About Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a big county, with a corresponding rich and varied geology. From the rocks which go to make up Yorkshire’s landscapes can be read the history of the region, the oldest rocks dating back to 500 million years ago when Yorkshire was part of a land mass deep in the Southern hemisphere.

Since then Yorkshire has been (amongst other things) a shallow sea, a desert, a forested coastal plain, a desert again, a chalky sea, and most recently scraped by glaciers and ice sheets. In this time, continental drift has moved Yorkshire almost 10,000 kilometres to the north. Each of these phases has left a record in the rocks which make up Yorkshire’s spectacular landscapes, from the limestones of the Dales, laid down in a shallow sea 350 million years ago, to the flat clay plains south of York, laid down on the bed of a glacial lake only 10,000 years ago.

Yorkshire’s human history and economy has been based on these geological riches, from productive farmland on the limestone and clays, to industry developing around the iron and coal rich seams on the Pennine fringe, with local gritstone and limestone used for building, the extraction of sand and gravel, and now learning to live with the active geomorphology of the coast and Humber estuary. Much of this history can be seen in the landscapes and rock exposures across the County, some of which are protected as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), or as Regionally Important Geological and Geomorphological Sites (RIGS).

Yorkshire Geological Gems

The Rotunda Museum at Scarborough - www.rotundamuseum.co.uk.
The Scarborough Museum is now known as the Rotunda, the William Smith Museum of Geology, and reopened on Friday 9th May 2008, after complete redevelopment generously supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Scarborough Borough Council and sponsorship and donations from the private sector. It is very much part of Scarborough’s heritage and a landmark within the town.