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Plan and section of a coal mine at Wednesbury on the South Staffordshire coalfield, 1806

SRO D3186/8/7/9
©Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service

This is a particularly attractive and sanitised representation of coal mining above and below ground. The plan and section show the strata commonly met with when sinking a coal mine. Other features on the plan are the engine, skips, wharf, pit shaft, rib and pillars, bolt hole, gate road, air head, dining area (actually described as such) and the stable for the pit ponies which was below ground. Miners too are depicted at work.

The main feature of the South Staffordshire coalfield was the Ten Yard Seam or Thick Coal. This created mining conditions which were virtually unknown anywhere else in the United Kingdom and required very distinctive methods of mining. The coal was also easily accessible and so encouraged many small business ventures in this area.