The Silkstone coal has been extensively worked along its outtcrop beneath the Silkstone Rock in previous centuries, but there is little evidence of this historical working to be seen today. A minor exception, however, is the dark line which can been seen crossing fields in freshly-ploughed autumn soil between Highlane and Mosborough (or on Google Earth imagery).
On the north-northwest side of Whiteland End the Silkstone Rock forms the high ground beneath Gleadless,
Arbourthorne and the eastern side of Norfolk Park, after which it crosses beneath Norfolk Park Road to form the ground on which the Cholera Monument was built. Clay Wood, next to the monument, is the site of some historic ironstone workings beneath the Silkstone Rock (Sheffield site G99), but these remains are now extensively overgrown and no outcrops can be seen at the present time. A small outcrop of Silkstone Rock occurs beneath the monument (Sheffield site G96), but this is also currently obscured by dense vegetation.
Northwest of the Cholera Monument site, the Silkstone Rock descends into the Sheaf Valley in Sheffield, where it is hidden behind the high grassy bank situated between the Park Hill flats and Sheffield Railway Station. The flats are probably built on top of the Silkstone Rock.
A good overview of Sheffield city centre can be seen from the top of the steps leading down the grassy bank, near the junction of Shrewsbury Road and Talbot Street. On the opposite side of the railway station the Silkstone Rock outcrop ascends up the west side of the Sheaf valley where it forms the steep hill on which Sheffield Hallam University has been built.
Sheffield Station and the Park Hill flats are located in an area where the Silkstone Rock is present as a very thick, massive sandstone, through which a deep railway cutting has been excavated on the north side of the station. A cross-section through the sandstone is visible on the eastern side of the cutting. These rock exposures are not accessible to the general public, but parts can be glimpsed from over the top of the parapets of two pedestrian bridges crossing the railway at Gilbert Street (Sheffield site G172). Here, the sandstone bedding planes can be seen to dip at a gentle angle to the northeast (being located on the southern limb of the shallow, easterly-plunging syncline).
The general thickness of the Silkstone Rock in this area is known from several nearby wells, boreholes and coal-mine shafts. The Exchange Brewery well, located near Ladies Bridge and dug in the 1890s, was begun in Silkstone Rock at the ground surface and its base was reached at a depth of 90 ft (≈27m). Similar thicknesses were intersected at Manor Castle colliery (Manor Lodge) and at Nunnery East colliery (just slightly east of Woodburn Road).
Like Dronfield, Sheffield is located on an eroded, gentle synclinal fold. The Silkstone Rock outcrop forms a high platform with a shallow trough-like shape on which much of the city centre has been constructed. Very few exposures of Silkstone Rock are visible today within the city centre. One possible small exposure, in the vicinity of Sheffield Hallam University, is located next to the pavement ramp which connects the lower entrance to the Millennium Gallery with Sheffield City Library (Sheffield site G374). Partly hidden by ornamental shrubbery, the rocks here appear to be disturbed and they may not be in their original positions.
The edge of the Silkstone Rock extends in a westerly direction from Howard Street to Furnival Gate and the roundabout at Charter Square. The Town Hall, Peace Gardens, Library, Art Gallery etc were all built on the Silkstone Rock. Occasional old coal mine shafts have been discovered in this area during building works, and other unknown shafts probably exist. The shafts were sunk through the sandstone to gain access to the Silkstone coal seam beneath.
The Sheffield Fault (trending NW-SE) dislocates the Silkstone Rock on the west side of the city centre, and its exact position is not known, although it is likely to underlie the area between Devonshire Green and St. George's Church, where the fold axis turns the outcrop back to a north-east direction again.
The north-western limb of the syncline forms the prominent, northeasterly-trending ridge adjacent to Broad Lane. A single outcrop of rock, now much overgrown, can be seen at the junction of Scotland Street and Furnace Hill.
The outcrop area of the Silkstone Rock continues in an east-northeast direction from Scotland Street towards the River Don, where it forms the gently sloping ground beneath the Law Courts, Corporation Street, Bridgehouses Roundabout (on Derek Dooley Way) and parts of Kelham Island. The Silkstone Rock did not form an obstacle to the River Don, which has eroded a channel through and across it. On the northeast side of the Don River Valley the Silkstone Rock becomes noticeable again where it forms the distinctive ridge of higher ground in Burngreave, on the summit of which is located the Nottingham Street Recreation Ground. Further down the slope, closer to the river, a small exposure of Silkstone Rock can be seen next to the roadside near the junction of Pye Bank Road and Rock Street.