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Please can some one advise about the practice of working pillars left in coal that had first been mined some time earlier? The following is an extract from an 1848 report by the Bishop of Durham’s agent, who was assessing the value of remaining coals in the Quarrington royalty, in order to place a value on it prior to the renewal of its lease. It refers to one of the coal mines in that royalty. The original workings had been in the 18th century. “What is left is small pillars not workable to profit if workable at all. The Seam being near the surface, the Pillars left are of extremely small dimensions.” That suggests to me that there had not just been two processes, namely (1) hewing out the roads & bords and then (2) removing the pillars, but also an intermediate one (or the final one, if some coal was left permanently unworked), namely (3) the PARTIAL removal of the pillars. I have read elsewhere of this practice being called “robbing the pillars” and that it led to creep - making the rest of the coal either less workable or, perhaps, just less worth working, in the days when small coals were not valued. Thanks Mike ----------------------------------------------------------- I search the web and raise money for the Bowburn Banner Group with Everyclick. Join me: http://www.everyclick.com/msyer -----------------------------------------------------------