At 07:54 05/10/2003, you wrote:
>Does anyone how they found this concealed coalfield and why it was there.
>The geology I can do it is the historical/social aspects that I am
>interested in.
>cheers
>Rob Ixer
Rob
Just found this
http://www.beer-genealogy.freeserve.co.uk/mining/shakespeare_colliery.htm
which says
Shakespeare Colliery was located at the base of Shakespeare Cliff between
Dover and Folkestone, on the site of the original Channel Tunnel
workings. The Kent Coal Fields Syndicate Ltd took over the Channel Tunnel
workings in 1886. After much speculation (the first suggestion that there
might be coal in the area was made in the 1840s), a 2 foot deep seam of
coal was discovered on Saturday 15th February 1890 at a depth of 300 metres
during boring operations at Shakespeare Cliff. The first shaft was begun
in on 21st August 1891 and in 1897 three companies were formed to search
for coal in the area. All three companies were left in financial
difficulty when boreholes to the west of Dover proved unsuccessful. The
Consolidated Kent Collieries Corporation was formed in July 1899 and took
over the assets of the ailing companies. By 3rd February 1905, just 12
tons of coal had been brought to the surface. Efforts to work the seam
were plagued by difficulties, including flooding. So much so that, by
1912, only 1,000 tons of coal had been raised. The colliery finally closed
just before Christmas 1915.
A number of bores were sunk between 1905 and 1910, under the direction of
Arthur Burr, to delineate the extent of the coalfield. By 1914, 40
boreholes had been dug at considerable expense to locate workable seams,
the best of which were found at deep levels and averaged only just over a
metre in thickness.
There's more links from
http://www.beer-genealogy.freeserve.co.uk/mining/index.htm - links to
individual collieries bit near the bottom of the page.
HTH
John
John Colby
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Lecturer, School of Computing, Faculty of Computing, Information and English
F328a Feeney Building, University of Central England, Franchise Street
Perry Barr, Birmingham B42 2SU phone +44 (0)121 331 6937
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website http://www.colbyweb.co.uk
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