2 shafts were sunk at Whitecliff Bay near Bembridge in 1873 in an attempt to test the viability of coal mining on the Isle of Wight.
The Hampshire Advertiser reported that the 1st shaft had to be abandoned due to a slippage of the cliff. However, a second shaft – which was sunk to a depth of 25 feet – had extracted a large quantity of coal.
A coal seam runs across the breadth of the Isle of Wight, from Alum Bay in the west to Whitecliff Bay in the east. The presence of coal explains the black discolouration of the cliffs in both localities.
Although there would appear to be large deposits of coal on the Island, it was found to be low-quality lignite or ‘brown coal’ – a softer fossil fuel intermediate between coal and peat.
Lignite is used as a fuel for electricity generation, but it was not suitable for use in the steam locomotives and ships used in the 19th century.
The lignite was found not to burn adequately for its use in industry. The idea of large-scale extraction of coal and the sinking of coal mines on the Isle of Wight was therefore abandoned.
Our white cliffs were not transformed into the Black Country. The Isle of Wight has remained a largely rural retreat, escaping the ravages of Victorian industrialisation that can still be seen in much of the north of England, the Midlands and South Wales.
I think I have seen the start of the shafts near the far end of the chalk area sticking out the most.
Also has anyone else seen the large iron bound ships door which lays in the stones and looks very ancient off Whitecliff around where the water meets the shore in the old photo above near the base of the cliffs at the far end?
“escaping the ravages of Victorian industrialisation” – you mean the Industrial Revolution that transformed the world and that will ultimately destroy it. Been better if we had all stuck in our mud huts like islanders and lived with short lifespans, desperate poverty, no education, incest, and high child mortality. Sounds like a real utopia.
Sounds like the today world just without mud huts