Geology - the layers of coal beneath Thurcroft

See also:

The main main coal mining page

There were 4 deep mining pits in the villages area that closed in the early to mid 1990s i.e. Dinnington, Kiveton, Shireoaks and Thurcroft, (and dozens of others of the Yorks and Notts coalfields - see List of pits 1987).


These figures are taken at the Thurcroft Main colliery downcast shaft, sunk in 1909-1912 (116m above sea level, Lat 53 deg 24' 4" N, Long 1 deg 14' 56" West, dip of strata 1 in 20 (from Sections of Strata of the Coal Measures of Yorkshire, Univ of Sheffield, 1950). The strata are not just coal seams of course, there were 129 different layers of rock identified above the shafton seam, including 5 other thin coal seams.
 

Coal seams of the Yorks/East Mids coalfields, taken at Thurcroft Main colliery downcast shaft.

Coal Seam

Description

Approx depth (m)

Approx depth (m)at Kiveton

Shafton Seam

Industrial & Brick Making Coal. Also known as the Billingley, Heringthorpe , or Nostell Seam

300

45

Swinton Pottery Seam

A poor quality coal, used for brick making. Also called Wheatworth or C astleford 4 foot coal , or Batesons Bed .

550

80

Aston Common Seam

A household coal also used for coke making. Also called Meltonfield , Wath Wood , Wakefield Muck , or Clowne coal.

575

190

Fox Earth Coal

Designated Coal and Bat (inferior)

600

218

Sough Coal.

The seam was rarely worked and was often split by a dirt parting. Also called Two Foot Seam , Royston , Cat Coal , or Halfyard Seam .

615

231

Furnace Coal

This seam is called the Winter seam north of Barnsley and the Abdy seam south of the town. A household coal not mined extensively because the roof of the seam was often a shaly mudstone which made mining it difficult.

Also called Scale coal .

630

241

The Top and Low Beamshaw Seams

These seams produce a good household coal with a low sulphur content but are often split by shales and in places they are separated by 10m of dirt.

Also called Stanley Main coal.

650

257

High Hazels Seam

A good household coal, often mined. AKA Kents Thick , Mapplewell . The seam is split by a thin dirt parting known locally as Bannocking dirt.

665

284

Top Hards seam AKA the Barnsley Seam

This was the most important seam in the coal field and 50% of the coalfields' output came from this seam. .
At Thurcroft the average thickness was about 1m to the south of the pit, and 1.5m to the north.

740

365

The geology gets a little confusing here because a fault plane crosses the area at circa 600m. However, Sections of Strata also recorded Swallow Wood, Lidgett, Joan, Parkgate, and Thorncliffe coals below the fault.

Base of lower Coal Measures

350 million year old rock. Below this is Devonian rock

836

Note how the same seams at Kiveton are much closer to the surface - partly explained by Kiveton's shaft starting at 110m above sea level, but probably mostly due to Thurcroft being in the Maltby Trough and maybe displacement due to the fault called the Rotherham-Kiveton-Manton anticline.  

In the J31 area the most important seams are the Silkstone , Parkgate , Swallow Wood , Barnsley / TopHard and High Hazels seams. In general the upper seams like High Hazels are high oxygen readily burning coals, whereas the lower seams and low oxygen coal that can be made into coke (smoke free fuel).

See also:

The main coal mining page

List of Yorks pits 1987

Poem 1925: The man who gets the coal

What now for Coal? The Reign of King Coal pt II: 2008 - ?

Or maybe the party is nearly over - Peak Coal (2025?)


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