Geology and mining in the North Pennines

An understanding of the geology of the area is essential to understand the mines of the North Pennines AONB and their place as part of the Northern Pennine Orefield.

Throughout its long history of mining this area has played a prominent role in the development of geological sciences both in the UK and across the world and it remains an active focus of geological research. As a result there is a wealth of technical literature describing and interpreting its geological features.

Understanding the geology also helps us to understand ecological issues, most notably lichens and calaminarian plant communities. An appreciation of local geological features also helps inform any conservation or preservation of mining related archaeological features.

The geology report written by Brian Young was produced for OREsome North Pennine volunteers as background to the eight mining sites which formed the OREsome project. The report is also a useful background to any future work on mining, geological or ecological studies within the area.