Features / things you probably didn't know
This is how two giant stone nodules from St Anne’s ended up in Kingsdown
Two large nodules of sandstone dating back to the late Carboniferous period more than 300m years ago have an intriguing link to Isambard Kingdom Brunel and remain on display today.
The pair of stones were unearthed in 1837 during the excavation of a tunnel for the Great Western Railway near St Anne’s. Brunel was so taken with them that he had them mounted at the side of the railway.
When St Anne’s Park station closed in 1970, the stones remained on the disused platform until Sir Alfred Pugsley, a professor of engineering at the University of Bristol, secured one of them for the university and had it transported to a patch of lawn on Woodland Road.
is needed now More than ever
The two stones are known as the apple and the pear
Since 2009, both stones have been on display together on a raised bed on the corner of Woodland Road and Cantock’s Close.
A plaque in front of one of the stones reads: “This stone is one of two large nodules of sandstone found in 1837 during the excavation of the GWR tunnel No. 1 near St Anne’s and preserved there by IK Brunel.
“Presented to the University of Bristol by British Rail (Western Region) in April 1983.”
https://twitter.com/KYPBristol/status/1527546636238454785
The stone known as the apple has the plaque in front of it
The pear is located further into Cantock’s Close
See if you can spot the stones next time you are passing
All photos: Martin Booth
Read more: St Anne’s Park station could reopen as part of new railway plans
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