SLHS: Geography: Stratford

Overview Of Rock Classifications

WCGC state that:

1. “Stratford’s geology is 225 million years old made up of White Lias, Blue Lias, Horton Stone and Cotswold Limestone – Jurassic marine limestones and mud stones. These latter 200 million year old layers are often rich in fossils.
   

2. The local rock is Mercia Mudstone covered by gravelly river deposits. Neither is suitable for building so stone had to be brought from further afield. Stones used were:
   

3. •Arden and Warwick Sandstones – Triassic desert rocks c225 million years
   

4. •White Lias, Blue Lias, Horton Stone and Cotswold Limestone”
   

For more details download the WGCG leaflet in Further Information below.

● These items have aspects that uniquely contribute to national or world history.

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Stratford is located here because, as its Saxon name suggests, it was easy to cross the River Avon here.

This belies the fact that the Avon is actually falling at a reasonable rate here and so the building of mills was profitable.

The local forests were of sturdy oak, a premium building material. The rivers yielded strong reeds for rooves -sadly Stratford suffered some catastrophic fires. Whilst it was later found that the local building stone was poor, and had to be transported in, there were copious quantities of aggregate which could be fired to make bricks (see diagram below and Espleys), generate lime for mortar and to render the walls.

With Cotswold sheep and dairy farming bringing in a steady good income local people were industrious. The town had been planned and the local school supported by a wealthy Guild. Both the Clopton and Flower families brought acumen to the town. A huge, river based wood merchant, Cox’s, had provided sawn timber of the best quality,

Later, with a key canal and two competitive railway companies, trade in all goods for living thrived and the population increased dramatically. The icing on the cake came when William Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets, and Marie Corelli’s novels, were made popular.

Natural Features

The Avon Valley for its whole length isn’t interrupted by tough rock formations but, as mentioned on the Warwickshire page, was left broad and easy by the glaciers at the end of the Ice Age.

Whilst Stratford does suffer from some flooding nowadays, due to man’s constriction of the River Avon at Lucy’s Mill weir. However there’s no confluence of any other tributary here and therefore no major bottle-neck when winter rains come. During times of very heavy rainfall, which may not occur in Stratford but upstream, the Rivers Authority have to judge how much storm water to hold back in Stratford to prevent property damage further downstream

In fact at the very place where it was once forded Mudstone is exposed and this is why building the Clopton and Tramway bridges here was so easy and remain standing to this day.

Age Of Rocks

Below a large swathe of Warwickshire, including Stratford, is brick clay (see light brown in diagram below) hence the Espley Brickworks on the Brmingham Road.

On top of that, where the River Avon had flowed for millions of years, it brought down large quantities of alluvial sand and gravel (see diagonal hatched area). This is why Stratford’s wells so easily got contaminated by water from the Guild Pitts Sewer.

Rock Classifications

Hillside Amenity

Stratford has one main hillside amenity. See historic parkland: Welcombe Hills