BritPits

BGS Datasets

Key information

Scale:
N/A
Coverage:
Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and Channel Islands
Availability:
Free / Licensed
Format:
GIS point data/Database tables
Price:

Full dataset: £50 per region (15 regions in total). Subject to number of users, licence fee and data preparation fee.

Active, Inactive and Dormant data: £150 for complete GB coverage only. Subject to number of users, licence fee and data preparation fee.

Index data: This is a free dataset available as a WMS layer, or via the onshore GeoIndex on our website

Uses:
Site-level to Local-level use

Get data

Free access

Our free data is available under the Open Government Licence. Please acknowledge reproduced BGS materials.

View index onlineWeb service
Supporting documents

The BritPits (an abbreviation of British Pits; the word ‘pits’ is used here to include both surface and underground mineral workings) database holds information on:

  • names of mines, quarries, oil wells, gas wells, ash and desulphogypsum plants
  • geographic location
  • address
  • operator
  • mineral planning authorities
  • geology
  • mineral commodities produced
  • end-uses (where known)

For statistical and other uses, details of major mineral handling sites, such as wharfs and rail depots, are also held in the database. Details are available for the sites of both currently active and closed mineral workings.

We are engaged in surveying the country for former mineral sites due to their importance for planning purposes and as potential sources of currently scarce resources such as building stone, in addition to hazard checking.

The database and its associated GIS provide a valuable tool for monitoring not only resource depletion, but also the extent that mineral sites have been restored to beneficial aftercare.

Versions

Three different versions of BritPits are available:

Full dataset

  • Includes all entries in the BritPits database including historic sites. Contains over 230 000 total entries.
  • The data is split into 17 regions (see map) but, for licencing purposes, it is supplied as 15 regions: the Isle of Man is supplied with Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands are supplied with south-west England.
  • Data is supplied as an Excel file and/or a GIS point layer.

Active, inactive and dormant data

  • Includes only the active, inactive and dormant mines/quarries. Contains approximately 3300+ entries.
  • The dataset licensed as complete GB coverage.
  • The data is supplied as an Excel file and/or a GIS point layer.

Index data

  • Four attributes: easting, northing, status and name. This is a free dataset available as a WMS layer or via the onshore GeoIndex.

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