WEDDINGTON CASTLE - An Online History
TIMELINE I - Pre-human History
Whilst this website is primarily concerned
with the all-too-brief period of Weddington Castle’s existence, for purposes of
completeness this section covers the earliest origins of the Weddington area.
What this does show is that in terms of history, human history is but a blink of
an eye when set against the millions of years that the Earth has existed.
This section details the development of the area that has become Weddington –
itself a fascinating story! Perhaps most interesting is the fact that the land
that was to become Weddington has its origins many miles from its current
location – indeed, many miles from Britain!
From earth science evidence it is clear that the earth consists of several giant
rafts of crustal rock. These rafts are moving relative to each other in a very
purposeful way (called Continental Drift). Their average speed is about 1-2" per
year. The processes that cause this movement are called Plate Tectonics. Below
is a review of just how far Weddington has moved in time and what the district
looked like in those times.
The Table below has a latitude column giving an idea where geologists believe
Weddington was. Obviously when Weddington was near NEW GUINEA 500 million years
ago, New Guinea was elsewhere.
| DATE | ENVIRONMENT | LATITUDE |
| 500,000,000 BC | Shallow sea | 40° South (near New Zealand) |
| 380,000,000 BC | Low lying land | 20° South (near Peru) |
| 340,000,000 BC | Low land/estuary | 4° South (near Peru) |
| 250,000,000 BC | Rocky desert | 17° North (near Antigua) |
| 220,000,000 BC | Alluvial plains | 20° North (near Mid-Atlantic) |
| 170,000,000 BC | Low lying land | 29° North (near Mid-Atlantic) |
| 100,000,000 BC | Shallow sea | 39° North (near Portugal) |
| 50,000,000 BC | Land | 47° North (near Portugal) |
A typical geological succession beneath St James Church church is as follows:
| GEOLOGICAL TIME PERIOD | SOIL TYPE | DEPTH TO BASE (metres) |
| PRECAMBRIAN (550,000,000 BC+) | Caldecote Volcanic Formation | at least 700 |
| TRIASSIC (220,000,000 BC) | Polesworth Formation (sandstones) | 365 |
| Bromsgrove Sandstone Formation | 190 | |
| Mercia Mudstone Group | 100 | |
| RECENT | River terrace – sandy gravel | 1 to 3 |
During the last million years a single lake: "Lake
Harrison", existed in the area, thought to be up to 1,000 square miles in area at
maximum. This lake may have been many smaller lakes that drained away and as
they did so they changed local river drainage patterns. Before the time of "Lake
Harrison" the River Anker was a tributary of the Proto-Soar which drained to the
Trent via the Leicester area. After the glacier melted the River Anker changed
direction and joined the Tame and Trent systems.
| 475,000 to 425,000 BC | Lake Harrison exists in the area |
| 10,000 BC | Last glacier melts - River Anker joins Tame and Trent systems. |
© Alan F Cook 1992
