Knowledge (XXG)

Bell pit

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Bell pits often flooded due to a lack of a drainage system. This, together with the lack of support and the likelihood of collapse, meant they had a limited lifespan. The remains of bell pits can be identified by depressions left when they collapsed. In some places, they will follow a straight line
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Typically, no supports were used, and mining continued outwards until the cavity became too dangerous or collapsed at which point another mine was started, often in close proximity. This type of mine was in use in prehistoric times, the Middle Ages, and a few continued in use until the early 20th
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A shaft is sunk to reach the mineral which is excavated by miners, transported to the surface by a winch, and removed by means of a bucket, much like a well. The bottom of the shaft is enlarged and a sloping roof is created as the desired mineral and surrounding rock is removed – giving its name
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as the seam of mineral is being followed. Bell pits were not an efficient way of extracting minerals as they only partially exploited the resources.
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A line of bell pits following a lead seam. These are often mistaken for
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Tony Youles; Penny Fernando; Tony Burton; Frank Colls (2008).
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Gloucestershire Society for Industrial Archaeology Journal
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A collapsed bell pit, evidence of early coal mining in
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and also in the coal mining areas of Yorkshire, the
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Index

Bell pits

Middleton


shake holes
mining
coal
iron ore
bell
Ford, Northumberland
Grime's Graves
Norfolk
Forest of Dean
Drift mining
Open-pit mining
Industry and the Eglinton Castle estate
Glossary of coal mining terminology


"Streetgate Bell Pit"
A glossary of terms used in coal mining
17


"Coalfields"
"Delving in Dean: The Delves – An Area of Unrecorded Early Coal Mining (Part Three)"

Bell pits
v

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