Wharncliffe Crags is a

gritstone Gritstone or grit is a hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone. This term is especially applied to such sandstones that are quarried for building material. British gritstone was used for millstones to mill flour, to grind wood into pulp for pa ...

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''escar ...

or edge situated approximately north-west of the city of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

, England. It is a geological

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

Overview

The edge, which is characterised as a steep rock face for much of its length, runs from grid reference just east of the village of

Deepcar Deepcar is a village located on the eastern fringe of the town of Stocksbridge, South Yorkshire, England. It is in the electoral ward of Stocksbridge and Upper Don, approximately north-west of Sheffield city centre.Ordnance survey. 1:25000. ...

in a roughly south-easterly direction to grid reference just east of

Wharncliffe Side Wharncliffe Side is a village in South Yorkshire, England, northwest of Sheffield and within the city borough. Wharcliffe Side is located on the west bank of the River Don, approximately northwest of Sheffield city centre, and northwest of ...

. Wharncliffe Crags stand on the eastern side of the upper River Don valley at around above sea level, the highest

spot height A spot height is an exact point on a map with an elevation recorded beside it that represents its height above a given datum.Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, 1984, p. 506. . In the UK this is the Ordnan ...

being . Although set in a pleasant situation, the northern end of the crags are never far away from the buzz of civilisation with the noise of the nearby

Stocksbridge bypass Stocksbridge is a town and civil parish, in the City of Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies just to the east of the Peak District. The town is located in the steep-sided valley of th ...

and A6102 road ever-present; there are also two lines of

electricity pylon A transmission tower, also known as an electricity pylon or simply a pylon in British English and as a hydro tower in Canadian English, is a tall structure, usually a steel lattice tower, used to support an overhead power line. In electrical ...

s, which converge at the northern end of the crags. The rocks of the escarpment were formed 320 million years ago in the

Paleozoic The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...

era.

History

The rocks at the north-western end of Wharncliffe Crags have been quarried to produce

quern-stone Quern-stones are stone tools for hand-grinding a wide variety of materials. They are used in pairs. The lower stationary stone of early examples is called a saddle quern, while the upper mobile stone is called a muller, rubber or handstone. The ...

s as long ago as the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

, continuing into the period of the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

occupation of Britain. The name Wharncliffe actually evolved from the term “quern cliff”."''The Peak District and Central England''", Woodland Trust , Page 24 “Wharn is a corruption of Quern”. The process of quern production has left behind considerable evidence in the area of the crags, including work flooring and trackways as well as many abandoned querns. In August 1996 an accidental heather fire burned away much of the vegetation over an area of 8 hectares, revealing many more quern-stones than had originally thought present. A survey by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

in 2000 uncovered around 2300 stones in the 8-hectare area, leading to an estimate that there could be around 8000 quern-stones in the quarry area. The area of quern production has been declared a

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

.www.topforge.co.uk.
Gives details of quern stones.English Heritage.
Gives details of quern stones. Wharncliffe Lodge stands at the southern end of the crags and has fine views of the Ewden valley to the west. The present building dates from the 19th century and is the third lodge on the site, the original having been built in 1510. The lodge has strong associations with

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (née Pierrepont; 15 May 168921 August 1762) was an English aristocrat, writer, and poet. Born in 1689, Lady Mary spent her early life in England. In 1712, Lady Mary married Edward Wortley Montagu, who later served a ...

who resided there for short periods in the early 18th century. The floor of one of the rooms bears the inscription of Henry VIII's reign (1509–1547)."''Historic Hallamshire''", David Hey, Page 143 Gives details of Wharncliffe Lodge."''The Letters and Works of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu''", Mary Wortley Montagu, Pages 46 & 47 Gives information on Wharncliffe Lodge.

Geology and habitat

The geology of Wharncliffe Crags led to the area being designated a

in 1988. The geological features of the cliff face are of special interest, showing the best available exposed example of the Wharncliffe Edge Rock Formation within the

Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of uplands running between three regions of Northern England: North West England on the west, North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber on the east. Commo ...

and two primary sandstone beds that were originally laid down as sediments from a meandering river. The downslope from the base of the cliff towards the Don valley is covered by the

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

and

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

woodland of Wharncliffe Woods, which are owned by the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respon ...

. The flat ground on the top of the crags is mostly carpeted with heather. The level terrain behind the central part of the crags is known as Wharncliffe Chase; this was part of a royal hunting park in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. More recently the chase was mined for

ganister A ganister (or sometimes gannister ) is hard, fine-grained quartzose sandstone, or orthoquartzite,Jackson, J. A., 1997, ''Glossary of geology'', 4th ed. American Geological Institute, Alexandria. used in the manufacture of silica brick typically ...

