERMIAN | DOLOSTONE | Fine grained | Cross-bedded and ripple-bedded dolostones occur, associated with rip-up clasts and minor erosion surfaces. | Cream, granular and oolitic dolostones with subordinate thin beds of fine-grained dolomite, but overall relatively little significant variation in lithology. Lower parts of formation with distinctive rounded calcitic concretions (the Concretionary Limestone Member - see below). | Evenly-bedded and fine-grained dolostones harder and more resistant than other facies. | Used locally wherever it crops out, and formerly much worked in large quarries at Hartlepool, where it was employed in the construction of nearby churches, harbour works and private houses. | Eastern coastal section of Co. [NAME]. Extending from Seaham in the north, to Hartlepool in the south, via Easington, Horden, Hart and [NAME]. | 2012-01-18 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | [NAME], 2009; [NAME], 2003; Smith, 1995; Smith et al, 1986; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2207 | [NAME] | 2206 | Upper Magnesian Limestone | Formation reaches a maximum thickness of 80m. |  | Uniform | Creamish, [NAME], yellowish | [NAME] | PERMIAN | DOLOSTONE | Fine grained | Cross-bedded and ripple-bedded dolostones occur, associated with rip-up clasts and minor erosion surfaces. | Cream, granular and oolitic dolostones with subordinate thin beds of fine-grained dolomite, but overall relatively little significant variation in lithology. Lower parts of formation with distinctive rounded calcitic concretions (the Concretionary Limestone Member - see below). | Evenly-bedded and fine-grained dolostones harder and more resistant than other facies. | Used locally wherever it crops out, and formerly much worked in large quarries at Hartlepool, where it was employed in the construction of nearby churches, harbour works and private houses. | Eastern coastal section of Co. [NAME]. Extending from Seaham in the north, to Hartlepool in the south, via Easington, Horden, Hart and [NAME]. | 2012-01-18 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | [NAME], 2009; [NAME], 2003; Smith, 1995; Smith et al, 1986; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2208 | Concretionary Limestone | 2203 | Upper Magnesian Limestone | In places, the Concretionary Limestone can be divided into a lower unit (up to 15m thick, and containing abundant concretions) and an upper unit (up to 20m thick, lacking concretions). A middle unit of thinly laminated impure dolostone can be split into paper thin, flexible sheets (the 'Flexible Limestone') and has yielded fish and plant remains. |  | Uniform | Pale grey | CONCRETIONARY LIMESTONE MEMBER | PERMIAN | DOLOSTONE | Fine grained | In places, the Concretionary Limestone has become brecciated by collapse following solution of the underlying anhydrite layers, and now consists of angular and rounded fragments of grey-brown crystalline limestone in a matrix of brown dolomitic limestone. | Thinly bedded and lithologically varied dolostones with very distinctive beds containing rounded, calcite concretions ('cannonballs'), up to 5cm across, which were formed by a variety of primary and secondary sedimentary processes. Where concretions are absent, the beds comprise a soft granular dolostone with traces of small-scale cross-bedding and ripple marks. | Relatively soft, but very distinctive unit. | Restricted to very local use. | Locally occurs within the eastern coastal section of Co. [NAME]. Extending from Seaham in the north, to Hartlepool in the south, via Easington, Horden, Hart and [NAME]. | 2012-01-18 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | [NAME], 2009; [NAME], 2003; Smith, 1995; Smith et al, 1986; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2209 | Cannonball Rock | 2208 | Concretionary Limestone | In places, the Concretionary Limestone can be divided into a lower unit (up to 15m thick, and containing abundant concretions) and an upper unit (up to 20m thick, lacking concretions). A middle unit of thinly laminated impure dolostone can be split into paper thin, flexible sheets (the 'Flexible Limestone') and has yielded fish and plant remains. |  | Uniform | Pale grey | CONCRETIONARY LIMESTONE MEMBER | PERMIAN | DOLOSTONE | Fine grained | In places, the Concretionary Limestone has become brecciated by collapse following solution of the underlying anhydrite layers, and now consists of angular and rounded fragments of grey-brown crystalline limestone in a matrix of brown dolomitic limestone. | Thinly bedded and lithologically varied dolostones with very distinctive beds containing rounded, calcite concretions ('cannonballs'), up to 5cm across, which were formed by a variety of primary and secondary sedimentary processes. Where concretions are absent, the beds comprise a soft granular dolostone with traces of small-scale cross-bedding and ripple marks. | Relatively soft, but very distinctive unit. | Restricted to very local use. | Locally occurs within the eastern coastal section of Co. [NAME]. Extending from Seaham in the north, to Hartlepool in