Yorkshire Philosophical Society

Event Information

William Smith Bicentenary Celebration: Geo Britannica in Northern England

(The Impact of Geology on Northern England)

In February 1824 the YPS held its first lecture which was given by William Smith and this Symposium, in partnership with the Yorkshire Geological Society, celebrates the bicentenary of this momentous event.

Programme

10.00am          Registration

10.45am          Introduction (David Harbourne, YPS Chair)

11.00am          The first lectures of William Smith – Colin Speakman

11.35am          The Yorkshire Philosophical Society William Smith Map of 1824: a unique variant  –  Duncan Hawley (History of Geology Group)

12.10pm         The Miners’ Stratigraphy and the 18th century roots of stratigraphic geology – Ru Smith (University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur)

12.45pm         LUNCH BREAK

2.00pm           Introduction and YGS notices (John Knight, YGS President)

2.10pm          Microfossils in Stratigraphy: History and Applications – Duncan McLean (MB Stratigraphy Ltd.)

2.40pm          Geological Mapping of the Yorkshire Wolds Chalk – Laura Austin-Sydes (British Geological Survey)

3.10pm          Refreshment break

3.30pm          Mapping: the future (presentations by winners of the YPS John & Anne Phillip Prize and introduced by Liam                            Herringshaw)

Louis Chambers (Hull and Durham University)

Becky Hopkins (Hull and Southampton University)

4.00pm           Mapping: The Future (Discussion) and Q&A Session

4.45pm           CLOSING WORDS

Abstracts for lectures v.2

This free event is held in in the Tempest Anderson Lecture Theatre in the Yorkshire Museum. 

On Sunday 22 September there are the following field studies in Scarborough:

Excursion 1: led by Peter Rawson (Rotunda Group)

The William Smith town trail starting at 11am from at the viewpoint next to Queen Victoria’s statue (and the Town Hall) on St. Thomas Street. The trail will conclude with a visit to the Rotunda Museum.

Excursion 2: led by Liam Herringshaw (YPS/Rotunda Group)

Starting at 11am with a tour of the Rotunda Museum followed by a search for dinosaur footprints (and other things) in the Middle Jurassic beds of South Bay.

Participant’s report

Excursion 1, led by Prof. Pete Rawson (YGS and Rotunda Geology Group, Emeritus Professor UCL)

The excursion followed the William Smith town trail, originated by the late Peter Robinson, starting at Queen Victoria’s statue on St Nicholas Street. This is where the old town hall was situated and where Smith and Phillips lectured in 1824. The party of 12 then walked down Bar Street where Smith had lived from 1835. A short distance away, Chapman’s Yard was the site of the underground water reservoir designed by Smith. Nearby Water Lane was followed which traced the path of the pipes which led to the old town area. Friar’s Way offered a distant view of the castle and the Castle Hill fault slip plane and across the town to Oliver’s Mount.

At Queen’s Parade a general view of the geology of the North Bay and the Castle Headland was seen, although the mist obscured the view of the further Cloughton and Burniston Bays famous for fossil footprints. Amongst the party was John Hudson (Rotunda Geology Group), co-author of papers on the local dinosaur footprints. Near the entrance to the castle an excellent view of the Castle Hill fault plane, first described by Smith, was seen, providing the perfect defensive steep face up to the Castle wall.

A footpath leads under the barbican bridge down towards North Bay, passing a sign board marking Smith’s top Cornbrash site. Further down, the Holms, a level site created by landslip, was where Smith collected fallen Cornbrash material, as a result developing severe rheumatic problems. At the bottom of the path the site of the old putting green, where Smith had found his lower Cornbrash site on the other side of the fault, was very overgrown and no outcrop could be seen.

The party then walked round the Castle Hill headland along the Marine Drive, noting “Hairy Bob’s Cave” carved into a fallen block of calcareous grit. The stratigraphy of the headland was further revealed:

• Coralline Oolite Formation (pars)
• Lower Calcareous Grit Formation
• Oxford Clay Formation
• Osgodby Formation

A stop was made at the Toll House to investigate the fossils in the building stone – and have a welcome cup of coffee. A short walk along South Bay and under the Spa Bridge led to our final destination, the Rotunda Museum. There Pete Rawson gave a brief history both of the origins of the museum, opened in 1829, Smith having helped with the design, including displaying the geological specimens in stratigraphic order on sloping shelves, and of its more recent renovation and re-opening in 2008.

The party then ended the trail by exploring the museum’s displays, which include specimens collected by Smith on loan from the Natural History Museum, London.

Sue Rawson