, which was used to produce furnace bricks for the local steel industry; there has also been small-scale

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

in the past."The Peak District and Central England" Page 24 Gives details of Wharncliffe Chase.

Wharncliffe Heath Local Nature Reserve

The north-western (Deepcar) end of the crags stand within the Wharncliffe Heath Local Nature Reserve an area of heather,

bracken Bracken (''Pteridium'') is a genus of large, coarse ferns in the family Dennstaedtiaceae. Ferns (Pteridophyta) are vascular plants that have alternating generations, large plants that produce spores and small plants that produce sex cells (eggs ...

, birch scrub and broad-leaved woodland that provides a home for a rich diversity of wildlife. These include rare and threatened species, such as

nightjar Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal or crepuscular birds in the family Caprimulgidae and order Caprimulgiformes, characterised by long wings, short legs, and very short bills. They are sometimes called goatsuckers, due to the ancient folk ta ...

linnet The common linnet (''Linaria cannabina'') is a small passerine bird of the finch family, Fringillidae. It derives its common name and the scientific name, ''Linaria'', from its fondness for hemp seeds and flax seeds—flax being the English n ...

viviparous lizard The viviparous lizard, or common lizard, (''Zootoca vivipara'', formerly ''Lacerta vivipara''), is a Eurasian lizard. It lives farther north than any other species of non-marine reptile, and is named for the fact that it is viviparous, meaning i ...

and green tiger beetle. The reserve is one of the best examples of dry heath in the Sheffield area. It differs from the nearby

Peak District The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southe ...

heather moorland in that it is a mosaic of heather, scrub and bracken. The reserve is managed by the Wharncliffe Heathlands Trust, whose main recent projects have been keeping birch scrub under control by felling and wood pasture creation.Notice board at reserve site. Gives details of Wharncliffe Heath Local Nature Reserve.

Rock climbing

Wharncliffe Crags has a long history of

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 ...

: it was at the forefront at the birth of the sport in the UK in the 1880s. Pre-

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

climbing legend J. W. Puttrell was a regular visitor to the crags from 1885 onwards and pioneered many early routes, most notably Puttrell's Progress which had its first ascent around 1900. By 1900 the crag was the most popular climbing venue in the country, a fact that was helped by the presence of the nearby

Deepcar railway station Deepcar railway station, originally "Deep Car", is a disused railway station near Deepcar, South Yorkshire, England. The station, situated on the line built by the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway, opened on 14 July 1845. The ...

on the Sheffield to Manchester railway line. The crag declined in popularity, losing out to more popular venues in the

, and is now a quiet site. There are around 142 traditional climbs on the crag along with many

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 ...

climbs on the numerous large boulders that have become detached from the main crag.www.rockfax.com.
Gives details of rock climbing.

Legend

The crags are also the venue of the legend of the

Dragon of Wantley The Dragon of Wantley is a legend of a dragon-slaying by a knight on Wharncliffe Crags in South Yorkshire, recounted in a comic broadside ballad of 1685. It was later included in Thomas Percy's 1767 ''Reliques of Ancient English Poetry'', enjoyin ...

, a myth that was made into a 17th-century satirical poem and an opera by

Henry Carey Henry Carey may refer to: *Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon (1526–1596), politician, general, and potential illegitimate son of Henry VIII *Henry Carey, 1st Earl of Dover (1580–1666), English peer *Henry Carey, 2nd Earl of Monmouth (1596–1661), ...

. The legend was mentioned by Sir

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...

in the opening chapter of ''

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' () by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. Set in England in the Middle Ages, this novel marked a shift away from Scott’s prior practice of setting st ...

'': "Here haunted of yore the fabulous Dragon of Wantley".The Free Library.
Gives text of ''Ivanhoe'', Chapter 1. The story tells the tale of how More, of More Hall, slays a troublesome dragon that lives on the crags. A cave at the southern end of the crags, close to Wharncliffe Lodge, is called the Dragon's Den and is thus marked on maps.
Gives text of Dragon of Wantley poem.

References

{{coord, 53.4716, N, 1.5506, W, scale:1000_type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Climbing areas of England Geography of Sheffield Hills and edges of South Yorkshire Sites of Special Scientific Interest in South Yorkshire Local Nature Reserves in South Yorkshire Mountains and hills of the Peak District Escarpments of England Wortley, South Yorkshire