Bell pits

The term 'bell pits' is often used when referring to early coal mining but there is little evidence that such workings ever existed in most cases. It appears that the best surviving examples of this mining technique are to be found in the ironstone industry. These spoil heaps at Tankersley Park supplied ironstone to the Elsecar Ironworks and date from c1850. The ironstone occurs as nodules in shale beds and this is why there is so much spoil around the shafts.