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Old Man of Beacon Hill

These rocks were deposited 565 million years ago, but how have they been weathering into the shape of a face?

Rocky crags at Beacon Hill, known as the Old Man as they look like the face of a man.

PUTTING A FACE ON WEATHERING

The rocks at this site were deposited in the deep sea around 565 million years ago. Layers of mud, silt, and sand were laid down at the bottom of the sea, with occasional horizons of volcanic ash from a nearby chain of volcanic islands.

Since then, colliding continents have caused those ancient layers of the seabed to be heaved up, forming part of the modern landscape of Charnwood Forest. Now exposed on the land, this outcrop has weathered into the shape of a face, known to many as The Old Man of Beacon Hill. But how did the geology end up creating a face?

An interpretation panel is available at what3words location ///dive.knitted.lengthen