Forest of Dean Coalfield
Encyclopedia
Forest of Dean
The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. The forest is a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and north, the River Severn to the south, and the City of Gloucester to the east.The...
, in northwest Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, is one of the smaller coalfields in the British Isles, although intensive mining during the 19th and 20th centuries has had enormous influence on the landscape, history, culture and economy of the area.
For hundreds of years, mining in the Forest of Dean Coalfield has been regulated through a system of Freemining, in which individuals, if they qualify, are granted leases to mine in specified areas, known as gales. The Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946
Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946
The Coal Industry Nationalisation Act of 1946 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It received Royal Assent on 12 July 1946, and provided for the nationalization of the entire British coal industry. It established the National Coal Board which acted as the managing authority for coal...
specifically exempted the Forest of Dean, due to its unique form of ownership and history, allowing this unique local privilege to continue intact.
The last of the big gales closed in 1965 and today, only a handful of small collieries are still operating.
Geology and hydrology
The Forest of Dean Coalfield was formed during Upper Carboniferous times, when the area was a nearshore-intertidal environment of semi-marine estuaries and swamps. The area today is a raised basin plateau of palaeozoic rocks folded in the Variscan OrogenyVariscan orogeny
The Variscan orogeny is a geologic mountain-building event caused by Late Paleozoic continental collision between Euramerica and Gondwana to form the supercontinent of Pangaea.-Naming:...
. It occurs in a raised asymmetrical syncline
Syncline
In structural geology, a syncline is a fold, with younger layers closer to the center of the structure. A synclinorium is a large syncline with superimposed smaller folds. Synclines are typically a downward fold, termed a synformal syncline In structural geology, a syncline is a fold, with younger...
with a steeper eastern limb that surfaces in the area of Staple Edge and the Soudley Valley producing the steeply dipping strata. An unusual feature of the Forest of Dean Coalfield is that its edges are almost entirely exposed at the surface.
Mining in the coalfield has always been hampered by the excessive amount of water encountered underground - trapped by the basin shaped strata. Water drains into the basin by general percolation and, more directly, via surface watercourses. For much of their length, streams in the area run over impervious clay deposits, but where valleys cut through the rim of the basin, carboniferous limestone and sandstone is exposed, allowing water to penetrate underground via swallow holes, cracks and fissures. Water also enters the basin through geological faults.
In an attempt to reduce the pumping requirement, many mine owners 'waterproofed' the beds of watercourses with conduits or channels, wherever water loss was thought likely to occur. These artificial drainage features can be seen, at some point or other, on almost every watercourse within the mining area.
Freemining
For hundreds of years, mining in the Forest of Dean Coalfield has been regulated through a system of Freemining; where individuals, if they qualify, can lease a specified area in which to mine. Freeminers, were instrumental in recapturing Berwick upon Tweed several times (1296, 1305 and 1315) and it is thought that freemining rights were granted by Edward IEdward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
as a reward for their endeavours. The Free Miner's Mine Law Court sat at the Speech House
Speech House
The Speech House is the administrative building of the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, England, lying at the centre of the forest on the road from Coleford to Cinderford....
from 1682 and the earliest known existing copy of Dean Miners’ Laws and Privileges, known locally as the Book of Dennis, dates from 1610, but the copy itself contains references to much earlier origins.
Towards the end of the 18th century, as the industrial revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
began to take hold, increasing demand for coal and iron led to conflicting mining interests and the Court became bogged down with disputes. Deep coal and iron reserves could not be mined without substantial investment and the Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
became determined to introduce the free market into the Forest. They began by outlawing the Mine Law Court in 1777 and all the documents from the Mine Law Court were stolen by Crown Officials.
A Royal Commission was appointed in 1831 to inquire into the nature of the mineral interests and freemining customs in the Forest of Dean, leading to the passing of the Dean Forest Mines Act 1838, which now forms the basis of Freemining law. It confirmed the Freeminers' exclusive right to the minerals of the Forest of Dean, but also allowed Freeminers to sell their gales to a non-Freeminers; further opening up the Forest to outside industrialists.
