Southern Sandstone is a local name for the Ardingly Sandstone of southeast England, a soft sandstone of Cretaceous age separating the Tunbridge Wells Sands from the overlying Grinstead Clay. The outcrops in the

Weald of Kent The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in t ...

are the

rock climbing Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and ...

crags closest to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and are probably the most heavily climbed in the UK.

Geology

The horizon of thick, cross-bedded, fine-to-medium grained

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...

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) ...

separating the Tunbridge Wells Sands from the overlying Grinstead Clay is known as Ardingly Sandstone. It is particularly well exposed throughout the region between

East Grinstead East Grinstead is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the extreme northeast of the county, the civ ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

, and

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

Climbing

Stone Farm and Harrisons Rocks are managed by the

British Mountaineering Council The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) is the national representative body for England and Wales that exists to protect the freedoms and promote the interests of climbers, hill walkers and mountaineers, including ski-mountaineers. The BMC ...

(BMC). The rock is particularly soft and care needs to be taken to prevent erosion. It is climbed either

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

or on a top-rope. Many bolts have been placed at the top of the crags. Soloing requires no more equipment than

bouldering Bouldering is a form of free climbing that is performed on small rock formations or artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers use climbing shoes to help sec ...

Locations

Southern Sandstone is outcrops of sandstone situated in the

, on the borders of

and

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

.Southern Sandstone Climbs - Climbing Areas
/ref>

Major Outcrops

Bowles Rocks Bowles Rocks is a sandstone crag in the county of East Sussex, on the border with Kent, approximately south of the town of Royal Tunbridge Wells. It is popular with rock climbers due to the excellent, south-facing, quick-drying rock, the rang ...

, Harrisons Rocks,

High Rocks High Rocks is a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Tunbridge Wells in East Sussex and Kent. It is a Geological Conservation Review site. Prehistory The location was formed when a melting ice sheet at the end of the last ic ...

, High Rocks Continuation Wall and High Rocks Annexe near

Crowborough Crowborough is a town and civil parish in East Sussex, England, in the Weald at the edge of Ashdown Forest in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, 7 miles (11 km) south-west of Royal Tunbridge Wells and 33 miles (53 ...

* Bull's Hollow Rocks west of

* Chiddinglye Rocks near

West Hoathly West Hoathly is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District, Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, located south west of East Grinstead. In the 2001 census 2,121 people, of whom 1,150 were economically active, lived in 813 ho ...

* Eridge Green Rocks in

Eridge Green Eridge Green is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-east of Crowborough in East Sussex. It is part of the Eridge Rocks nature reserve, which is managed by Sussex Wildlife Trust. This is ancient woodland on clay with outcro ...

, four miles south of Tunbridge Well * Stone Farm Rocks south of

Minor Outcrops

*Basset's Farm Rocks, near Cowden *Chiddinglye Wood Rocks near

*Happy Valley Rocks west of Tunbridge Wells *Ramslye Farm Rocks, south of High Rocks *Jockey's Wood Rocks, Penn's House Rocks, and Rocks Wood are in Penn's Rocks near Eridge. This is a SSI and climbing is not allowed. *Under Rockes, south of

Rotherfield Rotherfield is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. It is one of the largest parishes in East Sussex. There are three villages in the parish: Rotherfield, Mark Cross and Eridge. The River Rother, which ...

References

External links

Code of Practice for climbing on southern sandstoneHarrisons Rocks Management GroupSandstone Volunteers GroupBowles Outdoor CentreSouthern Sandstone ClimbsYe Olde Southern Sandstone & UKCrags
archived sites from 2007
Tunbridge Wells Mountaineering ClubSouthern Sandstone Climbing Crags
on Google Maps