Kidburngill Opencast Coal Site North Extension, Cumbria. Archaeological Assessment Report

An archaeological assessment was undertaken in advance of an extension to the Kidburngill
opencast mine in Cumbria (centred on NGR NY 3056 5220). The assessment area comprised
an area of enclosed moorland pasture and rough grazing land to the north of the existing
opencast coal extraction site, within the parish of Dean. The work was carried out by the
Lancaster University Archaeological Unit on behalf of Cumberland Coal and Fireclay Co Ltd.
The work comprised a desk-based study, compiling data from the Cumbria Sites and
Monuments Record (SMR) and the Cumbria Record Office in Carlisle, followed by a rapid
field inspection.
The moorland was enclosed in the early nineteenth century from common grazing land and
was the property of the Earl of Egremont. There are records which show that some coal
mining, on a domestic scale, had taken place there from the medieval period onwards (CRO
D/Lec/29/1,6); however, it was only in the first half of the eighteenth century that mining was
undertaken there as a commercial venture. Dean Moor colliery proved hard to make
profitable, and it changed hands many times throughout the nineteenth century. It continued in
production up until 1951, being the only colliery in Cumberland not to be privatised in 1947.