Promoting interest in the geology of Cambridgeshire, the UK and worldwide
MONTHLY MEETINGS
A programme of 10 monthly meetings, each including a talk, is held every year, running from September to June. These are held on the second Monday of the month at St Andrew’s Centre, Histon. Doors open 7 pm and talks start (unless stated otherwise) at 7.30 pm. Please arrive in good time (displays available for viewing – bring your rock and fossil items along for help with identification). Refreshments (coffee/tea/biscuits £1) available on arrival. Everyone welcome, free to CGS members, £3 non members.
Our programme for Sep 2024 to June 2025 is now available – see Events
NEXT MEETING
Monday 14th October 2024 7pm
The history of building stone use in south Cambridgeshire churches
by Dr Nigel Woodcock Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge
A geological survey of about 120 medieval churches in south Cambridgeshire reveals a dominant theme of local fieldstone rubble walls with dressings of local Cretaceous Clunch and imported Jurassic Barnack limestone; the richer the church the greater the volume of costly Barnack. The Cretaceous Ely Sandstone forms rubble walls only near the city. Victorian renovations to the medieval fabric of south Cambs churches used a much wider range of stone from the Lincolnshire Limestone Formation and further afield, made possible by new canal, then rail, networks. St Laurence at Foxton, for example, has fieldstone rubble walls, partly rendered, with medieval dressings of Barnack and Clunch, much repaired with Bath stone in the nineteenth century.
Another four Walk Guides published on the Fen Edge Trail
In May 2024 four new Walk Guides were published. Each walk is a good introduction to the geology of the Cambridgeshire Fens, telling the story of tidal marshes in the Bronze Age, ancient river beds (roddons) and River Terrace Gravels of the Nene, Ouse and Cam from the ‘Ice Age’ and the Jurassic and Cretaceous seas that covered this part of the planet many millions of years ago. The walks also describe how local history has been affected by the landscape and how today’s villages, towns and cities are still closely linked to the origins of their location. All Walk Guides can be downloaded from the Fen Edge Trail website.
We hope to organise some guided walks on the routes later in 2024 and in 2025.
4 New Walk Guides published on the Fen Edge Trail
December 2022,has seen the publication of 4 new Walk Guides including two with a difference: we have now expanded into the realms of podcasts and YouTube videos! Thanks to Paul S, Paul M (especially for the video) and Jeff for their work on the first three. Also thanks to Peter from the Word Garden who designed the fourth walk and produced the accompanying history podcast.
Earith: Old Bedford and 100 Foot with the Word Garden
This makes a total of 15 Guides published with at least another 7 due in 2023. An additional 21 are being put together leaving only 6 or so to be started. All Walk Guides can be downloaded from the website and there are also links to the podcast and videos. We hope to have guided walks on these and other Fen Edge Trail walks in 2023.
Previous Events
Field Trip Report – Burwell Local Geological Sites
The society organises occasional field trips to view important geological sites within the county and hopefully further afield in post pandemic times. These trips are primarily for our members.
In early summer 2021 we had a popular visit to the Burwell Local Geological Sites and are scheduling some others to East Pit, Cherry Hinton, a walk along the Fen Edge from Swaffham Bulbeck to Reach, a visit to Nine Wells chalk spring and a tour of the building stones of Cambridge city center. These are primarily for the benefit of members: any member wishing to participate should contact us.
A write up for this trip may be found here.
Newsletters
Our Autumn 2024 newsletter is now available to members.
Our previous newsletters are available to everyone (download below).
Email updates
Sign up for our email updates to hear about future talks, events and news of our projects.
Contact us
Cambridgeshire Landscapes
Cambridgeshire has a fascinating landscape and an interesting geology. See our Landscapes page for more details and download the excellent leaflet ‘The Mapping of Landscapes, Geology and Soils of Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire’ by Timothy Farewell, Peter Friend, Martin Whiteley and Joanna Zawadzk.
© Cambridgeshire Geological Society