the south, via Easington, Horden, Hart and [NAME]. | 2012-01-18 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | [NAME], 2009; [NAME], 2003; Smith, 1995; Smith et al, 1986; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2210 | Middle Magnesian Limestone | 2203 | Ford Magnesian Limestone | The reefal facies (generally 100-120m thick) is one of the most distinct features of the Permian succession in NE England. Lower parts of the reef contain a prolific fossil fauna with brachiopods, bivalves and polyzoa; upper parts are largely of algal origin and contain stromatolitic growth forms. | BUFF | Uniform | Yellowish, pale grey, pale to deeper brown | FORD FORMATION | PERMIAN | DOLOSTONE | Fine grained | On the landward (western) side of the reef, a varied sequence of granular ooidal and pisloitic carbonates accumulated, and are almost universally dolomitised. The recrystallised platy dolomite crystals, up to 5mm across, give the rock a characteristic texture, known locally as 'felted'. | Lower beds of the formation are represented by a thin sequence of fine-grained, clastic dolostones, transitional to the underlying [NAME]. Above these transitional beds are distinctive reef facies sediments, comprising massive dolomitic limestones and dolostones. Shelf-edge, back-reef and lagoonal beds, fore-reef talus aprons and off-reef facies are all present. | The reef lithologies are more resistant to erosion, and at outcrop form distinct topographical features. | With the exception of the reef-rock facies (which has been used on a small scale in buildings at several locations such as Hawthorn, [NAME], [NAME] and Hesleden), the dolostones of the Ford Formation are generally too soft and variable for building purposes. | Central portion of the 'Magnesian Limestone' outcrop area in Co. [NAME], encompassing an area approximately bordered by South Hetton-Thornley-Wingate-Bishop Middleham-Sedgefield and then extending south through [NAME] to Darlington. | 2012-01-18 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | [NAME], 2009; [NAME], 2003; Smith, 1995; Smith et al, 1986; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2211 | Ford Magnesian Limestone | 2210 | Middle Magnesian Limestone | The reefal facies (generally 100-120m thick) is one of the most distinct features of the Permian succession in NE England. Lower parts of the reef contain a prolific fossil fauna with brachiopods, bivalves and polyzoa; upper parts are largely of algal origin and contain stromatolitic growth forms. | BUFF | Uniform | Yellowish, pale grey, pale to deeper brown | FORD FORMATION | PERMIAN | DOLOSTONE | Fine grained | On the landward (western) side of the reef, a varied sequence of granular ooidal and pisloitic carbonates accumulated, and are almost universally dolomitised. The recrystallised platy dolomite crystals, up to 5mm across, give the rock a characteristic texture, known locally as 'felted'. | Lower beds of the formation are represented by a thin sequence of fine-grained, clastic dolostones, transitional to the underlying [NAME]. Above these transitional beds are distinctive reef facies sediments, comprising massive dolomitic limestones and dolostones. Shelf-edge, back-reef and lagoonal beds, fore-reef talus aprons and off-reef facies are all present. | The reef lithologies are more resistant to erosion, and at outcrop form distinct topographical features. | With the exception of the reef-rock facies (which has been used on a small scale in buildings at several locations such as Hawthorn, [NAME], [NAME] and Hesleden), the dolostones of the Ford Formation are generally too soft and variable for building purposes. | Central portion of the 'Magnesian Limestone' outcrop area in Co. [NAME], encompassing an area approximately bordered by South Hetton-Thornley-Wingate-Bishop Middleham-Sedgefield and then extending south through [NAME] to Darlington. | 2012-01-18 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | [NAME], 2009; [NAME], 2003; Smith, 1995; Smith et al, 1986; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2212 | Lower Magnesian Limestone | 2203 | [NAME] | Soft sediment contorted and chaotic rock structures produced by minor submarine avalanches and submarine is present locally, especially in the coastal cliffs south of South Shields. |  | Uniform | Yellowish, pale grey, pale brown, [NAME] | [NAME] | PERMIAN | DOLOSTONE | Fine grained | Widespread stratified but brecciated horizons occur in the middle unit (and to a lesser extent within the upper unit), and are often interbedded with gypsum. Stylolitic bedding laminae occur almost throughout, but are particularly abundant in the middle unit. | Cream, brown and grey, fine-grained dolostone with grey, fine-grained limestone (rare). Lower units mainly dolomitic limestones in regular beds 15-30cm thick; the middle unit (most commonly seen at outcrop) comprises thinly-bedded, fine-grained dolostones and calcitic dolostones, 5-10cm thick; the upper unit is represented by buff to brown dolostones in irregular lenticular beds, up to 45cm thick. | Thicker beds more