Kent Coalfield
The Kent Coalfield was a coalfield in the eastern part of the English county of Kent. The Coalfields Trust defines the Kent Coalfield as the wards of Barnham Downs and Marshside in the Canterbury district, and the wards of Aylesham, Eastry, Eythorne & Shepherdswell, Middle Deal & Sholden, Mill Hill and North Deal in the Dover district.

Coal was discovered in the area in 1890 while borings for an early Channel Tunnel project were taking place; the resultant Shakespeare colliery lasted until 1915.

In 1911, investigation into whether there was other workable coal was planned. Six ‘bore holes’ were put down in search of coal (at Rushbourne, Hoads Wood in Sturry, Herne Bay, Reculver, Chitty (which is near Chislet) and Chislet Park near the future site of Hersden). In the early years many collieries were sunk but were short-lived and the East Kent Light Railway was built to exploit the anticipated business.

Extensive plans had been drawn up by 1914 for major coal exploitation in east Kent, and the coalfield expanded rapidly in the late 1920s and early 1930s, with its maximum output reached in 1936. The outbreak of war and disappointing test results resulted in four collieries surviving: Betteshanger, Chislet, Snowdown and Tilmanstone. Had coal been more easily accessible, the open, rural landscape of east Kent could have changed beyond recognition.
Q6610346
coalfield
UNK
Q21
English
LOC
Q23298
Kent
LOC
Q29303
Canterbury
LOC
Q179224
Dover
LOC
Q24489
Coal
Concept
Q10257
Channel Tunnel
LOC
Q12880211
colliery
Concept
Q3307700
Reculver
LOC
Q5328700
East Kent Light Railway
ORG
Q4898591
Betteshanger
LOC
Q2964007
Chislet
LOC
Q7548600
Snowdown
LOC
Q745557
Tilmanstone
LOC
Q6391651
Kent Coalfield
LOC
Q6391651
Kent Coalfield
LOC
1890-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1890
DATE
1915-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1915
DATE
1911-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1911
DATE
1914-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1914
DATE
1920-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1920
DATE
1930-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1930
DATE
1936-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1936
DATE
located in the administrative territorial entity