The Bristol Coalfield is a geologically complex

coalfield A coalfield is an area of certain uniform characteristics where coal is mined. The criteria for determining the approximate boundary of a coalfield are geographical and cultural, in addition to geological. A coalfield often groups the seams of ...

in the west of England. Comprising the coal-bearing rocks arranged around the

Coalpit Heath Coalpit Heath is a small village in the parish of Westerleigh, South Gloucestershire, England, south of Yate and east of Frampton Cotterell in South Gloucestershire. Background Due to the expansion of Coalpit Heath and the neighbouring vill ...

Syncline and Kingsdown

Anticline In structural geology, an anticline is a type of fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex up in which the hinge or crest is the ...

, it extends beneath the eastern parts of the city of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

and northwards through southern

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. The coalfield is sometimes referred to together with the Somerset Coalfield, which lies to its south, as the Bristol and Somerset Coalfield. There are also two outlying coal-mining areas, the Severn Coalfield and the Nailsea Basin which are described below. Several

coal seam Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron fro ...

s are named in the sequence in the Bristol Coalfield. The seams are listed stratigraphically with the uppermost (youngest) at the head of the list and the lowermost (oldest) at the foot. Not all seams are named, nor are all seams present at any one location. :Upper Coal Measures :* Pensford No 1 :* Pensford No 2 :* Pensford No 3 :* Bromley No 4 :* Bromley No 5 :* Rock Vein of Brislington :* Salridge :* Mangotsfield (?Salridge) :* Stinking :* Corston :* Cock (?=Millgrit & Rag) :* Coke :* Chick (?=Buff) :* Hen (?=Parrot) :* Coking :Lower and Middle Coal Measures :* New Smith's (?Yate Little, Warmley) :* ?Yate Hard :* Lower Five :* Kingswood & Bedminster Great :* Giller Inn :* Kingswood Little :* Soundwell Hard Venture :* Ashton Great :* Ashton Little

Severn Coalfield

Within the Upper Coal Measures of the outlying '

Avonmouth Avonmouth is a port and outer suburb of Bristol, England, facing two rivers: the reinforced north bank of the final stage of the Avon which rises at sources in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset; and the eastern shore of the Severn Es ...

Basin' are the Avonmouth No 1 and No 2 coals. This is sometimes known as the Severn Coalfield. It lies several miles to the west of the main Bristol Coalfield and extends under the

Severn Estuary The Severn Estuary ( cy, Aber Hafren) is the estuary of the River Severn, flowing into the Bristol Channel between South West England and South Wales. Its high tidal range, approximately , means that it has been at the centre of discussions in t ...

as far as Portskewett. It is also largely obscured by thick deposits of estuarine alluvium. Coal was also worked on a very small scale in the rocks of the Clapton-in-Gordano inlier just to the south of the Severn Coalfield.

Nailsea Basin

In the small '

Nailsea Nailsea is a town in Somerset, England, southwest of Bristol, and northeast of Weston-super-Mare. The nearest village is Backwell, which lies south of Nailsea on the opposite side of the Bristol to Exeter railway line. Nailsea had a populatio ...

Basin' to the west of Bristol, a sequence of Coal Measures rocks are preserved within a syncline. These rocks are connected at depth with those of the Somerset Coalfield; though it lies close to the main body of the Bristol Coalfield, it is not connected with it. Two seams are known from the upper Coal Measures and twelve from the Lower and Middle Coal Measures within this 'basin'. Only those indicated thus - w - were worked to any great extent:Green, G.W. 1992 ''British Regional Geology: Bristol and Gloucester Region''(3rd edn), London, HMSO for British Geological Survey :Upper Coal Measures :* Grace's (0.9m) w :Lower and Middle Coal Measures :* White's Top (1.1m) w :* Golden Valley :* Backwell Little :* Dog (0.9m) w

References

{{reflist Coal mining regions in England

Severn Coalfield

Nailsea Basin

See also

References