The coalfield districts of Britain contain a variety of carbon-rich minerals that at various times have been used to produce oils.
Cannel coal, sometimes referred to as "parrot coal" or "gas coal", is a distinctive form of coal that is especially rich in oils. Seams of cannel coal are usually restricted to limited geographical areas often extending over only a few square miles. From the early 1840's cannel coal was in great demand for the enrichment of town gas. Adding cannel to common coal boosted the calorific value of the gas, enabling the primitive gas lights then available to burn with a brighter flame. Cannel coal was used for oil production at the early Bathgate oil works, and in north Wales, however the high cost of the raw material provided little incentive to use it for oil production elsewhere.
Poorer quality forms of cannel coal was sometimes encountered in narrow seams while working common coal. This "coal shale" was known by various local terms such as "nob" and "hub". During the oil mania of the mid 1860's a number of oil works were constructed in various parts of England to produce oil from this shale. The dream of producing high-quality oils from this waste soon evaporated, however a few concerns continued into the 1880's, using coal shale to produce crudely refined greases and lubricants for use in local collieries.
During the 20th century, several processes were developed to produce oils as a by-product of smokeless fuel and coking processes.
Coal oil works in North Wales, North Staffordshire, and Wigan areas are considered in their separate sections. A handful of shortlived coal-oil works are know to have existed at other coalfield locations:
For part of the Victorian era, the Home Office published an annual report to government quantifying the output of all forms of minerals. The annual statistics for "Oil Shale" recorded, by county, the output of Scottish oil shale, various coal shales produced in English and Welsh districts, and the small amount of Kimmeridge shale produced in Dorset. In most years Scottish shale oil contributed over 99% of total national output.
The erratic nature of these statistics perhaps reflect variations in how the figures were compiled, and what products were considered as "oil shale". In some instances figures might include the output of cannel coal. It is interesting to note a modest output of oil shale is recorded in several coalfield areas where no operational oil works were known to exist. It remains unclear for what purpose these oil shales were used. Minor production for short periods were also noted for the counties of Carmarthen, Devon, Glamorgan, Gloucester, Monmouthshire and Shropshire.
Cheshire | Cumberland | Dorset | Durham | Flint | Lancashire | Staffordshire | Northumberland | Yorkshire | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1873 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11360 | 0 | 5619 | 1511 | 0 |
1874 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 270 | 837 | 3101 | 0 | 0 |
1875 | |||||||||
1876 | |||||||||
1877 | 49000 | 9471 | 0 | 294 | 7688 | 1520 | 37449 | 0 | 4927 |
1878 | |||||||||
1879 | 0 | 5912 | 600 | 1450 | 15961 | 0 | 24102 | 0 | 31257 |
1880 | |||||||||
1881 | |||||||||
1882 | 1500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9073 | 0 | 17500 | 0 | 7053 |
1883 | 2600 | 0 | 1000 | 0 | 8450 | 0 | 2100 | 0 | 4156 |
1884 | 200 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11039 | 0 | 25500 | 0 | 8543 |
1885 | 0 | 0 | 200 | 0 | 1926 | 0 | 15000 | 0 | 4443 |
1886 | 0 | 0 | 250 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22072 | 0 | 6394 |
1887 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8058 | 0 | 13000 | 0 | 0 |
1888 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2072 | 0 | 16459 | 0 | 5706 |
1889 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2132 | 0 | 17692 | 0 | 8046 |
1890 | 0 | 7608 | 150 | 0 | 3438 | 0 | 13130 | 0 | 7351 |
1891 | 0 | 2748 | 3 | 0 | 1904 | 0 | 8309 | 1278 | 8648 |
1892 | 0 | 1981 | 70 | 0 | 1872 | 0 | 4663 | 0 | 4278 |
1893 | 0 | 2593 | 0 | 0 | 1754 | 0 | 4036 | 0 | 295 |
1894 | |||||||||
1895 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 917 | 0 | 3552 | 0 | 6172 |
The erratic nature of these statistics perhaps reflect variations in how the figures were compiled, and what products were considered as "oil shale". In some instances figures might include the output of cannel coal. It is interesting to note a modest output of oil shale is recorded in several coalfield areas where no operational oil works were known to exist. It remains unclear for what purpose these oil shales were used. Minor production for short periods were also noted for the counties of Carmarthen, Devon, Glamorgan, Gloucester, Monmouthshire and Shropshire.
In some years, the mineral statistics also included information on the sites or seams of oil shale worked in each county
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