BGS is working on a national Mining Plans Portal – www.bgs.ac.uk/nocomico
– a searchable online map and database is regularly updated. It’s another way to dig for information.
There are many who would argue that Great Britain was built on mining. But there is more to this than the engine behind the Industrial Revolution. Mining has been known on these shores for around 5,000 years. Despite this long history the earliest detailed mine plans only go back to the 18th Century. One of the earliest is from the Esgair-Hir lead and silver mine in Cardiganshire, dated 1704.
Now the British Geological Survey (BGS) is searching for the oldest mine plan in the country. Only since 1872 have mine owners been obliged to deposit plans of abandoned workings with the Mining Records Office.
But as BGS geologist Richard Shaw explains, there are more mine plans in existence than officially deposited. The BGS is actively seeking mine plans for minerals other than coal, such as lead and zinc, which may exist in private collections.
Various official collections, catalogues and indexes of non-coal mine plans are in public hands but these are thought to cover only part of the total holdings estimated at more than 40,000 documents. Most coal plans are held by the Coal Authority.
There is more to this than historical curiosity. The underground voids caused by mining are potentially lethal to life, limb and assets alike. Ground movement can hack thousands of pounds off property values while mine works and their spoil can cause pollution.
