The Peckforton Hills are a

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

ridge running broadly northeast–southwest in the west of the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of Cheshire. They form a significant part of the longer

Mid Cheshire Ridge The Mid Cheshire Ridge is a range of low sandstone hills which stretch north to south through Cheshire in North West England. The ridge is discontinuous, with the hills forming two main blocks, north and south of the "Beeston Gap". The main mas ...

which extends southwards from

Frodsham Frodsham is a market town, civil parish, and electoral ward in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Its population was 8,982 in 2001, increasing to 9,077 at the 2011 Census. It is s ...

towards Malpas. Bulkeley Hill () stands at the south end, and the ridge is continued southwards by

Bickerton Hill Bickerton Hill refers to two low red sandstone hills that form the southern end of the Mid Cheshire Ridge in Cheshire, north-west England. The high point, Raw Head, lies on the northerly hill and has an elevation of 227 metres. Parts of the ...

. The high points are Peckforton Point (; 203 m), immediately north of Bulkeley Hill (224m), and Stanner Nab (; 200 m), towards the northern end of the ridge. Settlements around the hills include

Burwardsley Burwardsley is a village and civil parish the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The parish also includes the small villages of Burwardsley, Burwardsley Hill, Higher Burwardsley. The ...

to the west, Beeston to the north,

Peckforton Peckforton is a scattered settlement (centred at ) and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The settlement is located to the north east of Malpas and to the west of Nantwich. ...

and Bunbury to the east and Bulkeley to the south. On Ascension Day the parishioners of St Boniface, Bunbury walk to the 200m summit of Stanner Nab for a service as the sun sets.

Geology

The Peckforton Hills are formed from layers of

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

, namely

s of

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Year#Abbreviations yr and ya, Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 ...

age and collectively known as the

New Red Sandstone The New Red Sandstone, chiefly in British geology, is composed of beds of red sandstone and associated rocks laid down throughout the Permian (300 million years ago) to the end of the Triassic (about 200 million years ago), that under ...

. At around 250 million years old, the oldest (and hence lowermost) strata are now known as the Wilmslow Sandstone Formation though formerly as the Upper Mottled Sandstone. This formation is overlain by sandstones of the Helsby Sandstone Formation which are around 245 million years old. The strata are sub-horizontal, dipping generally to the east by a few degrees. Nearby

Beeston Castle Beeston Castle is a former Royal castle in Beeston, Cheshire, England (), perched on a rocky sandstone crag above the Cheshire Plain. It was built in the 1220s by Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester (1170–1232), on his return from th ...

hill, effectively an outlier of the range with similar geology, is topped by a small outcrop of the Tarporley Siltstone Formation (formerly known as the Keuper Waterstones). The area was affected by the passage of the Irish Sea Icesheet southward through Cheshire during the last ice age. Several glacial meltwater channels are identified in and around the hills, especially to the west and including Peckforton Gap.

Features

The

Sandstone Trail The Sandstone Trail is a long-distance walkers' path, following sandstone ridges running north–south from Frodsham in central Cheshire to Whitchurch just over the Shropshire border. The path was created in 1974 and extended in the 1990s. ...

long-distance footpath A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway (landscape), greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking (wilderness), backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-cou ...

runs along the ridge, and the hills are the source of both the

River Weaver The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included ...

and the

River Gowy The River Gowy is a river in Cheshire, England, a tributary of the River Mersey. It rises in western Cheshire in the hills near Peckforton Castle, very close to the source of the River Weaver. While the Weaver flows south initially, the Gowy ...

. A of Peckforton Woods has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Bulkeley Hill is owned by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

, and its wooded slopes include 12 acres (5 hectares) of semi-natural ancient woodland. Peckforton and Bulkeley Hills have also both been designated county sites of biological importance for their woodland and grassland habitats.

Peckforton Castle Peckforton Castle is a Victorian country house built in the style of a medieval castle. It stands in woodland at the north end of Peckforton Hills northwest of the village of Peckforton, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Herit ...

, a Victorian mansion built in the style of a medieval castle, stands at the northern end of the Peckforton ridge.Images of England: Peckforton Castle
. Retrieved 13 February 2008.

References

External links

Walking Cheshire's Sandstone Trail , Maps , Information , PhotographsThe Peckforton Hills Local Heritage ProjectThe Sandstone News: Community informationSt Boniface Church, Bunbury, Cheshire
{{coord, 53.1, N, 2.7, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SJ530563), display=title National Trust properties in Cheshire Hills of Cheshire Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cheshire