Huddersfield Soils
By John Grainger
FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCE SOIL CONDITIONS
A LEGACY FROM THE PAST
The lower parts of the district appear to have
been covered during the Ice Age of the remote past, by a
lake (Fig 5) formed by the huge vale of York glacier interrupting
the drainage of the River Calder at Horbury, near Wakefield.
A lateral moraine of this glacier held back the drainage
to a height of 400ft. above sea level. Some hardy geologists
with a passion for microscopic exactitude claim that it
was 405ft. above sea level. This barrier was but temporary
in geological time, though it lasted for a few thousand
years or so, and was thereby responsible for the deposition
of a considerable amount of sediment. The deposits are extremely
variable and often yield fertile, loamy soils, but heavy
clay soils predominate. Clays of varying colour, from blue,
yellow and brown to light grey or almost white, are found.
Excavations for buildings in the lower part of the town
of Huddersfield often reveal this glacial clay for depths
of 20ft. or even more. Patches of gravel or sand occasionally
occur amongst this heavy soil, the most notable being at
Kirklees park, Dalton, Waterloo, and near Elland railway
station. Details of the extent of this lake deposit can
be obtained by tracing the 400ft. contour line upon an Ordnance
map of the district.
Figure
5
Extent of a former glacial lake in the Huddersfield district.
Soils comprising the former
lake bed (shaded) are usually heavy and under natural conditions
are neutral or even
slightly alkaline
THE MELLOWING ACTION OF RIVERS
The flat bottoms of the valleys are caused by river
action over a long period. This produces alluvial soil which
is never of extreme type, and is usually a medium loam.
It can usually be worked with relative ease, and is often
the most naturally fertile type in the district. A flood-plain
or river flat usually gives ocular demonstration of its
extent. It is rarely technically flat, but is usually marked
in contrast with the banks of rising ground at its margin.
The principal alluvial deposits are, moreover, marked upon
the Drift edition of the I-in. Geological Survey map.
A PLANT-FORMED SOIL
The peat lands which cover most of the district
higher than 1,000ft. above sea-level, have been formed from
partly decayed plant materials, accumulating during the
last 4,000 years. Peat-forming plants are able to continue
growth from the top, even while the base decays, and the
resulting material is therefore almost entirely organic
matter. Such a deposit has little direct use in agriculture,
and the peat lands provide sustenance for only a relatively
small number of hardy Lonk sheep. Peat itself, however,
has a use in garden composts.
The various kinds of soil in the Huddersfield district
might therefore be summarized as follows:-
1 Millstone Grit Sandstone . . Sandy
2 Millstone Grit Shale. . . Clay
3 Coal Measure Sandstone. . Sandy
4 Coal Measure Shale. . . Clay
5 Glacial soils; the deposits from a former glacial lake.
. ally heavy clay
6 Alluvial soils; valley deposits made or altered by river
action. Medium loam
7 Peat. . . Organic
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