• BINGHAM: AN OVERVIEW
• HISTORY OF BINGHAM
  • Introduction
  • Prehistoric times
  • Iron Age
  • Roman Bingham
  • The Anglo-Saxons
  • Medieval Bingham
  • Tudor times
  • Stuart times
  • Georgian times
  • Victorian Bingham
  • 20th Century
  • 21st Century
• ARCHAEOLOGY
  • Project Details
  • Field Walking
    • Summary
    • Field Walking Method
    • Database Design
    • Details about the Parish
    • Protocol
    • Description of Finds
      • Introduction
      • Flints
      • Stone Axes
      • Iron Age
      • Roman
      • Anglo-Saxon
      • Saxo-Norman
      • Medieval
      • Post Medieval
      • Stoneware
      • Clay Pipes
      • Glass
      • 19th-20th C
      • Miscellaneous
    • Analysis of Results
      • Introduction
      • Prehistory
      • Iron Age
      • Roman
      • Anglo-Saxon
      • Medieval
      • Tudor-Stuart
      • 18th Century
      • Modern
    • References
    • Conclusions
  • Crow Close
    • Purpose and location
    • Historical background
    • Topographical survey
    • Geophysical surveys
    • Analysis of results
    • Discussion/conclusions
    • References
    • Acknowledgements
  • Test Pits
    • Market Place Dig
    • Robert Miles Jnr School
    • Archaeological test pits
    • Churchyard
  • Warner's Paddock
• STUDY OF OLD MAPS
  • Bingham in 1586
    • Introduction
    • Interpretation
    • Town Centre
    • Additional Holdings
    • The Open Fields
      • Furlongs/Holdings/Strips
      • South Field
      • East Field
      • West Field
      • North Field
    • Holdings and Strips
      • Reconstructing holdings
      • Analysis of holdings
      • Sizes of holdings
    • Street and road names
  • Bingham in 1776
    • The Estate Terrier
    • Town Map
    • The Fields
    • Homesteads
    • Shared Tenancies
  • Bingham in 1841
    • Apportionment
    • Town Map
    • Life in 1841
    • Analysis
    • 1841-1901
• BUILT HERITAGE
  • Introduction
  • Development of Bingham
  • House Histories
  • Old and New Views
  • Architectural Details
  • Street Names
  • St Mary Church
• CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
• FARMING IN BINGHAM
• BINGHAM AT WAR
  • World War I
  • World War II
• BINGHAM'S RAILWAYS
• CHURCHYARD
  • Introduction
  • Search the Churchyard
  • Churchyard Map
  • Genealogical Charts
  • Inscriptions
  • Species List
• ORAL HISTORY
• NATURAL HISTORY
  • Wildlife and Flora
  • Natural History Surveys
  • Linear Park
• GEOLOGY

The Bingham Oil boreholes - a journey back in time to Bingham's ancient landscapes

Drilled in the early 1960s on farmland immediately to the east of the town, these boreholes penetrated nearly 1 kilometre below the surface in the search for oil and gas. Neither resource was found in economic quantities, but the boreholes did yield a huge amount of data on Bingham's geological past.

Depth below ground (in metres) surface         210m           330m                 830m         940m 950m

How old? (millions of years) Geological Period Rock formations 220     240 TRIASSIC MERCIA MUDSTONE Reddish brown mudstone with thin beds of greenish grey siltstone and nodules of gypsum (calcium sulphate) 250 260 SHERWOOD SANDSTONE Brown and red sandstone with pebbles PERMIAN 310 CARBONIFEROUS COAL MEASURES Grey mudstone and sandstone with seams of coal and beds of volcanic lava and ash 320 MILLSTONE GRIT 'Gritty' sandstone and grey mudstone 330 CARBONIFEROUS LIMESTONE pale grey limestone