Kent Coalfield

Coal mining area in England

The Kent Coalfield is a coalfield in the eastern part of the English county of Kent. The Coalfields Trust defines the Kent Coalfield as the wards of Barham Downs and Marshside in the Canterbury district, and the wards of Aylesham, Eastry, Eythorne & Shepherdswell, Middle Deal & Sholden, Mill Hill and North Deal in the Dover district. Coal was discovered in the area in 1890 while borings for an early Channel Tunnel project were taking place; the resultant Shakespeare colliery lasted until 1915. In 1911, investigation into whether there was other workable coal was planned. Six 'bore holes' were put down in search of coal (at Rushbourne, Hoads Wood in Sturry, Herne Bay, Reculver, Chitty (which is near Chislet) and Chislet Park near the future site of Hersden). In the early years many collieries were sunk but were short lived and the East Kent Light Railway was built to exploit the anticipated business. Extensive plans had been drawn up by 1914 for major coal exploitation in east Kent, and the coalfield expanded rapidly in the late 1920s and early 1930s, with its maximum output reached in 1936. The outbreak of war and disappointing test results resulted in four collieries surviving: Betteshanger, Chislet, Snowdown and Tilmanstone. Had coal been more easily accessible, the open, rural landscape of east Kent could have changed beyond recognition.

A mine at Cobham produced a small quantity of brown lignite, although some bituminous coal had been found. It had been mined open cast, the coal being used by Lord Darnley to heat Cobham Hall. Two drifts were dug into the hillside in 1947; at one point the mine was producing 80 tons per week. The mine closed in 1953 and the site cleared.

The Kent coalfields were deep under the chalk; consequently miners worked under extremely hot and humid conditions. A medical investigation into an epidemic that affected workers at the coalface noted:

There are certain well recognized peculiarities about the Kent coal mines which may have some bearing on the question. In the first place, two of them are exceptionally deep (3,000 ft.), and very hot and wet; the third, that in which the epidemic has occurred, is only moderately deep (1,500 to 1,600 ft.), and is quite dry, but owing to certain peculiarities in its construction it is hotter than either of the other two; moreover, ventilation is said to be a matter of considerable difficulty. The mine is also extremely humid, wet and dry bulb temperatures are practically identical. The men work without clothes and sweat profusely; on an average they drink about six pints of water during a shift. Mine workers came from the north of England, South Wales and other parts of Britain to find work in Kent the Depression years; some tramped from Scotland. An oral history study found that some miners worked for one shift or less and left without trying to collect their pay, such was the heat and lack of ventilation; those softened by a spell of unemployment found it particularly hard. However, it appears that miners' wives disliked their new environment even more, for they missed the warmth of the traditional mining areas, and local people feared and detested the new immigrants. The women's response influenced the high turnover of labour at the collieries: they wanted to go home.