 It is on a long narrow spur (the remnant of a plateau eroded by glacial melt water) that runs SW-NE on a narrow ridge, now topped by Woodborough Road.Some of the Nottingham region's largest brickworks were formerly on the high ground at Mapperley, as its Keuper marl (now known as Mercia Mudstone), was suitable for brick making.This led to the saying that 'Nottingham once stood on Mapperley Plains', for the area was the source of so many of the town’s buildings in the nineteenth century.