In July 2002, ARCUS were commissioned by UK Coal Mining Ltd, to undertake an archaeological desk-based assessment on the site of the Proposed Lodge House Opencast Scheme, Smalley and Shipley, Derbyshire. The desk-based assessment comprised a site visit, documentary, cartographic and aerial photographic research. This report presents the results of this work and is intended to provide background information for an Impact Assessment in a forthcoming Environmental Statement. It is thought that there are one million tonnes of recoverable coal on the site, although large parts of the site have been previously subject to opencast extraction from the 1940s to the present. The history of coal mining in the area dates from the thirteenth century, beginning with small-scale drift mines and bell pits. Ironstone quarrying was probably also a significant motive behind the bell pits in the medieval period. Larger scale collieries were recorded at Smalley from the seventeenth century, although the major mines in the area were based at Shipley, Mapperley and Heanor. Opencast mining was prevalent in the area from the Second World War, Shipley being one of the earliest sites due to the exposed nature of the coalfield. Remains of early coal mining activities are likely to be present within the proposal area, particularly within fields undisturbed by previous opencasting. Fields with a high potential for sub-surface features were identified by the assessment.
O'Neill et al. (Tue,) studied this question.