Coal Mine Plans of Great Britain from the 17th Century Onwards

More than 120,000 coal mine plans from the Mining Remediation Authority, dating as far back as the 17th century. The collection covers surface and deep mining operations across Great Britain, depicting areas of extraction and points of entry. These plans provide essential information about the history and legacy of coal mining.

Use Cases

• Historical land use analysis based on the extent of mining workings illustrated on the plans
• Geospatial mapping of historical mine entries (shafts and adits) using the depicted symbology
• Temporal study of mining operations based on plan dates spanning several centuries
• Correlating historical mining features with modern surface features like churches and field boundaries

Strengths

• More than 120,000 individual plans provide a substantial historical record.
• Plans date as far back as the 17th century, offering long-term temporal coverage.
• Covers both surface (opencast) and deep mining operations across Great Britain.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic/temporal bias inherent to uk_data.

Provenance

Source

Mining Remediation Authority (formerly the Coal Authority)

Collection Method

Collection of historical mine plans.

Time Range

17th century onwards

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-18 16:46:32.402502; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Great Britain