resistant. | Many quarries opened in this evenly-bedded formation which provided the most suitable building material used throughout the outcrop area for a variety of purposes. | Narrow western edge of the 'Magnesian Limestone' outcrop in Co. [NAME], extending from Pittington in the north, and [NAME] to areas just east of Bishop Auckland and [NAME]. | 2012-01-18 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | [NAME], 2009; [NAME], 2003; Smith, 1995; Smith et al, 1986; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2213 | [NAME] | 2212 | Lower Magnesian Limestone | Soft sediment contorted and chaotic rock structures produced by minor submarine avalanches and submarine is present locally, especially in the coastal cliffs south of South Shields. |  | Uniform | Yellowish, pale grey, pale brown, [NAME] | [NAME] | PERMIAN | DOLOSTONE | Fine grained | Widespread stratified but brecciated horizons occur in the middle unit (and to a lesser extent within the upper unit), and are often interbedded with gypsum. Stylolitic bedding laminae occur almost throughout, but are particularly abundant in the middle unit. | Cream, brown and grey, fine-grained dolostone with grey, fine-grained limestone (rare). Lower units mainly dolomitic limestones in regular beds 15-30cm thick; the middle unit (most commonly seen at outcrop) comprises thinly-bedded, fine-grained dolostones and calcitic dolostones, 5-10cm thick; the upper unit is represented by buff to brown dolostones in irregular lenticular beds, up to 45cm thick. | Thicker beds more resistant. | Many quarries opened in this evenly-bedded formation which provided the most suitable building material used throughout the outcrop area for a variety of purposes. | Narrow western edge of the 'Magnesian Limestone' outcrop in Co. [NAME], extending from Pittington in the north, and [NAME] to areas just east of Bishop Auckland and [NAME]. | 2012-01-18 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | [NAME], 2009; [NAME], 2003; Smith, 1995; Smith et al, 1986; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2214 | Whinstone | 1 | Whin Sill Dolerite | The sill reaches its maximum thickness of around 70m in Teesdale. | BLACK | Mottled | Dark greyish, blackish, bluish-grey | GREAT WHIN SILL | PERMIAN | MICROGABBRO | Fine grained | Crude columnar jointing is conspicuous in most exposures. | Fine to medium-grained, weakly porphyritic quartz-dolerites, with grains up to 2mm in diameter. The rock comprises plagioclase feldspar with pyroxenes (mainly augite, hypersthene and pigeonite) and significant amounts of opaque iron oxides and pyrite. Many rocks show interstitial intergrowth areas of quartz and alkali feldspar. There is a marked decrease in grain size at the margins of the sill where the rock comprises a very fine-grained tachylite. In the upper half of the sill, the dolerite is locally cut by flat-lying sheets, veins and segregations of coarse-grained 'pegmatitic' dolerite (with crystals up to 2cm in length). | Very hard and resistant to erosion. | Used mainly as a source of roadstone and aggregate. Because of their hard, intractable nature and restricted occurrence, these igneous rocks have not been employed as building stones except locally in dry stone walling near accessible outcrops. | This intrusive igneous complex underlies much of NE England, but within Co. [NAME] is only exposed in the [NAME]-in-Teesdale area. The outcrops of the Great Whin Sill comprise some of the best known and most dramatic landscape features of Teesdale; most extensive of the natural exposures are the sombre cliffs of Crossthwaite, Holwick and [NAME], as well as the waterfalls of High Force, Low Force and [NAME]. | 2012-02-24 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | BGS, 1973; Burgess & Holliday, 1979; Dunham, 1948; [NAME], 2003; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2215 | Coal Measures Sandstone | 1 |  | The sandstones are mainly subarkosic, the dominant clast being quartz, with quartzite, orthoclase, microcline (perthite) and muscovite or biotite present in varying amounts. The sandstones are cemented by intergranular kaolinite, chlorite, micas and quartz, or by secondary intergrowths leading to interlocking grains. Veinlets of carbonates and baryte with traces of iron, lead and zinc sulphides are common. | GREY | Uniform | Grey to dark greenish grey, sometimes yellowish to brownish grey, occasionally pinkish | PENNINE COAL MEASURES GROUP | CARBONIFEROUS | SANDSTONE | Medium grained | Virtually all the sandstones, irrespective of grade, are cross-bedded and frequently ripple-marked. Channel sandstones often occupy washout structures which may cut down several metres into underlying strata, and contain mudstone, ironstone or coalified pebbles (locally called 'scars' or 'scares'). | Thinly to thickly-bedded massive sandstone, typically fine-grained but distinctive washout structures contain conglomeratic horizons (which are stained distinctively reddish-purple where near the overlying Permian unconformity surface). Occur associated with mudstones, siltstones