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Author: Admin | 2025-04-27
Smallest and most unusual coalfields. On the North Sea Coast mining took place some 2,000 feet below the sea. In the Clee Hills of South Shropshire it took place at 900 feet above sea level. You would never guess now driving through this stunning countryside that such villages as Clee St. Margaret and Burwarton were once mining communities which exported their surplus population to Easington District and other places in Northeast England. Shropshire coal helped fuel the Industrial Revolution at Coalbrookdale but could not meet the rising demand and the coalfield became uneconomic due to the greater efficiency of much larger mines opened up in other new coalfields.North Staffs CoalfieldIn two parts, the larger being centred around Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme and the smaller being centred on the town of Cheadle in the Pennine foothills. Such villages as Silverdale, Talke, Golden Hill, Mow Cop, Leycett, Finney Green, Madeley and Trentham all contributed to the Easington District melting pot. To see how Staffordshire mineowners lived go to Keele University, which is just off the M6 and near to Newcastle-under-Lyme and which welcomes visitors. This postwar educational establishment has been superimposed on a mediaeval enclosed manorial estate whose epicentre is Keele Hall. The estate, Keele village and much of the surrounding countryside was owned by the Sneyd family who also had the mineral rights for much of the coalfield. The collieries were not visible from the Hall, being hidden away in nearby valleys like Silverdale so as not to disturb the sensitivities of the Sneyds and their guests. Gaze in wonder at the huge and ornate marble fireplace at Keele Hall and imagine how many colliers gave their lives to provide it.Map of Staffordshire and Warwickshire CoalfieldsSouth Staffs CoalfieldAlso known as Cannock Chase Coalfield, this was the main energy source for the Industrial
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