Treacle Mines
It was a pleasant surprise to find in the current edition of The Field an
article on Treacle Mines. Suspecting a hoax, I read on and was amazed to
find that treacle mines exist in 12 counties across England: Cumbria, Devon,
Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicester, Norfolk,
Surrey, Sussex and Wiltshire and that there are no fewer than 19 treacle
mines in Oxfordshire alone.
The author goes onto describe the geological origin of the naturally
occurring treacle, which is similar to that of coal, beds rich in the fossil
remains of sugar cane trapped deep underground in rock formations of the
Jurassic period.
The article describes a treacle well at Burton Bradstock in Dorset and a
visit to Dunchideock’s treacle mine, near Exeter. The latter is illustrated
with 3 photos.
Ref:
Edelsten, David 2006 Digging deep for Treacle. The Field, April pp 67-70.
Cheers - Tony Oldham
Duncavin
1 Riverside Mews
CARDIGAN
SA43 1DH
United Kingdom
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