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248:. The spoil from the shaft was emptied into a tipping wagon pushed along on tracks, then tipped off to form the characteristic 'finger' spoil heaps of most small Black Country pits. The rocky waste and clay was known as 'tocky'. Once the shaft was established the sinking engine would either be dismantled and sold on or kept to use in an emergency.
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network. The first barge load of coal from
Wednesbury was conveyed to Birmingham in 1769. The transportation of coal by canal rather than by road led to a significant reduction in its unit price in Birmingham. In the first half of the nineteenth century the area of coal mining expanded to
124:, England. It was the basis for the area's industrial development in the nineteenth century; without coal there was insufficient power. Commentators spoke of the Black Country as a great coalfield, and of the
205:. This gave them the right to mine a few acres of land for whatever minerals lay under the ground, rather like an underground small-holding. In some cases the tenants would be working men, probably
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The latter half of the eighteenth century saw a large expansion in coal mining. There was increased demand for coal for use in local iron production. Steam-driven machinery, specifically the
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was introduced to pump water from the pits, enabling the coal to be worked at greater depths. The ability to transport bulk cargoes of coal was the impetus for the building of the
156:. The eighteenth century saw open-cast coal mining replaced by underground pits. Pits of this era had a depth of between 25 and 60 feet; shallow compared to later workings.
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The first stage of opening the mine was to dig the shaft. Initially, a small makeshift frame would be used to shift the spoil, but as the shaft grew deeper a proper
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would usually start up in the following way: a few men would get together and rent the mineral rights from whoever owned them; in this area that was often the
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method with pillars of coal left in place to support the mine roof. Most Black
Country pits were naturally ventilated up until the twentieth century.
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digging out the shaft were lowered down in the bowk. The bowk was also used to remove the spoil as it was dug out and the shaft was then lined with
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Coal mining in the area on a small scale dates back to medieval times. Until the seventeenth century coal was commonly extracted from
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themselves, who had saved the money from their wages to make this small investment. Other pits were tenanted by
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on outcrops where the coal seam was near to the surface. One of the last places to utilise this method was in
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by all the mining activity. Most of the mines were not large scale, but small rough and ready pits similar to
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The predominant coal measure in the Black
Country was the ten yard thick seam. Coal was extracted using the
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136:. There were as many as five or six hundred small pits like this exploiting the seams of the
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A daily wage for thick coal miners in 1842 was 2s 4d (2/4). and in 1845 it was 4s (4/-)
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powered by steam would be established in a temporary corrugated iron engine house. The
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Until the early 1870s a normal day's stint was 12 hours with a 60-minute
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There were two basic wage rates one for thick coal and one for thin coal.
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The difference was normally 1/-. This extra shilling was a kind of
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383:. Wolverhampton: Integrated Publishing Services. pp. 24–53.
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292:. If working six days this would equal a sixty-six-hour week.
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By 1842, Pay for a boy running the gin horse was 2/6 per week
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236:. This was eventually replaced by a cage. A sinking
381:Social conditions in the Black Country 1800–1900
116:played an important part in the history of the
358:The rise of the Midland industries, 1600-1838
337:The rise of the Midland industries, 1600-1838
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282:By 1873 a daily wage for thick coal was 5/6d
50:introducing citations to additional sources
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40:Relevant discussion may be found on the
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323:. Dudley: Black Country Living Museum.
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431:Geology of the West Midlands (county)
426:Economy of the West Midlands (county)
421:History of the West Midlands (county)
355:Court, William Henry Bassano (1938).
334:Court, William Henry Bassano (1938).
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361:(Second Impression, 1953 ed.).
340:(Second Impression, 1953 ed.).
61:"Coal mining in the Black Country"
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411:Coal mining in the United Kingdom
33:relies largely or entirely on a
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319:Black Country Living Museum.
138:South Staffordshire coalfield
170:Birmingham Canal Navigations
379:Barnsby, George J. (1980).
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213:who required coal to make
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228:would be erected, with a
120:area immediately west of
363:Oxford University Press
342:Oxford University Press
232:to raise and lower the
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130:the Racecourse Colliery
126:earth turned inside out
193:Development of a mine
46:improve this article
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321:Coal Mining Notes
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297:References
290:drink hour
226:head frame
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