| Description | Bellpits on Sharlston Common, well preserved by virtue of status as common land. Possibly medieval in origin. J. Goodchild suggests in use into 17th century. Visible remains comprise bellpits, spoil heaps, hillocks and retaining banks. Also, a pond marked on a natural stream/drainage line on the south east side of the common; associated with 'dam' names. (note, however, that the scheduling identifies this as a 19th century reservoir HG) No other installation visible on 1st. edn. 1 or 6 O. S. Needs SMR appraisal onsite. (NB. Sharlston had a windmill whose site is known and which is shown on Jefferys map.) Documentary evidence in Goodchild Collection?
English Heritage scheduling description 24/02/1998:
‘Sharlston Common lies immediately southeast of the village of Sharlston. The monument includes all the earthworks, built and buried remains of the Sharlston Common mines. It incorporates many pits and other earthworks associated with coal and ironstone mining over a long period; and documentary evidence confirms that the area was mined from the medieval period to the 17th century.
The monument is characterized by concentrations of shaft moulds and hillocks representing the remains of bellpits. These are early mining features: a vertical shaft was cut to the coal seam, which was worked out in all directions until the threat of collapse or other difficulties made further progress impractical. This gave the pits a bell shaped profile. For optimum exploitation of the coal (or ironstone), pits were invariably sunk in clusters, resulting in intensive concentrations of earthworks. This distribution is clearly visible at Sharlston Common. Particularly notable concentrations of shaft mounds are seen in the east of the area, and along a shallow ridge in the north.
Other earthworks include spoilheaps, hillocks and low retaining banks, which are seen most clearly in the southeast of the site.
Excluded from the scheduling are the surfaces of modern footpaths, tracks and boundaries, although the ground beneath these is included. A reservoir in the south eastern part of the site, which is thought to date from the 19th century and to have no association with the mining remains, is totally excluded from the scheduling...
...The Sharlston Common coal and ironstone workings represent the survival of an early mining area for which documentary evidence survives. It will therefore be possible to combine documentary and archaeological evidence in the fullest possible interpretation of these once typical mining features. Details of the developing technology and organisation of the mines will be available; this information will add to an understanding of the mines, and of the context in which they operated. Further technological data will be provided by underground remains.
Additionally, the location of the workings on common land highlights their role in the history of the local community'. |