I've seen a lot of histories that start
"mining in this area is believed to date back to the Roman period"
and go on to say
"in the medieval period Bellpit were used to extract coal"
The evidence for Roman involvement and the prospect of dating a black mark
in a field is to say the least sketchy.
True that works near the outcrop were usually worked first but also true
that older techneques were used at later periods.
eg a nice black mark recently uncovered in a field in Cromhall is at the end
of a Green lane (very level suggesting a made up roaad or a surface
tramway). The Lane does not appear on an 1838 map but does on a 1841 map.
If the lane is contemporary with the workings a fairly accurate date is
obtainable. If however the lane was for farm or quarry working the black
marks could predate the workings considerably. NB no sign of surface
buildings but the land in the ninteenth century would have been drained by
pumping engines deeper down the dip of the seam so a simple surface
arrangement similar to earlier workings methods could have sufficed.
Sadly (from a dating point of view) the same applies to later collieries. I
recently visited a site in Coalpit Heath and participated (listened to) a
debate about what the engine base foundations were. It did not appear to be
a pumping engine although the location of a clearly defined horse gin
adjacent to it was giving confusion. Was the horse gin earlier and the
engine intended to replace this? If so why was the horse gin not demolished
(The remaining walls were higher than would be the case if demolition had
occured.) Even the details recorded for Coalpit Heath Colliery in 1947 when
privatised included (I think I recall) something refered to as a a horse
winding drum - presumably from a previous era rather than part of the active
mine.
in other words - difficult to date mine workings
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