2011

TG2105 : Harford Hills Mine (Norwich)

taken 13 years ago, near to Keswick, Norfolk, England

Harford Hills Mine (Norwich)
Harford Hills Mine (Norwich)
Another dead end, this one is home to an old cooking pot.

One of the many chalk and flint mines in Norwich, Harford Hills mine was the last to close. Initially the chalk was mined from an open hole but once exhausted, tunnels were dug into the side of the open pit, commonly following the richest seams of flint. Harford mine consists of a warren of mine shafts (some interconnected) branching off into several directions, and the total length of its tunnel system is believed to measure about 1 kilometre, perhaps more.
Harford Hills chalk quarry and mines

Norwich was mined for chalk and flints from the Middle Ages until the beginning of WWII but some of the chalk mines are much older, the earliest are believed to date from the 13th century. The oldest mines are located closest to the centre of Norwich and more mines were dug further out as the city grew. The chalk was used for liming in agriculture and in building mortar. The flints that can be seen embedded in layers in the chalk were used to build the city's walls and some of Norwich's finest buildings such as the Guildhall. The last chalk mine to close was at Harford Hills, to the south of Norwich. There are no detailed maps of all the mines located within the city boundary but it is known that the great majority were privately owned and dug between the 12th and 18th centuries, at times when record keeping was not thought necessary. The only existing records date from later times when the Council documented the locations where collapses have occurred that were deemed to be due to mine workings. (Much of this information was taken from the County Council's website.)

Recently, this 90+ percent accurate map of the Harford Hills chalk mines was produced and published by Chris Richmond on his website 'Norfolk Uncovered'. The map is reproduced by his kind permission and can be seen here > Link.


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Evelyn Simak and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Harford Hills [56] Title Clusters: · Harford Hills Mine (Norwich) [50] ·
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
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TG2105, 329 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Evelyn Simak   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Saturday, 19 March, 2011   (more nearby)
Submitted
Saturday, 19 March, 2011
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! TG 21 05 [1000m precision]
WGS84: 52:36.1265N 1:16.1688E
Clickable map
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Image classification(about): Supplemental image
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