and coal seams. Some beds kaolinitic or micaceous. | Tough durable sandstones, the quartz cemented stones being particularly resistant. | Many of the Coal Measure sandstones have been widely quarried for building purposes (and sometimes for roofing and aggregate) throughout the outcrop, and very large reserves remain. Some of the finest examples of their use in the county are [NAME] and Castle. The many beds that have been worked for good stone include the Durham Low Main, High Main, Seventy Fathom and Grindstone Post sandstones - the last also being used in the manufacture of grindstones. | In Co. [NAME] occupy a broad north-south trending belt in central part of the county, lying between the Stainmore Formation to the west, and the Permian 'Magnesian Limestone' to the east. This broad belt stretches the complete length of the county, extending from Ebchester and [NAME] in the north, via [NAME] and [NAME], to Cockfield and West Auckland in the south. | 2012-01-25 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | BGS, 1977; BGS, 1978; [NAME], 2003; Mills & Holliday, 1998; Mills & Hull, 1876; Smith, 1994; Smith & Francis, 1954; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2216 | Middle Coal Measures Sandstone | 2215 | Coal Measures Sandstone | The sandstones are mainly subarkosic, the dominant clast being quartz, with quartzite, orthoclase, microcline (perthite) and muscovite or biotite present in varying amounts. The sandstones are cemented by intergranular kaolinite, chlorite, micas and quartz, or by secondary intergrowths leading to interlocking grains. Veinlets of carbonates and baryte with traces of iron, lead and zinc sulphides are common. |  | Uniform | Grey to dark greenish grey | PENNINE MIDDLE COAL MEASURES [NAME] | CARBONIFEROUS | SANDSTONE | Medium grained | Virtually all the sandstones, irrespective of grade, are cross-bedded and frequently ripple-marked. Channel sandstones often occupy washout structures which may cut down several metres into underlying strata, and contain mudstone, ironstone or coalified pebbles (locally called 'scars' or 'scares'). | Interbedded pale grey sandstones, with mudstones, siltstones and commonly coal seams, with a bed of mudstone containing marine fossils at the base, and several such marine fossil-bearing mudstones in the upper half of the unit. Geometrically the sandstones occur in relatively thin (<5m) widespread 'sheet sandstones' or thicker (10-50m) 'channel sandstones'; often the channel sandstones exhibit variable grain-size, in places becoming coarse-grained, evenly pebbly. | Tough durable sandstones, the quartz-cemented stones being particularly resistant. | Many of the Middle Coal Measure sandstones have been widely quarried for building purposes (and sometimes for roofing and aggregate) throughout the outcrop, and very large reserves remain. The many beds that have been worked for good stone include the Durham Low Main, High Main, Seventy Fathom and Grindstone Post sandstones - the last also being used in the manufacture of grindstones. | This formation occupies a broad north-south trending band in east central Co. [NAME], extending from Stanley and Chester-le-Street in the north, via Waterhouses, [NAME], Brandon and Willington, to Bishop Auckland and West Auckland in the south. | 2012-01-25 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | BGS, 1977; BGS, 1978; [NAME], 2003; Mills & Holliday, 1998; Mills & Hull, 1876; Smith, 1994; Smith & Francis, 1954; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2217 | Grindstone Post Sandstone | 2216 | Middle Coal Measures Sandstone | One of the highest Middle Coal Measure sandstones exposed within the county, reaches at least several metres thick (inferred thickness is greater). | GREY | Uniform | Grey, bluish-grey to light brown | GRINDSTONE POST MEMBER | CARBONIFEROUS | SANDSTONE | Medium grained | Cross-bedded and frequently ripple-marked. | Medium to coarse-grained siliceous 'gritty' sandstones. | Tough durable sandstones, the quartz cemented stones being particularly resistant. | One of the main sandstone units widely used for building purposes throughout the outcrop. | Scattered outcrops (or subcrops), often fault-bounded, at various locations within the main areas of the Pennine Middle Coal Measure Formation. | 2012-01-25 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | BGS, 1977; BGS, 1978; [NAME], 2003; Mills & Holliday, 1998; Mills & Hull, 1876; Smith, 1994; Smith & Francis, 1954; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2218 | Seventy Fathom Post Sandstone | 2216 | Middle Coal Measures Sandstone | Unit varies from 10 to 25m thick. | GREY | Uniform | Grey, brownish-grey to pinkish or yellowish-grey | SEVENTY FATHOM POST MEMBER | CARBONIFEROUS | SANDSTONE | Medium grained | Cross-bedded and frequently ripple-marked. | Lower beds kaolinitic, massive and coarse-grained with some pebbly horizons; the upper parts are generally finer-grained and thinly-bedded to flaggy, sparingly micaceous. | Tough durable sandstones, the quartz cemented stones being particularly