Mining Regions in England

North-west England is the site for the Cumbrian and Lancashire coalfields. The West Cumbrian coalfield developed in the sixteenth century in order to export coal to Dublin and with increasing demands for coal during the eighteenth century, mining operations turned towards the coal seams beneath the Irish Sea. The first colliery sunk to reach this coal was Saltom pit in Whitehaven in 1731.

From 1913 the coalfield began to decline and the last working colliery in this area was Haig colliery, which closed in 1985. The coal extracted from this area was generally used in coking, gas making, steam generation and household use.