Introduction

Coal had been used before the Industrial Revolution, for fires, and in the brewing, pottery and glass industries. 

All this changed in the years after 1750.  The Industrial Revolution was based on coal perhaps more than anything else (see source 2).  Vast amounts of coal were needed.

Unlike other industries, however, there were no great inventions which revolutionised the production of coal.  Mine owners simply used the same techniques, and dug deeper mines:

As they dug deeper, accidents and explosions became more frequent.

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2    The Wonders of Coal:

For Phyllis Deane (1965): "The most important achievement of the industrial revolution was that it converted the British economy from wood-and-water to coal-and-iron."
Modern historians believe that coal allowed, rather than caused, growth, but it is impossible to argue that Coal was not vital to the Industrial Revolution:

• Newcomen's steam engine was invented to drain the mines; in 1780, 376 of the 600-or-so steam engines in Britain were pumping engines being used in coal mines

• Coal was used as fuel for steam engines; so industry located on the coal fields

• In 1709, Abraham Darby discovered how to use coal to make iron

• Coal was used to heat houses

• After 1830, coal was used to make coal gas (for heating and lighting)

• After 1859, coal was used to make dyes (first to be discovered was the red dye, magenta)

• Coal was the basis of fertilisers, ink, perfumes, sulphuric acid, explosives, pesticides and paint

• Ammonia, another by-product of coal, was used as a disinfectant. In the First World War, it was used as a poison gas

• After 1872, doctors used coal-based dyes in their research into germs

After the period 1750-1914:

• After 1935, coal was the basis of the 'sulphonamide' drugs which cured blood-poisoning

• Later still, coal was the basis of research into plastics and nylon

3    The Davy Lamp:

To try to stop deaths from firedamp, Humphrey Davy invented a safety lamp in 1815.  A wire gauze stopped the gas getting to the flame.  But the Davy lamp did not save lives.  It merely allowed the owners to mine more 'fiery' seams of coal, so the deaths continued.