resistant. | One of the main sandstone units widely used for building purposes throughout the outcrop. | Scattered outcrops (or subcrops), often fault-bounded, at various locations within the main areas of the Pennine Middle Coal Measure Formation. | 2012-01-25 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | BGS, 1977; BGS, 1978; [NAME], 2003; Mills & Holliday, 1998; Mills & Hull, 1876; Smith, 1994; Smith & Francis, 1954; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2219 | Main Post Sandstone | 2216 | Middle Coal Measures Sandstone | The sandstone matrix contains little ferric iron and appears almost 'bleached out'. | GREY | Uniform | Grey, brownish-grey | HIGH MAIN POST MEMBER | CARBONIFEROUS | SANDSTONE | Fine grained | Cross-bedded and frequently ripple-marked. | Thickly-bedded to massive sandstone, typically fine-grained but distinctive washout structures contain mudstone-pebble conglomeratic horizons (which are stained distinctively reddish-purple where near the overlying Permian unconformity surface). Thinner sandstones, often flaggy with shaly partings are also associated with this sandstone member. | Tough durable sandstones, the quartz cemented stones being particularly resistant. | One of the main sandstone units widely used for building purposes throughout the outcrop. | Scattered outcrops (or subcrops), often fault-bounded, at various locations within the main areas of the Pennine Middle Coal Measure Formation. | 2012-01-25 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | BGS, 1977; BGS, 1978; [NAME], 2003; Mills & Holliday, 1998; Mills & Hull, 1876; Smith, 1994; Smith & Francis, 1954; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2220 | [NAME] | 2216 | Middle Coal Measures Sandstone | Up to 37m thick. |  | Uniform | Grey, brownish-grey | DURHAM LOW MAIN POST SANDSTONE | CARBONIFEROUS | SANDSTONE | Fine grained | Cross-bedded and frequently ripple-marked. | Predominantly light [NAME], fine-grained sandstone, varying from thin and whispy bedded to massive and cross-bedded. Micaceous and carbonaceous partings occur, especially towards the top of the unit. | Tough durable sandstones, the quartz cemented stones being particularly resistant. | One of the main sandstone units widely used for building purposes throughout the outcrop. | Scattered outcrops (or subcrops), often fault-bounded, at various locations within the main areas of the Pennine Middle Coal Measure Formation. | 2012-01-25 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | BGS, 1977; BGS, 1978; [NAME], 2003; Mills & Holliday, 1998; Mills & Hull, 1876; Smith, 1994; Smith & Francis, 1954; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2221 | Lower Coal Measures Sandstone | 2215 |  | Sandstone units up to 25m+ thick, but usually thinner, typically 5-10m. Some horizons 'gritty' and or split into several [NAME]leaves' which were variously named by local quarrymen, such as 'Second Grit', 'Third Grit' etc. | GREY | Uniform | Greyish, brownish-grey, yellowish-brown | PENNINE LOWER COAL MEASURES [NAME] | CARBONIFEROUS | SANDSTONE | Medium grained | Sandstones typically cross-bedded. | Interbedded sequences of grey, grey-brown or yellow-brown variable sandstones, siltstones, mudstones and coals (latter becoming thicker ion the upper parts of the sequence). Sandstones massive or thick-bedded to flaggy, medium to coarse-grained with occasional elongate ferruginous concretions and locally with mudstone pebbles; sometimes conglomeratic or feldspathic towards base of sandstone units. Sandstones often micaceous and carbonaceous. | Tough durable sandstones, some very hard and quartzitic, approaching ganisters. | The sandstones were quarried extensively, but on a relatively small scale, for building stone and flaggy roof tiles throughout the outcrop. | This formation occupies a broad north-south trending band in west central Co. [NAME], extending from Ebchester and [NAME] in the north, via Satley, [NAME] and [NAME], to Woodland and Cockfield in the south. | 2012-01-25 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | BGS, 1977; [NAME], 2003; Mills & Holliday, 1998; Mills & Hull, 1976; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2222 | Stainmore Formation Sandstone | 1 | Millstone Grit | The Stainmore Formation is very thick, reaching 400-500m near Stainmore. This sequence of rocks is substantially free of significant cover of superficial deposits, apart from in the south of the County around Barnard Castle and Staindrop, where a number of prominent sandstones give rise to distinctive ridge-like features. Traditionally, the name 'Millstone Grit' has been applied to this part of the Carboniferous (Namurian) succession, although the lithological assemblage in Co. [NAME] (north of the Askrigg Block) is distinct from the development of thick, coarse 'gritstones' and marine mudstones of the South Pennines and Derbyshire type areas for the Millstone Grit. | GREY | Uniform | Greyish, brownish-grey, yellowish-brown. | STAINMORE FORMATION | CARBONIFEROUS | SANDSTONE | Medium grained | Sandstones occur in channel-fill