Superb 1891 Hunslet brickyard/quarry photos
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grumpytramp
- Posts: 331
- Joined: Mon 24 Sep, 2007 6:28 pm
In actual fact if you look carefully at the first photograph, I am not sure that the shaft is in fact square and I am certain that it is circular (if you look carefully at where the shaft has been broken into you can see the curvature of the brick lining). Si, you are correct, circular shafts are much stronger The Parksider wrote: The brick lined shaft isn't a typical 18thC bell pit though is it? And as the 1854 OS map marks the outline of the clay pit I assume the shaft was very early victorian if not before?? How does that square with the move from shallow to deep mining?? You are correct, but it has to be said that methods of mining such as bell pitting had begun to fall out of favor probably well before the beginning of the 18th Century (it is and was a fundamentally inefficient means of extracting coal). As technology improved and demand increased collieries took their first steps towards complex mines relying on underground tunnels radiating from increasingly deep shafts and adits A few early examples that come to mind are: 17th Century colliery; The Moat Pit in the Firth of Forth of Culross see http://www.euppublishing.com/doi/pdfplu ... 00040018th Century colliery; James Brindley’s extra-ordinary Wet Earth Colliery in Manchester http://www.d.lane.btinternet.co.uk/wetintro.htmlArtisan mining (local workings for domestic, lime burning etc) may have continued with variations on the theme of bell pitting, relying on digging additional shafts to bring coal directly to the surface rather than traverse through tunnels. However by the beginning of the 19th Century coal was predominately won from fixed sites (varying in size according to the undertaking) which relied on one set of services provide at the mine head (shaft or adit)Returning to our shaft, and I am straying into (informed) supposition here, could well be a remnant of an early mining practice ultimately outlawed by the 1872 Coal Mines Act. This was a substantial reinforcement of the existing 1842 Mines Act (which had banned the employment of females and boys under 10 underground) and introduced two important requirements namely there being two means of access/egress to the workplace and the requirement for qualified/certified colliery management (it was worth noting that the various Mines and Mines & Quarries Acts form the foundations of UK Health and Safety Legislation). The requirement for two means of egress was a direct response to a number of disasters involving collieries dependant on a single shaft, most notoriously the New Hartley Colliery Disaster:http://www.mining-memorabilia.co.uk/Har ... rMedal.htm and a contemporary account at http://www.dmm.org.uk/names/n1862-01.htmOur shaft has a pretty large diameter, judging by the ranging pole (which appears to be 12’ long) it must be 12’-14’ in diameter which makes it a substantial shaft even by modern standards (the shaft installed at Maltby Colliery in 1984 was only 8m wide and is one of the largest colliery shafts sunk in the UK). If you look very carefully at the back wall of the shaft you will notice a series of slots cut into the brickwork at approximately 6’-8’ intervals. I suspect that these slots were used to install a vertical partition in the shaft. This allowed collieries to operate from a single shaft for access/egress (with the obvious significant savings). By partitioning the shaft and lining it with canvas, a ventilation circuit could be formed. These early mines often created a draught through the pit by firing a furnace at the bottom of the shaft to draw air down one side of the partition (brattice), through the pit before being exhausted up the “chimney” on the other side of the partition (and yes it was potentially a lethal combination). The partition also allowed one side to be used for winding (fresh air side) and the other side potentially for pumping.I am certain that this shaft was partitioned though it is pure conjecture that the shaft was a single entry working of the type outlawed by the 1872 Act
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chameleon
- Site Admin
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- Joined: Thu 29 Mar, 2007 6:16 pm
Slightly off-topic but the use of a 'sinking frame' for the brickwork answers a question for me. On a visit to the mid-Norfolk coast a few years ago, I was amazed to find a largely intact circular brick shaft becoming exposed in the cliff face at least down to the beach level. Those who know the area will be aware that the mud/sand cliffs are retreating, being highly susceptable to erosion. A study of old maps of the area revealed that this well was in the grounds of the original Pub which stood there and when sunk was some 200 - 300 metres in land. needless to say, it's almost completely gone now.
Emial: [email protected]: [email protected]
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The Parksider
- Posts: 1581
- Joined: Sat 10 Nov, 2007 3:55 am
grumpytramp wrote: In actual fact if you look carefully at the first photograph, I am not sure that the shaft is in fact square and I am certain that it is circular (if you look carefully at where the shaft has been broken into you can see the curvature of the brick lining). Si, you are correct, circular shafts are much stronger The Parksider wrote: The brick lined shaft isn't a typical 18thC bell pit though is it? And as the 1854 OS map marks the outline of the clay pit I assume the shaft was very early victorian if not before?? How does that square with the move from shallow to deep mining?? You are correct, but it has to be said that methods of mining such as bell pitting had begun to fall out of favor probably well before the beginning of the 18th Century (it is and was a fundamentally inefficient means of extracting coal). As technology improved and demand increased collieries took their first steps towards complex mines relying on underground tunnels radiating from increasingly deep shafts and adits A few early examples that come to mind are: 17th Century colliery; The Moat Pit in the Firth of Forth of Culross see http://www.euppublishing.com/doi/pdfplu ... 00040018th Century colliery; James Brindley’s extra-ordinary Wet Earth Colliery in Manchester http://www.d.lane.btinternet.co.uk/wetintro.htmlArtisan mining (local workings for domestic, lime burning etc) may have continued with variations on the theme of bell pitting, relying on digging additional shafts to bring coal directly to the surface rather than traverse through tunnels. However by the beginning of the 19th Century coal was predominately won from fixed sites (varying in size according to the undertaking) which relied on one set of services provide at the mine head (shaft or adit)Returning to our shaft, and I am straying into (informed) supposition here, could well be a remnant of an early mining practice ultimately outlawed by the 1872 Coal Mines Act. This was a substantial reinforcement of the existing 1842 Mines Act (which had banned the employment of females and boys under 10 underground) and introduced two important requirements namely there being two means of access/egress to the workplace and the requirement for qualified/certified colliery management (it was worth noting that the various Mines and Mines & Quarries Acts form the foundations of UK Health and Safety Legislation). The requirement for two means of egress was a direct response to a number of disasters involving collieries dependant on a single shaft, most notoriously the New Hartley Colliery Disaster:http://www.mining-memorabilia.co.uk/Har ... rMedal.htm and a contemporary account at http://www.dmm.org.uk/names/n1862-01.htmOur shaft has a pretty large diameter, judging by the ranging pole (which appears to be 12’ long) it must be 12’-14’ in diameter which makes it a substantial shaft even by modern standards (the shaft installed at Maltby Colliery in 1984 was only 8m wide and is one of the largest colliery shafts sunk in the UK). If you look very carefully at the back wall of the shaft you will notice a series of slots cut into the brickwork at approximately 6’-8’ intervals. I suspect that these slots were used to install a vertical partition in the shaft. This allowed collieries to operate from a single shaft for access/egress (with the obvious significant savings). By partitioning the shaft and lining it with canvas, a ventilation circuit could be formed. These early mines often created a draught through the pit by firing a furnace at the bottom of the shaft to draw air down one side of the partition (brattice), through the pit before being exhausted up the “chimney” on the other side of the partition (and yes it was potentially a lethal combination). The partition also allowed one side to be used for winding (fresh air side) and the other side potentially for pumping.I am certain that this shaft was partitioned though it is pure conjecture that the shaft was a single entry working of the type outlawed by the 1872 Act Brilliant - thank you ever so much......
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The Parksider
- Posts: 1581
- Joined: Sat 10 Nov, 2007 3:55 am
