Geologist had first speculated there were viable coal seams beneath Kent from as early as the 1840s, when coal was discovered at Oignies in France. This lead to the development of the Pas de Calais Coalfield and by 1852 there were collieries established at Lens, Bruay and Courrieries in France and Belgium. Work had begun on a Channel Tunnel attempt in 1880, but following the suspension of this project in 1882, plans were established for the contracting company to drill bore holes to investigate Kent’s geology. Early results found that iron ore and coal were being found by 1890. In was not long before Mr. Arthur Burr became interested in the developments and in 1896 was responsible for setting up the Kent Coalfields Syndicate and bought the mineral rights, which allowed him to commence with establishing a colliery beneath Shakespeare Cliff, near Dover. Over the next 25 years the Kent Coalfield came close to being abandoned on numerous occasions. From 1896, more than 40 test bore holes were sunk across Kent and at least 10 collieries were started. Arthur Burr was always convinced that coal existed beneath Kent. The collieries and borings were owned by 40 different companies and syndicates, with one of the boring sites being located at Oxney and one of the companies being the Deal and Walmer Coalfield, Limited.
On May 24, 1910, the Deal and Walmer Coalfield, Limited, was registered with a capital of £100,000 in 90,000 ordinary and 10,000 deferred shares. For this particular company there were no board of directors, with the management being vested in Mr. Malcolm Burr, as the general director for life, and his father Mr. Arthur Burr having become the honorary consulting governor. Malcolm Burr became the geological advisor to the Kent Coal Concessions, Limited.
However, after the company was launched it was discovered that “circumstances, and later geological knowledge, have considerably modified the element of risk”. In the publication ‘The Kent Coalfield – Its Evolution and Development’ the author A. E. Ritchie states that “This Company was promoted by the Contract Company, but its operations were confined within a restricted sphere, and only a small acreage of minerals was secured. The results, while of great interest geologically, are not likely to prove very satisfactory financially”.
In 1891, geologist Mr. William Whitaker, had advised that a boring should be located in the area of St. Margarets, but it was not until 1910 that the Deal and Walmer management then started a boring at Oxney, which was begun on Aril 21, 1910 by Messrs. Mather & Platt. The boring was carried to a depth of 834 feet in less than three months, when Messrs. Vivian took over the work, and managed to bore a further 969 feet in sixteen months. The boring was again passed on to a another contractor, the Trefor Company, who proceeded with boring a further 1,940 feet in eight months. The final depth of the boring came to 3,743 feet, reaching carboniferous limestone. The coal was believed to be acceptable to for use as steam class “that is an exceptionally fine smokeless navigation steam coal of the Admiralty class. Possessing great heating power, and a small content of ash, it is chemically and physically a valuable coal alike for steam raising and house-hold use.” The lower seams of coal at the Oxney boring were believed to be 10% less volatile and would mostly be used in slow-combustion stoves. Four coal seams were discovered, which were each found to be four feet thick, but these coal reserves were never exploited and work never took place after November 1912.
In July 1913, the Deal and Walmer Coalfield was amalgamated with the Kent Coal Concessions, Limited, Extended Extension, Limited, and the South Eastern Coalfield Extension. In 1914, Mr. Arthur relinquished his control over all the Kent Coalfield Syndicates, and his son, Dr. Malcolm Burr, also resigned his position as director-general of the Deal and Walmer Company, and a meetings were held to amend the Articles of Association, which enabled a regularly constituted board of directors to be appointed.
On Saturday March 17, 1917, the Deal, Walmer & Sandwich Mercury newspaper had an article that gave details of an adjourned meeting of the Deal and Walmer Coalfield, Limited. It was mentioned “the directors had not been able to get a lease on the Oxney property, where a boring had already been located.” The lease had not been arranged prior to the boring taking place and the Company had did not have the money at that time to actually buy the property, so instead took up three or four leases, which made a compact property. The events of the First World war had prevented any active sinking to the coal measures from taking place, which prevented the development reaching a profit-earning stage. With the enterprise now in ‘suspended animation’ it was proposed the Company’s assets, together with the those of the Allied Companies, form a new company under another amalgamation scheme. However, it was decided that now amalgamation could be proceeded with during the war, and a shareholder’s approval would also be necessary.
Four coal seams were actually discovered in the Oxney boring, which were each found to be four feet thick, but these coal reserves were never exploited and work never took place after November 1912. Other borings located close to Deal were located at Ripple, which was begun in February 1911 and ceased in November of the same year, reaching a depth of 3,316 feet, while a further boring took place in the Lydden Valley between Deal and Sandwich, which was begun in 1912 and ceased 1914, which reached a depth of 2,012 feet.
Photo.1 – Arthur Burr
Photo.2 – Sinkers at the Oxney boring
Photo.3 – Plan of the coal reserves in the Kent Coalfield
Photos 4 to 6 – Share certificates
Photo.7 – Early boring sites plan
(note the alphabetical letters, which indicate the boring sites. Arthur Burr didn’t want anyway to know the original boring sites, so they were located in this way to disguise their exact locations). I can send another map, which shows a later example.