deposits, fining-upwards and with erosional bases cross-cutting underlying strata. Hummocky, cross-stratified and ripple-marked sandstones also present. | The formation comprises rhythmic alternations of mudstones, siltstones and sandstones, with a few thin coals and limestones (mostly confined to the lower part of the formation). The sandstones are generally fine- to medium-grained, micaceous and often carbonaceous; some scattered intervals (up to 20m thick) comprise coarser-grained sandstones (locally termed 'grits'). Basal beds above the underlying Great Limestone ([NAME]) are often chert rich. | The sandstones in particular weather to a distinct yellow-brown sheen, and clearly expose cross-bedding structures. | Used extensively throughout its outcrop, and typically quarried from small pits which were opened as a source of local building stone and constructing the many miles of drystone walls which are such a distinctive element of the dale landscape. The chert beds in the area around Bowes provided local building stone, but was mainly quarried as a source of chippings for road surfaces. | The Stainmore Formation covers approximately 40% of the surface area of Co. [NAME], and crops out extensively in the western half of the county where it underlies much of the open moorland fell country typical of much of the Northern Pennines. It extends from the north to the south county borders, west of a line marked approximately by Castleside, Wolsingham, Hamsterley, Eggleston, Staindrop and [NAME]. | 2012-01-25 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | BGS, 1973; BGS, 1977; Burgess & Holliday, 1979; [NAME], 2003; Mills & Holliday, 1998; Mills & Hull, 1976; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2223 | [NAME] | 1 | Chief Limestone | The Alston Formation has a fairly constant thickness, about 300m. The limestones typically contain comminuted shell debris with scattered crinoid, bryozoa, foraminifera and algae; complete or broken brachiopod shells and corals are distributed randomly throughout the main limestone horizons and commonly concentrated into local accumulations. Fully marine faunas occur within the interbedded mudstones; carbonaceous and plant matter occur abundantly in the clastic sediments. | GREY | Uniform | Grey, dark grey, [NAME], occasionally pale grey, whitish near base of Formation | [NAME] | CARBONIFEROUS | LIMESTONE | Fine grained | Some of the limestones exhibit current-bedded structures. The sandstones are often ripple and/or cross-bedded with erosive bases. | The Alston Formation consists of a succession of regular, well-developed typical 'Yoredale-type' cyclothems comprising bioclastic (biomicritic) limestones, sandstones, mudstones, siltstones and rare coals. Limestones are the most widespread and consistent lithologies, and generally dark grey, sometimes bituminous, and almost black in colour. They show an overall upward change from massive, fine-grained wackestones with a notable algal component, to current-bedded crinoidal packstones and grainstones. Some limestones comprise a single bed, others are made up of two or three beds separated by thin mudstone or sandstone intervals. The clastic horizons are highly  variable, ranging from calcareous and silty mudstones with ironstone nodules, to silty flaggy sandstones and medium-grained sandstones. The latter are composed of subangular quartz grains, commonly with abundant rootlet traces and a strong siliceous cement. | The siliceous cemented sandstones (approaching 'ganister' type sandstones) are particularly resistant. | Much exploited historically and worked locally in small quarries either as building stone, or for making lime for both agriculture and building. | The Alston Formation crops out in two areas of western Co. Durham. The larger area extends from Frosterley via [NAME], Rookhope, [NAME] and [NAME] Chapel through Teesdale (Newbiggin, [NAME] on Teesdale) extending as far south almost as Romaldirk; to the west, the Alston Formation extends to the county border. A smaller area of Alston Formation strata is also present in southern Co. [NAME], south of Bowes and extends to the border with [NAME] and the eastern Pennines. | 2012-01-25 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | BGS, 1973; Burgess & Holliday, 1979; [NAME], 2003; Mills & Hull, 1976; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2224 | Great Limestone | 2223 | Main Limestone | Typically 20m thick, up to 22m in the Stanhope area. The Great Limestone Member was previously regarded as the basal unit of the Stainmore Formation. | GREY | Uniform | Greyish, brownish-grey, yellowish-brown, dark grey | GREAT LIMESTONE MEMBER | CARBONIFEROUS | LIMESTONE | Medium grained | The Great Limestone typically occurs as thick beds (known to local quarrymen and miners as 'posts'), which vary from a few centimetres up to almost 2m thick. The uppermost 4.5m of the formation comprise well-marked 'posts' of limestone separated by dark grey shales, up to 0.6m thick. Shelly sandstone units also occur and are useful as correlative horizons. | Medium to dark