The St. Anne's estate lies on the former site of St. Anne's Monastery. It was built in 1851, funded by John Smith and was demolished in November 1974, with the final mass being on the 30th of November, 1973. Parts of the original monastery still remain, including many walls and the statue Our Lady, housed in the New Lourdes Grotto built from the original bricks. More information about the monastery and its history can be found at https://www.suttonbeauty.org.uk/suttonhistory/stannes_church_sutton/
This is a short series of about 1km and should take about 45 minutes to complete. Difficulties range from 1.5 to 2.5 and terrains range from 1 to 3.5.
There is plenty parking in the area, although it can get very busy during school times. It is also only a 15 minute walk away from St Helens Junction train station.
This is my first series so please mention if you think the difficulty or terrain ratings are off.
The cache
This is the statue of Our Lady in the New Lourdes Grotto, built using the original bricks from the monastery.
Two types of structures that occur in sedimentary rocks are laminar and cross bedding. Laminar bedding forms in stable environments where there is very little interruption to disturb the deposition of sediment, such as in deep or stagnant water. Cross bedding forms where there is wind or currents to disturb the deposition of sediment. It is commonly seen in sand dunes or river channels.
Features of laminar bedding
Horizontal, parallel layers
Uniform thickness: All layers are similar spaced out
Features of cross bedding
Inclined layers: Cross bedding layers can be any number of degrees away from the horizontal
Cross-cutting: Layers intersect horizontal bedding planes at an angle
In order to log this earthcache you will need to answer the following questions. Please send your answers to me via the messaging centre.
1) On the brick indicated in blue in the picture above, which type of bedding can you see? Please explain why it is this type.
2) Which type of bedding is more common on all the bricks in the grotto?
3) Please take a picture of yourself or a personal item with the statue in the background.