As of 2010 the gender requirement has been recognised as archaic and women are now allowed to become freeminers.
Exploitation of the coalfield
Coal mining, on a small scale, took place in the area since before Roman times, but it was not until the industrial revolutionIndustrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
, including the construction of coke-fired ironworks in the Forest itself, that exploitation of the Forest of Dean Coalfield occurred to any great degree.
Initially, it proved impossible to produce coke
Coke (fuel)
Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...
from the local coal that was ideal for smelting and, almost certainly, this was a major factor in the failure of three early furnaces within a decade of them opening. Around 1820, however, Moses Teague, whilst borrowing the cupola furnace
Cupola furnace
A Cupola or Cupola furnace is a melting device used in foundries that can be used to melt cast iron, ni-resist iron and some bronzes. The cupola can be made almost any practical size. The size of a cupola is expressed in diameters and can range from . The overall shape is cylindrical and the...
at Darkhill Ironworks
Darkhill Ironworks
Darkhill Ironworks, and the neighbouring Titanic Steelworks, are internationally important industrial remains associated with the development of the iron and steel industries. Both are scheduled monuments. They are located on the edge of a small hamlet called Gorsty Knoll, just to the west of...
, discovered a way to make good iron from local coke, greatly advancing the iron and coal industries of the Forest of Dean.
By the mid-nineteenth century, there were more than 300 coal workings in the Forest of Dean area and it was said there were more men working below ground than there were working above.
The Coal Industry Nationalisation Act
Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946
The Coal Industry Nationalisation Act of 1946 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It received Royal Assent on 12 July 1946, and provided for the nationalization of the entire British coal industry. It established the National Coal Board which acted as the managing authority for coal...
, of 1946, specifically exempted the Forest of Dean, due to its unique form of ownership and history, allowing Freemining privileges to continue intact. Some large colliery gales were subsequently compulsorily purchased by the National Coal Board
National Coal Board
The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...
(NCB), but these remained under the Freemining system, with a royalty paid to the Freeminer
Freeminer
Freeminer is an ancient title given to a coal or iron miners in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, who have earned the right to mine personal plots, known as gales.-History of Freemining:...
s, by the NCB, as a share of the minerals extracted.
The last of the NCB gales closed in 1965, but freemining continues to be an important aspect of Forest of Dean culture and there are probably still around 150 Free Miners alive today, although only a handful of collieries are still operating.
Major collieries
- Arthur and Edward, also known as Waterloo (NCB)
- Bilson
- Cannop (NCB)
- Crump Meadow
- Eastern United (NCB)
- Flour Mill
- Foxes Bridge
- Lightmoor
- New Fancy
- Norchard (NCB)
- Northern United (NCB)
- Parkend
- Princess Royal (NCB)
- Speculation
- Speech House
- Trafalgar
See also
- List of British coalfields
- New FancyNew FancyNew Fancy is the site of an afforested coal spoil heap near Parkend in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England. It includes a picnic area, and a viewing site, in particular for goshawks. It is linked to the Forest of Dean Family Cycle Trail.-History:...
. Former spoil tip, now a landscaped viewpoint. - Cinderford IronworksCinderford IronworksCinderford Ironworks, also known as Cinderford Furnace, was a coke-fired blast furnace, built in 1795, just west of Cinderford, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England.-Background:...
- Whitecliff IronworksWhitecliff IronworksWhitecliff Ironworks, sometimes referred to as Whitecliff Furnace, at Coleford, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, are industrial remains associated with the production of iron, using coke, in the Forest of Dean.-Background:...
- Parkend IronworksParkend IronworksParkend Ironworks, also known as Parkend Furnace, in the village of Parkend, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, was a coke-fired furnace built in 1799...