The church dates largely from the 15th century. By the mid nineteenth century, the foundations of the nave piers had given way, so the church was restored between 1852 and 1854 at a cost of £1,500. The body and north aisle of the church were rebuilt. The roof of the nave which dated from the 15th century was repaired.
This is an EarthCache, so I would like you to take time to examine the path that leads to the main door of the church. The geology of the area around Askrigg is from the Yoredale Series. This relates to the geology laid down in the Carboniferous period, which in this part of the Dales has resulted in alternating layers of limestone, sandstone and shale.
The path is made out of sandstone flags, and oh well, you may say, it is just a path. Yes it is a path, but a path of interest. As you walk along, can you see any patterns on the flagstones? When we walk, if the ground is wet, or soft, we tend to leave a trace that we have been there, a footprint. Well the patterns you can see are patterns from the past : fossils.
A fossil is trace or remains of a plant, animal or other organisms. However, there is more to fossilization than just bones, or remains of a T Rex.
There are many EarthCaches which can teach you about the whole process of fossilization, what we are concerned with are ichnofossils. The simpler way to understand an ichnofossil are that there are traces of a biological activity, in the form of a geological record. They are also known as trace fossils, and thus show a trace of an impression made on the substrate, and can be root cavities, feeding marks, footprints, and remains of excretia, such as fossilized droppings. Geology can be difficult to understand, so below are some easy ways to describe types of trace fossils.
1. Cochlichnus. These are caused by locomotion (i.e movement), and can be a curving or a meandering smooth horizontal trace.
2. Scolicia. These are caused by the locomotion (i.e movement) or feeding traces made by animals on or under the seadbed. They appear as horizontal bilateral, symetrical meandering trails. Imagine the imprint a bike tyre makes, you have two symetrical borders.
3. Lockeia. These have the shape similar to an almond, and in technical terms could be described as ovoid. These are the trace of a bivalve resting place. A bivalve is a type of mollusc, such as a muscle.
This being an EarthCache, in order to log it, I ask that you answer some questions. Please send them to me, and do not include them in your log. You can send them to me by using the message facility or email, both of which can be found by looking at my profile. It is not meant to be difficult to do.
1. Please identify the type of ichnofossils that you can find here.
2. In your own words please describe what the ichnofossil looks like, its size (length, width,depth, colour ).
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For full information on how you can expand the Church Micro series by sadexploration please read the Place your own Church Micro page before you contact him at churchmicro.co.uk
See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
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