Monument record 7830 - Bell Pits Adjacent to Breck Quarry

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1871-1882, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ9379, 1871-1873 (Maps and Plans). SCH2462.

This map depicts seven shafts, labelled as old shafts (coal) and a circular earthwork.

<2> Bluesky International Ltd, 2010, 2010 Bluesky Survey, UXP_101017_6682, 17/10/2010 (Aerial Photograph). SCH5444.

Some of the shafts depicted on (1) are visible as earthworks, as are two further shafts.

<3> Various, Various, Oral communication to the HER, Edwards R, 06/09/2016 (Oral Communication). SCH2330.

The circular earthworks appear to be upcast surrounding the former shaft entrances to bell pits. The bell pits were probably excavated to extract shallow coal deposits. The shaft was dug to the level of the coal which was them extracted by cutting out from the base of the shaft and hand winched to the surface. Typically no supports (props) were used which limited the depth and the extent of the workings. Therefore it is quite typical to encounter sequences of bell pits which follow the line of the coal seam. This method of mining coal was in use from the medieval period till at least the eighteenth century, though in sthis instance it is likely to be post medieval in date.

<4> Higham N J, 1984-9, Professor Nick Higham's Aerial Photographs, 1988/2/1/14 (Aerial Photograph). SCH7659.

<5> Environment Agency, 2003-2020, Environment Agency LiDAR Surveys, Composite DTM 1m 2020 (Digital Archive). SCH7819.

Many more bell pit earthworks are visible on this survey, especially to the south-west of those depicted on documentary sources, for a total of twenty-five pits.