Dr Nigel Woodcock
- Emeritus Reader, Department of Earth Sciences
- Emeritus Fellow, Clare College
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About
Nigel Woodcock is an Emeritus Reader in Structural Geology in the Earth Sciences Department at Cambridge University, where he has taught since 1973. He did his B.Sc. at Manchester University in 1967-70 and his Ph.D. at Imperial College London in 1970-73.
His research has mostly involved field based studies of the deformation of low-grade rocks and the tectonic controls on their sedimentation, with diversions into orientation data analysis and environmental geology. He formerly worked around the Eastern Mediterranean but has most extensively studied the Palaeozoic geology of the UK. He has published over 180 scientific papers and two books: on the environmental geology of the UK and, edited with Rob Strachan, on the Geological History of Britain and Ireland. For this work he has received the Coke and Dewey Medals of the Geological Society of London and the Sorby Medal of the Yorkshire Geological Society
During his time in Cambridge, Nigel Woodcock has taught extensively in structural geology, sedimentology, field geology and the geological history of Britain, and was awarded a Pilkington Prize for this teaching, He was the Director of Teaching in the Earth Sciences Department for 25 years. He has also supervised generations of students in Geology and Earth Sciences, mainly for Trinity and Clare Colleges. He is a Fellow of Clare College, where he is also President of Clare Boat Club. He coaches rowing for Clare and for Champion of the Thames Rowing Club.
I give regular talks on building stone history to interested local groups in the Cambridge area or just interested in it. To augment these talks, and to provide material for self-guided tours to look at Cambridge stone, two booklets are available to download:
Research
Research interests
- Ggt
Palaeozoic geological history of the UK
My more recent papers are in the following fields:
- Progressive revisions of the terrane map of Britain and Ireland.
- Geomagnetic polarity studies through the late Ordovician and early Silurian in the UK.
- Zircon dating of the Shap and other Trans-suture granites in relation to the age of the Acadian deformation event.
- The formation of convolute lamination; examples in mud-rich Silurian turbidites in Mid Wales.
- Fault breccia classification and interpretation, mostly based on examples in UK Carboniferous limestones.
History of building stone use in Cambridge and region.
Since my retirement from teaching in 2019, I have developed my long-standing interest in the history of building stone use in Cambridge; a heritage city with exceptional variety and longevity of its stone record. Every building with significant stone components was examined, their stone identified and their use dated as far as possible. The papers deriving from these results address the question of why each stone type was used when it was; was the reason function, fashion or finance?
The Cambridge study has been broadened out to look at all medieval churches in South Cambridgeshire. About 130 churches were examined. The results are fascinating, revealing the dual use of local Clunch (Cretaceous Chalk Group) and imported Barnack (Jurassic oolitic limestone). The predominance of Barnack over other Lincolnshire Limestones is ascribed to its symbolic value to the pre-Reformation church. The study also throws new light on the medieval transport of stone from the Lincolnshire Limestone belt to south Cambridgeshire through the tortuous network of waterways across the Fens, .