Open mine shaft in garden

[Adrian]

Hi everyone, went to view a two hundred plus year old property yesterday that needs considerable work but thats another set of questions. I'm wondering if an uncapped mineshaft in the adjacent small padock may be a problem. It's well fenced and I'm not likely to fall into it by accident but could there be legal or other issues with these being present. They are probably one hundred or more yards from the cottage and probably three hundred or so feet deep. Does anyone have any thoughts or advice please. Thanks in advance.

Adrian

 

[Robola]

Subsidence would be my concern. 100 yards away from a known abandoned mine is nothing, the galleries could be reaching out for some distance from the shaft. How do you know how deep it is?

 

[Cubist]

Contact the local authorities. Councis together with others like the old Coal Board kept records of old/ancient mine-workings and had some responsibilities concerns risk assessment and mitigation.

 

[paulc]

Do you have any plans to restart mining activity ?
If it is coal, you'd remain nice & warm when the lights finally go out..

 

[Adrian]

Subsidence would be my concern. 100 yards away from a known abandoned mine is nothing, the galleries could be reaching out for some distance from the shaft. How do you know how deep it is

Hi Robola, thanks for the reply. I have thought about subsidence, the whole area has abandoned mine shafts and workings, and several villages and new developments are close with their own shafts, I have not heard of any mining subsidence so far but will check it out further with the local authrity etc. It was only a small mine with two shafts that were probably used to power one of the many brickworks in the area. I found the depths of the coal by looking at the British Geological Survey maps., it would seem that there were three possible seams of coal, the depest is at three hundred feet.

Contact the local authorities. Councis together with others like the old Coal Board kept records of old/ancient mine-workings and had some responsibilities concerns risk assessment and mitigation.

Thanks Cubist, I will do that before I go too far, one wall of the cottage does have a woden post resting against a wooden lintle that has rotted out, it looks as if it's just for the lintle, no sign of cracking or bowing as far as I can see in the stone wall but I do need to investigate that further and will form part of another post if I get that far with the purchase.

Do you have any plans to restart mining activity ?
If it is coal, you'd remain nice & warm when the lights finally go out..

LOL, no plans to to reopen the mine, but the small spoil heaps do give the garden a very interesting topagraphy.

 

[a twig]

Free of charge coal mining information

How to access and use the coal mining information for England, Scotland and Wales held in the national coal mining database.

www.gov.uk

You can look up mine info at the link above. Your solicitor will do the same as part of the purchase process. Proximity of mines and potential sinkhole risks etc might make mortgaging and house insurance interesting

 

[Robola]

BGS also have a borehole database that can be illuminating, especially in mining areas: https://mapapps2.bgs.ac.uk/geoindex...782.284976436.1753599048-632176981.1753599048

Free of charge coal mining information

How to access and use the coal mining information for England, Scotland and Wales held in the national coal mining database.

www.gov.uk

You can look up mine info at the link above. Your solicitor will do the same as part of the purchase process. Proximity of mines and potential sinkhole risks etc might make mortgaging and house insurance interesting

Your expectations of the thoroughness of the average conveyancer exceed mine. Given the mistakes that were made during my last property purchase I would be astonished if they had been anywhere near that site and we are in an ex mining area.

 

[a twig]

A mines search is one of the checklist “have to haves” searches if relevant to your geographical area when buying a property so even the most unenthusiastic conveyancer has to provide something, they would be left open to negligence claims otherwise.

Whether or not they provide any helpful advice or recommendations is a different matter of course

 

[Flyfisher]

Free of charge coal mining information

How to access and use the coal mining information for England, Scotland and Wales held in the national coal mining database.

www.gov.uk

You can look up mine info at the link above. Your solicitor will do the same as part of the purchase process. Proximity of mines and potential sinkhole risks etc might make mortgaging and house insurance interesting

A friend's house purchase in Cornwall fell through when they couldn't get a mortgage because of the close proximity of mining works. That was about 15 years ago so perhaps things have changed. Might also be worth getting some insurance quotes to see if this is also likely to be a problem.

 

[Adrian]

Free of charge coal mining information

How to access and use the coal mining information for England, Scotland and Wales held in the national coal mining database.

www.gov.uk

You can look up mine info at the link above. Your solicitor will do the same as part of the purchase process. Proximity of mines and potential sinkhole risks etc might make mortgaging and house insurance interesting

Thank you a twig, a lot of interest to see and take on board there, thank you. I wont need a mortgage but finding an insurer may be more of a challenge.

BGS also have a borehole database that can be illuminating, especially in mining areas: https://mapapps2.bgs.ac.uk/geoindex...782.284976436.1753599048-632176981.1753599048



Your expectations of the thoroughness of the average conveyancer exceed mine. Given the mistakes that were made during my last property purchase I would be astonished if they had been anywhere near that site and we are in an ex mining area.

Thanks Robola, like you I see conveyancing solicitors in the same light as yourself based on passsed experiences. I like to do as much research as I can before involving the 'experts'

A mines search is one of the checklist “have to haves” searches if relevant to your geographical area when buying a property so even the most unenthusiastic conveyancer has to provide something, they would be left open to negligence claims otherwise.

Whether or not they provide any helpful advice or recommendations is a different matter of course

Thanks a twig, the searches they conduct are useful but often lack detail or information specific to the property in question. The info and links you and others on here have already helped me gain a much greater understanding of the possible problems with buying a property near a mine. I still have much to learn, read and investigate, I still love the cottage though!

A friend's house purchase in Cornwall fell through when they couldn't get a mortgage because of the close proximity of mining works. That was about 15 years ago so perhaps things have changed. Might also be worth getting some insurance quotes to see if this is also likely to be a problem.

If I do go ahead on this one, it will be a cash purchase so not worried about a mortgage although if I ever decieded to sell then ithe mine may make things more difficult. The insurance may be a problem too but hopefully not an impossible obsticle, I'll take your advice and try to see if I can get some quotes. There is the remains a derilict building in the garden that I have been told has planning permission to rebuild and that is much closer to the mine than the cottage so the planners do not seem too worried.

The cottage itself is just what I have been looking for, it looks to be original with original lime plaster on wattle (although some has fallen off the wattle looks sound. The roof has been replaced ten or so years ago with new slates. The biggest question mark is one wall that has two wooden props against it, there is no bowing of the wall, inside or out and no cracks but the lintel above the window does look very suspect and the vendors have said that is the reason for the temp supports, I think I need to get some sort of structural engineer in to take a look at that. There is some black mould inside but that appears to be from condensation. It does look a very honest property, nothing seems to have been covered up or had modern materials used to damage its structure.