Английская Википедия:Great Haigh Sough
Шаблон:Use dmy dates Шаблон:Infobox tunnel
The Great Haigh Sough is a tunnel or adit driven under Sir Roger Bradshaigh's estate between 1653 and 1670, to drain his coal and cannel pits in Haigh on the Lancashire Coalfield. The sough's portal and two metres of tunnel from where it discharges water into the Yellow Brook at Bottling Wood is a scheduled monument.
History
Cannel coal had been dug from bell pits on Bradshaigh's estate since the 14th century where the seam was very close to the surface near the Old School Cottages.Шаблон:Sfn The sough was driven to drain the pits, which produced both coal and cannel and extended the life of their shallow workings, which were prone to flooding. The sough, a major investment, was considered preferable to winding water from the workings by the primitive methods available at the time.Шаблон:Sfn[1] Bradshaigh recorded a detailed survey of the construction of the sough and its shafts with instructions for maintenance so that, "the benefit of my 16 years labour, charge and patience (which it pleased God to crown with success for me and my posterity) may not be lost by neglect."Шаблон:Sfn
Sough
The Шаблон:Convert long tunnel, up to six feet wide and four feet high, had ten ventilation shafts each up to Шаблон:Convert wide and up to Шаблон:Convert deep. Driven from Bottling Wood to Park Pit, work started in 1653 and finished in 1670.Шаблон:Sfn The miners used picks, hammers, wedges and spades and would have encountered blackdamp which would have extinguished their candles warning them of its presence.Шаблон:Sfn The sough was completed without using explosives but it is possible that fires were lit against the rock at the end of a shift to help break it.Шаблон:Sfn The shafts were used to remove rock as the miners cut the tunnel. Progress averaged Шаблон:Convert per year or about Шаблон:Convert a week.Шаблон:Sfn Between its outlet and Park Pit the sough passed through several layers of hard sandstones, mudstones and the Cannel and King Coal seams. Seven ventilation shafts, roughly aligned with the main drive to Haigh Hall, were worked as small collieries and the rest filled in. The first shaft from the outfall, Cannel Hollows Pit, was Шаблон:Convert deep. The fifth shaft, Sandy Beds Pit, was sunk Шаблон:Convert to the sough and met the coal seam at Шаблон:Convert. Its shaft was rectangular in section but the others were round. The last shaft before Park Pit was Шаблон:Convert deep to the sough and met the Cannel seam at Шаблон:Convert. The shaft at Park Pit was Шаблон:Convert to the sough and met the King Coal seam at Шаблон:Convert.Шаблон:Sfn
In the 18th century the sough was extended and other levels were driven to connect new pits as they became operational. Some pits had their own soughs.Шаблон:Sfn The sough was extended to Fothershaw Pit in about 1856 and, by the Wigan Coal and Iron Company, to Aspull Pumping Pit after 1866Шаблон:Sfn extending its length to Шаблон:Convert.Шаблон:Sfn
Such was the importance of the sough that in 1687, the estate bailiff, Thomas Winstanley, ordered its inspection and cleaning from bottom to top at least every two months and "the least decay thereof in any place speedily and substantially repaired".[2] Cleaning involved clearing small rock falls and removing the build-up of deposited ochre (Hydrated iron oxide). It was inspected 14 times between 1759 and 1767 and in 1768 workmen spent 49 weeks cleaning the sough and a payment was made for repairing the hoppets (buckets) used to haul debris up the nearest shaft.Шаблон:Sfn Regular inspections were carried out until 1923 and its abandonment ultimately led to the flooding of the Aspull and Westhoughton pits in 1932.Шаблон:Sfn
Supporting pillars of cannel were accidentally ignited in the Cannel seam in March 1737 and the underground fire was still burning in the October despite the ventilation shafts being covered. The fire was eventually extinguished in 1738 after the sough was dammed and the workings flooded.Шаблон:Sfn
The sough's entrance portal is constructed from brick and stone and leads into a brick-lined culvert. The portal and Шаблон:Convert of the culvert is a scheduled monument.[3]
Discharge
The sough discharged iron-rich minewater into the Yellow Brook in Bottling Wood, discolouring it, and the River Douglas downstream, with ochre deposits. Water infiltrated the pits by percolating through the overlying porous rock strata containing bands of ironstone, not via the shafts.Шаблон:Sfn After heavy rain in December 1929, 561,600 gallons of water drained from the sough into the brook at a rate of 290 gallons per minute. In 1978 the rate was 352 gallons per minute, more than 500,000 gallons per day.Шаблон:Sfn
In 2004 the Coal Authority provided a passive treatment plant in a scheme costing £750,000. Work was undertaken by Ascot Environmental who built a pumping station, pipelines, settlement lagoons, and reedbeds and landscaped the site. The scheme has improved the water quality, removed manganese and iron which caused the discolouration and allowed fish to repopulate the brook.[4]
References
Bibliography Шаблон:Refbegin
External links
- Шаблон:YouTube - Great Haigh Sough and Aspull Pumping Pit
- Английская Википедия
- Scheduled monuments in Greater Manchester
- Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan
- Mining in Lancashire
- Drainage tunnels
- Infrastructure completed in 1670
- Страницы, где используется шаблон "Навигационная таблица/Телепорт"
- Страницы с телепортом
- Википедия
- Статья из Википедии
- Статья из Английской Википедии
