Geology of Alderley Edge - History

History

The geology of Alderley Edge has fascinated people from all walks of life, scientists, miners and tourists for hundreds of years. Bakewell describes it thus:

"The hill is evidently of alluvial formation, being composed chiefly of gravel and soft white and reddish sandstone, - the white is intermixed with rounded quartz pebbles, the red with particle of mica. In some parts the red and white sandstone assume a nearly stratified appearance, in others the red stone intersects the white in very thin seams, branching in various directions. In the white sandstone are found various ores of lead as small portions of galena and in the same granular state intermixed with sandstone. In other places particles of blue and brown were collected in nodules of various sizes and imbedded along with pebbles in the sand rock like currants in a pudding".

A few years later, Ormerod in his book the ‘History of Cheshire’ describes it as follows:

"Alderley Edge is an abrupt and elevated ridge, formerly the site of a beacon, which bears the appearance of having been detached by some great convulsion of nature from the range of the Macclesfield hills. Near the summit cobalt ore, lead and copper have been got in small quantities. The sides are varied with cultivated land, wood and rock; and the entire mass presents a striking object to all the surrounding district over which it commands a most extensive prospect".