A former watch/lighthouse can be seen in the distance. The rocks are part of the Red Hill limestones. They were formed 337-341 years ago in the lower Carboniferous. This was a shallow shelf carbonate environment. Crinoids are common and some corals/ammonites were observed.
The area has been faulted and folded, some faults host low temperature hematite deposits. These large reserves were worked from the 1800s to 1968 when 25 million tonnes was extracted and processed in Millon ironworks. Today the opencast pits have flooded and form part of the RSPB Hodbarrow reserve.
SD1878 : Disused windmill at Hodbarrow Surely this is a first geograph.
The photographer is in the square and it's marked on the map. Come on chaps, this is silly!