FILM OF THE FIRS AND BYFIELD STONE MINES, COMBE DOWN
Reference Number
0355
Alternative Reference Number
0355
Level of Description
Collection
Title
FILM OF THE FIRS AND BYFIELD STONE MINES, COMBE DOWN
Date
Jun 1993
Extent
Extent: 1 item
Description
Video filmed by Halcrow Consulting Engineers. Duration: 11 minutes. Film of interior of Combe Down stone mines. Commentary explains interest to industrial archaeologists for evidence of early devopment of mining methods. Dangerous conditons require monitoring. Mines created 18th century in response to demand for oolitefor for building. BANES commissioned survey and contracted HALCROW to investigate stabiliation options. Plans showing tramways, rooms, pillars, shafts, masonry shaft caps, backfilling material containing interesting finds,spoil waste rock layer. Access difficult away from tramways. Occupied by different types of bats, roosts protected by law. Robbing of pillar stone continued after mines closed mid 19th, causing collapse. Dry stone walls created 1930s on subsiding floors, remnants of pit props and supports. Monitoring of roof collapses affecting c 30% of mine: geological fractures, caverns, exacerbated by traffic vibrations leading to weight restrictions on roads above. Made by Watershed Television for HALCROW Consulting Engineers
