The Warwickshire Coalfield extends between

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

and Tamworth in the

English Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

. It is about from north to south and its width is around half that distance. Its western margin is defined by the 'Western Boundary Fault'. In the northeast it abuts against steeply dipping shales of Cambrian age. The larger part of the outcrop at the surface consists of the Warwickshire Group of largely coal-barren red beds. Until its closure in 2013, the

Daw Mill Daw Mill was a coal mine located near the village of Arley, near Nuneaton, in the English county of Warwickshire. The mine was Britain's biggest coal producer. It closed in 2013 following a major fire. It was the last remaining colliery in the W ...

mine near

Arley Arley may refer to: Places England * Arley, Cheshire, a village ** Arley Hall, Cheshire * Arley, Warwickshire, a village * Upper Arley Upper Arley () is a village and civil parish near Kidderminster in the Wyre Forest District of Worcestershi ...

within the coalfield, was Britain's biggest coal-producer in the 21st century.

Principal seams

The principal coal seams within the productive Lower and Middle Coal Measures include (in stratigraphic order i.e. youngest/uppermost first):

Middle Coal Measures

* Half Yard * Four Feet * Thin Rider * Two Yard * Bare * Ryder * Ell * Nine Feet * High Main * Smithy (Low Main)

Lower Coal Measures

* Thin * Seven Feet * Trencher * Yard * Deep Rider * Double * Upper Bench (or Top Bench) * Bench Thin * Lower Bench * Stumpy * Stanhope The Two Yard, Thin Rider, Ryder, Ell, Nine Feet, and High Main merge as one massive bed of coal known as the Thick Coal in parts of the coalfield.

Collieries

Collieries mining in the Warwickshire Coalfield were: *Alexandra Colliery *Alvecote Colliery *Amington Colliery *Ansley Hall Colliery *Arley Colliery *Baddesley Colliery, closed 1989 *Binley Colliery *Birch Coppice Colliery, closed 1989 * Coventry Colliery, also known as ''Keresley Colliery'', closed 1991 *Craven Colliery *

Daw Mill Colliery Daw Mill was a coal mine located near the village of Arley, near Nuneaton, in the English county of Warwickshire. The mine was Britain's biggest coal producer. It closed in 2013 following a major fire. It was the last remaining colliery in the ...

* Dexter Colliery *Exhall Colliery *Griff No 4 Colliery *Griff Clara Colliery *Haunchwood Colliery *Hawkesbury Colliery * Kingsbury Colliery *Newdigate Colliery, closed in 1982 *North Warwickshire Colliery (formerly Pooley) *Stockingford Colliery *Wyken Colliery

References

Sources