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This is a hidden gem of a place ~ a bit off the beaten track but well worth the walk (10mins). From the car park, through the gate and follow the path, a nice woodland walk. Stunning views of the Tweed Valley can be had from up here. This impressive statue is older than the more famous statue at Stirling and is often referred to as the original Wallace statute. It is definitely a large dominating statue, commissioned by David Stuart Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan, founder of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
The statue was made of red sandstone by John Smith of Darnick and was erected in 1814. It stands 31 feet high and depicts Wallace looking over the River Tweed. It was originally painted white but the paint is mostly gone now.
Rocks can be divided into three main groups, sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic. Sandstone is a sedimentary rock and as the name suggests, it is formed by sediment laid down in layers and compressed into rock.
Sedimentary rocks are derived from pre-existing rocks which have been broken down by frost, rain, wind, ice, and river or sea action. The material provided is in most cases moved from its place of origin and deposited elsewhere ~ usually in layers deposited one on top of another. They can be classified on the basis of whether they were mechanically, chemically or organically formed. The first will have been transported into their new position by mechanical means (wind, water or glacier-ice), the second will have been carried in solution and later precipitated out, while the last are formed by the accumulation of the dead remains of once-living plants and animals. They can also be grouped according to the nature of their chief constituent and sandstones fall into the ‘arenaceous’ group as the grains are quartz with a size typical of that of sand (0.1 to 1.0 mm diameter).
Because the small rounded grains of quartz are only cemented together by a scanty bond of silica, iron oxide or some other material, sandstone tends to be a softer rock, ideal for cutting in to blocks of building stone. Often it is quarried ‘open-cast’ from the surface but sometimes it is quarried underground leaving large caves or tunnels.
All sandstones are composed of the same general minerals. These minerals make up the framework components of the sandstones. Such components are quartz, feldspars, and lithic fragments. Matrix may also be present in the interstitial spaces between the framework grains. Most types of sandstone are made up of quartz and/or feldspar, which are the two most common minerals in the Earth’s crust. The stages in sandstone formation are, firstly, the layers of sand deposited through sedimentation by a river, lake or sea (or even the air) accumulate and secondly, they become compressed by subsequent deposited layers (This is called compaction ) and cemented together by the precipitation of minerals within the pore spaces between the sand grains(This process is called cementation.)
Sandstone can be any colour but the presence of iron oxide (haematite), a typical deposit indicating that the source material is of arid origin, can colour the sandstone a pinkish hue, right through to a dark red. The most common colours of sandstone are tan, brown, yellow, red, grey and white, depending on their mineralogical makeup. For example, the presence of manganese can give sandstone a hint of purple.
To claim this earthcache, please send the answers to the questions below to us by email / message centre - do not post in your online log. Your log may be deleted if this criteria is not met. Educational guidelines for Earthcaches are set by Geocaching.com and GeoSociety.org (Earthcache) and have to be adhered to.
If you have internet to log your find, then you have internet to send us the answers, greatly appreciated if answers and logging happen at the same time.
1) Describe the pattern on a singular block and compare it to the next one along. Are they exactly the same or different?
2) If they are different, could you explain why?
3) What chemical compound gives this sandstone its colour?
4) Looking very closely at one of the weathered stones, can you see any of the individual grains and which size category would you describe them as being or do they differ?
5) Describe how the rock feels smooth/rough etc) is this what you expected?
While not compulsory, it is always good to see a photo from your visit.
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