The Research Framework for the Archaeology of the Extractive Industries in England (Mining & Quarrying)
NAMHO has embarked on a project which will benefit mining history and help with the making of decisions about future archaeological research and the heritage of mining landscapes in England.
The Research Framework is a two-year project, jointly funded with English Heritage, which will enable NAMHO groups and individual members to contribute towards and help influence research priorities. It will also provide guidance towards conservation and education strategies, and raise awareness of historic extractive industries as part of the wider heritage agenda.
At its core will be a coordinated effort to collate the results of previous archaeological research, which will provide the information needed to achieve these wider aims. NAMHO members can support this project by helping with the supply of this information and by contributing to discussions at a series of regional seminars. Members with regional or specialist expertise, who are willing to provide contacts and advise on less well-known sources of information, are particularly encouraged to attend these seminars.
Members of the Club have been involved in the first task which is to undertake a comprehensive review of existing archaeological data. Initially this has involved exploring county historic environment records (HERs) and collating bibliographical sources.
The latest results of this work for Shropshire are available as a PDF (see link on the right).
A series of seminars which discussed the current state of knowledge for mining and quarrying archaeology in England were held earlier this year. More are planned for the future.
Archaeological Research Seminar/Workshops
As a part of the project a series of seminar/workshops are being arranged around England to examine the various specialist themes within the project. A seminar on the subject of bulk minerals (stone and aggregates) was held on 26th November 2010 at the National Stone Centre near Wirksworth in Derbyshire.
The coal, clay and ironstone seminar was held on Saturday 19th February 2011, at the National Coal Mining Museum for England, Caphouse Colliery, near Wakefield, however due to a blizzard the coal part of the seminar has had to be postponed to a later date. The seminar to look at the archaeology of Tin and Copper was held in Truro on the 25th February.
The next to look at the archaeology of Lead and gangue minerals was held at the Peak District Mining Museum, Matlock Bath in April 2011.
A workshop on the archaeology of China clay and ball clay working in the south-west of England was held at the Wheal Martyn Museum, near St Austell in Cornwall, on Friday 8th July 2011. This was part of the Resource Assessment phase of the project, looking at what archaeological investigation has been carried out for clay working.
A seminar on slate working is also planned. Details will be posted to the Research pages at the National Association of Mining History Organisations' website - www.namho.org
The Assessments
The first assessments will be posted as downloadable PDFs on the NAMHO website and will include coal, tin, lead, zinc and silver. These will be followed by prehistoric mining, gangue minerals, iron, copper, bulk materials and others. Please peruse these documents and let us know of any shortcomings, omissions or errors and offer any suggestions. Send your comments, corrections and suggestions to the Project Officer (details below).
The Seminars
The seminars are free to anyone wishing to attend and the dates are listed on the right. They are intended to give participants the opportunity to discuss their work, to learn what others are doing and exchange ideas. Sharing the your research results can help interpret the findings, adding value to the work and drive research forward.
At each seminar the findings of the assessment will be presented in detail by the Project officer and other Steering Group members, together with presentations on extractive industry archaeology by invited speakers. There will also be discussion sessions which will offer a chance for everyone to express opinions as to what direction future research might take. It will be your chance to help shape a national research agenda and to promote whatever aspects of it you believe to be important. This is a great opportunity and not to be missed!
Please visit the NAMHO webpage for latest information on these events. www.namho.org
For more details contact: Peter Claughton - p.f.claughton@exeter.ac.uk
or Phil Newman - projectofficer@namho.org