blue-grey grey, slightly bituminous bioclastic limestones (packstones), in which small fragments of crinoids are usually abundant. Complete or fragmentary shells of brachiopods and bivalves are locally conspicuous, and in places solitary and colonial corals are common. The upper parts of the Member contain persistent mudstone interbeds. | Fairly durable, but subject to water worn features (in outcrop prominent lines of sink or shake holes clearly mark the top of the Member along many hillsides). | One of the thickest and most extensive limestones within the Carboniferous succession within Co. [NAME], the Great Limestone has been extensively quarried and abandoned quarries are conspicuous features in the landscape of Weardale around Stanhope and [NAME]. It is used as a building stone, especially for walls, and is crushed as an aggregate. One particular horizon, the 'Frosterley Marble' is dark grey, almost black in colour and contains abundant fossil corals and brachiopods; it takes a high polish and is used in interior ornamental work. The Member is also of economic importance as a host for mineral deposits. | Crops out in the western half of Co. [NAME], and is well exposed on the sides of many of the valleys and along the Pennine escarpment. The Member consistently fringes the outcrop of the overlying Stainmore Formation, and extends more or less continuously from the northern edge of the county (west of St John's Chapel and Westgate), via [NAME] and [NAME] in Teesdale to the southern boundary, south of Barnard Castle, and east and south of Bower. | 2012-01-25 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | BGS, 1973; Burgess & Holliday, 1979; [NAME], 2003; Mills & Hull, 1976; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2225 | Melmerby Scar Limestone | 2223 |  | Up to 40m thick. Some of the limestone beds (notable the Melmerby Scar Limestone) are approx 6m thick, and exhibit a saccharoidal texture. |  | Uniform | Greyish, dark greyish to black (limestones and conglomerates), purplish (slates), dark red-orange and ochreous (sandstones) | MELMERBY SCAR [NAME] | CARBONIFEROUS | LIMESTONE | Fine grained | The coarser beds are commonly cross-bedded with erosive bases, whilst ripple-marks and plant-debris characterise the finer beds. | Fine-grained, pale grey limestones and ochreous grey-brown sandy limestones with bands of shaly mudstone and sandstone. The lower 'basement beds' rest unconformably on older rocks and comprise conglomerates and breccias (with pebbles of Skiddaw Slates, vein quartz and tuffs), purple-red and green shaly mudstones and siltstones. Some limestones oolitic. | Some limestones weather a distinctive ochreous colour. | Worked locally in small quarries either as building stone, or for making lime for both agriculture and building. | In Co. [NAME], these rocks are confined to a limited area in Upper Teesdale, between [NAME] and High Force. | 2012-01-25 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | BGS, 1973; Burgess & Holliday, 1979; [NAME], 2003; Mills & Hull, 1976; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2226 | Slate | 1 |  | Despite low-grade metamorphism, some beds have yielded scarce graptolite fossils confirming the presence of the Ordovician Didymograptus bifidus zone (correlates with the Skiddaw Group rocks in the Lake District). |  | Uniform | Pale to dark greyish-green | SKIDDAW GROUP | ORDOVICIAN | NOT ENTERED | Fine grained | These rocks locally display the effects of low-grade metamorphism and (up to) two phases of deformation (indicated by cleavage development); the most intensely cleaved rocks can be classed as phyllites. | Pale grey to greenish [NAME], locally with thin gritty laminae. |  | Of extremely local and limited use as a building stone. The softer slates were formerly worked at Pencil Mill for the manufacture of slate pencils. | In Co. [NAME], Ordovician rocks crop out in a very restricted area (the Teesdale Inlier), beneath Cronkley and [NAME] in Upper Teesdale. The outcrop probably extends to a few square km, but much of this is concealed beneath superficial deposits, and exposures are mainly limited to a few small sites along the River Tees. | 2012-02-24 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | BGS, 1973; Burgess & Holliday, 1979; [NAME], 2003; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2227 | Stone flags (Unknown) | 1 |  | Fissile sedimentary rock |  |  |  | PARENT DATA NOT YET ENTERED [HIERARCHY CODE] |  | NOT ENTERED |  |  | Fissile sedimentary rock |  | Roofing | Co Durham Usage | 2012-03-06 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | [NAME] spreadsheet | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2228 | Green slate | 9 |  | Green slate | GREEN |  |  | PARENT DATA NOT YET ENTERED [HIERARCHY CODE] |  | SLATE |  |  | Green Slate |  | Roofing | Co Durham Usage | 2012-03-06 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | [NAME] spreadsheet | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2229 | Lakeland Slate | 9 |  | Slate | GREEN | Variable |  | PARENT DATA NOT YET ENTERED [HIERARCHY CODE] |  | SLATE |  |  | Slate |  | Roofing | Co Durham Usage | 2012-03-06 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | [NAME] spreadsheet | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2230 | Stone slate | 1 |  | Fissile sedimentary rock |  |  |  | PARENT DATA NOT YET ENTERED [HIERARCHY CODE] |  | NOT ENTERED |  |  | Fissile sedimentary rock |  | Roofing | Co Durham Usage | 2012-03-06 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | [NAME] spreadsheet | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2231 | [NAME] | 2223 |  | The Alston Formation has a fairly constant thickness, about 300m. The limestones typically contain comminuted shell debris with scattered crinoid, bryozoa, foraminifera and algae; complete or broken brachiopod shells and corals are distributed randomly throughout the main limestone horizons and commonly concentrated into local accumulations. Fully marine faunas occur within the interbedded mudstones; carbonaceous and plant matter occur abundantly in the clastic sediments. |  |  |  | [NAME] | CARBONIFEROUS | SANDSTONE |  | Some of the limestones exhibit current-bedded structures. The sandstones are often ripple and/or cross-bedded with erosive bases. | The Alston Formation consists of a succession of regular, well-developed typical 'Yoredale-type' cyclothems comprising bioclastic (biomicritic) limestones, sandstones, mudstones, siltstones and rare coals. Limestones are the most widespread and consistent lithologies, and generally dark grey, sometimes bituminous, and almost black in colour. They show an overall upward change from massive, fine-grained wackestones with a notable algal component, to current-bedded crinoidal packstones and grainstones. Some limestones comprise a single bed, others are made up of two or three beds separated by thin mudstone or sandstone intervals. The clastic horizons are highly  variable, ranging from calcareous and silty mudstones with ironstone nodules, to silty flaggy sandstones and medium-grained sandstones. The latter are composed of subangular quartz grains, commonly with abundant rootlet traces and a strong siliceous cement. | The siliceous cemented sandstones (approaching 'ganister' type sandstones) are particularly resistant. | Much exploited historically and worked locally in small quarries either as building stone, or for making lime for both agriculture and building. | Co Durham Usage | 2012-01-25 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | BGS, 1973; Burgess & Holliday, 1979; [NAME], 2003; Mills & Hull, 1976; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40
2232 | Grindstone Sandstone | 2222 | [NAME] | The Stainmore Formation is very thick, reaching 400-500m near Stainmore. This sequence of rocks is substantially free of significant cover of superficial deposits, apart from in the south of the County around Barnard Castle and Staindrop, where a number of prominent sandstones give rise to distinctive ridge-like features. Traditionally, the name 'Millstone Grit' has been applied to this part of the Carboniferous (Namurian) succession, although the lithological assemblage in Co. [NAME] (north of the Askrigg Block) is distinct from the development of thick, coarse 'gritstones' and marine mudstones of the South Pennines and Derbyshire type areas for the Millstone Grit. |  |  |  | GRINDSTONE SILL | CARBONIFEROUS | SANDSTONE |  |  | The Alston Formation consists of a succession of regular, well-developed typical 'Yoredale-type' cyclothems comprising bioclastic (biomicritic) limestones, sandstones, mudstones, siltstones and rare coals. Limestones are the most widespread and consistent lithologies, and generally dark grey, sometimes bituminous, and almost black in colour. They show an overall upward change from massive, fine-grained wackestones with a notable algal component, to current-bedded crinoidal packstones and grainstones. Some limestones comprise a single bed, others are made up of two or three beds separated by thin mudstone or sandstone intervals. The clastic horizons are highly  variable, ranging from calcareous and silty mudstones with ironstone nodules, to silty flaggy sandstones and medium-grained sandstones. The latter are composed of subangular quartz grains, commonly with abundant rootlet traces and a strong siliceous cement. | The sandstones in particular weather to a distinct yellow-brown sheen, and clearly expose cross-bedding structures. | Used extensively throughout its outcrop, and typically quarried from small pits which were opened as a source of local building stone and constructing the many miles of drystone walls which are such a distinctive element of the dale landscape. The chert beds in the area around Bowes provided local building stone, but was mainly quarried as a source of chippings for road surfaces. | Co Durham Usage | 2012-01-25 00:00:00 | [NAME] | Durham County Council | Durham English Heritage Atlas Area | BGS LEXICON, BGS, 1973; BGS, 1977; Burgess & Holliday, 1979; [NAME], 2003; Mills & Holliday, 1998; Mills & Hull, 1976; Stone et al, 2010 | 2012-05-16 10:20:40