Remembering Steve Staines: The Soil Scientist Who Mapped Cornwall’s Landscapes

Steve Staines, a pioneering soil scientist, recently passed away aged 75. During the 1970s, Steve worked from the St Austell office of the Soil Survey of England and Wales, where he produced three significant soil maps and accompanying books (Records) for OS sheets SX18 Camelford, SW53 Hayle, and the entire Lizard area. These comprehensive maps, published at a scale of 1:25,000, were created based on meticulous field-by-field auger and pit observations, showcasing the diverse landscape regions of Cornwall. Steve’s work has been an invaluable resource not only for agriculturalists but also for rural land managers, ecologists, conservationists, and planners.

The Lizard: A Masterpiece of Soil Science

Steve’s most notable achievement was his detailed soil map and book of the Lizard peninsula. This work, featuring an extract around Ruan Minor (©Cranfield 2022), offers an in-depth description of the region’s unique soils. Steve’s narrative appeals to readers across multiple disciplines. For example, he explains how wet heathland over serpentine has developed due to windblown glacial dust (loess) deposited at the end of the last glaciation. This dust filled the joints in the rock, creating a surface water table. Steve also discusses the phyto-toxic components of serpentine in relation to local vegetation and cropping patterns.

His work ties the Lizard’s archaeology to its soils, suggesting that Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements were concentrated on serpentine areas due to the sparser woody vegetation, which was easier to clear compared to the dense woods on the slates and shales of Meneage. With the advent of iron age tools, settlements eventually moved to the richer soils of Meneage. Steve’s measurements of exposure and wind speed are detailed in a section on climatic variations across the peninsula, and he concludes with a chapter on land capability and improvement. His insights are a valuable reference for managers of wildlife reserves like Windmill Farm and North Predannack Downs, explaining how soil characteristics have influenced these rare habitats.

Granite and Slate: The Soils of Hayle

The Hayle survey, another of Steve’s significant contributions, examines the soils of the granite moorlands of West Penwith and the lower slate country to the east, known for its oceanic climate ideal for horticultural crops. One intriguing section describes the man-made soils of the Golden Mile between Marazion and Penzance, highlighting the region’s agricultural innovation.

Bodmin Moor: Camelford’s Soil Survey

Steve’s Camelford survey covers the northern fringes of Bodmin Moor, characterised by peaty granite moorlands and slate uplands. This area, rich in wildlife and archaeological sites, also serves as a crucial source of drinking water. Recently, the focus has been on preventing the degradation of the peat soils, with Steve’s detailed soil map playing a critical role in these efforts.

Foundation for Future Work

The three soil maps Steve created laid the groundwork for the 1:250,000 scale soil map of Cornwall, published in 1983 as part of the National Soil Map. This comprehensive project included an accompanying book, “Soils and their Use in South West England.”

For those interested in exploring Steve’s groundbreaking work, his maps and books are available for purchase from LandIS at Cranfield University (www.landis.org.uk).

Steve Staines’ contributions to soil science have left a lasting legacy, providing essential knowledge and tools for land management and conservation in Cornwall and beyond.