The shaft mounds at Bentley Grange (near Emley) are often cited at a classic
example of "bell pits" however they might not be. I am still researching
this but i understand that a plan showing the workings at nearby Tankersley
shows galeries radiating out from the shafts. When some of the shafts in the
Emley / Flockton area were exposed during opencasting in the 1950s it is
reported that similar galleries were seen. This is however only an oral
account and they were not recorded. The shafts seen in the Emley / Flockton
area worked the Tankersley ironstone the same as the shafts at Tankersley
and display a similar grid iron pattern. What is very interesting is the
relationship between the depth of the ironstone and the volume of material
in the shaft mounds. Even very cautious calculations show that the amount of
spoil is probably to great for the simple bell pit model.
Similar grid iron patterns are seen on the North York moors at Rudland Rigg
where the thin Jurassic coals have been worked from shafts. Over 600 pits
are laid out in a regular grid-iron pattern some 40 to 60m apart, here the
term “multiple shaft” mining has been applied. The coal is shallow(9-12m)
and it is suggested that it was uneconomical to work from one centralised
pit head and this is why many hundred small rectangular shafts were sunk.
It is difficult to say what is going on underground by just examining the
surface remains but it is clear that the whole existence of the bell pit can
be challenged. Landscapes laid out in a grid iron pattern suggestes a form
of methodical working which requires further research. If it can be
demonstrated that they represent a form of pillar and stall workings then
many mining landscapes will have to be re-interpreted.
Martin Roe
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