Location of Brook Hall Ditches / Brook Hale Ditches (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Monday, September 12, 2011, 16:34 (4824 days ago) @ PEG

Looks like "local knowledge" has triumphed over the "appliance of science" (well guesswork) again, which is great !.

Looking again at the "Vision Of Britain" site I mentioned earlier and at the same Black & White C19th Map, but now look at Parkend(Furnace) and northeast across Church Hill. (This link finds the complete map, track cursor to middle of bottom edge and zoom in to find Parkend etc in superb detail).
http://visionofbritain.org.uk/iipmooviewer/iipmooviewer.html?fileName=first_edition%2Fs...

There was no Fancy Colliery at that time the map which is presumably why there is also no Fancy Road. The map is a First Series Ordnance Survey dated 1831. The map clearly shows a brook running across the land north of Church Hill at the Forest's edge, just where Fancy Road now runs towards the Barracks etc. I guess this brook is the one in question.

Finally, looking a little more east this map shows Brandet's Green. The later maps call this Brandrick's Green. This goes to show that things we now assume to be "reference material" such as Government OS Maps could themselves be affected by spelling/interpretation inaccuracies just as we see on Census Returns etc etc.

PS this portion of the 1894 Railways & Mines Map suggests the airshaft mentioned by PEG is from the "Royal" mine.
http://www.lightmoor.co.uk/forestcoal/East%20Dean.JPG

Also see article http://www.lightmoor.co.uk/forestcoal/CoalRoyal.html

Re the Fancy Pit, it appears that although the gale was being worked from abt 1840 (accessed via the Parkend gale), the shafts were being sunk at Fancy at abt 1852. Hence the need for the road from Parkend.
http://www.lightmoor.co.uk/forestcoal/CoalNewFancy.html