ginging

Ginging is the practice of lining the interior walls of a mineshaft with stone, brick, or sometimes timber to prevent the surrounding rock from crumbling inward. In deep shafts, the pressure from overlying strata and the constant exposure to water and air movement would otherwise cause the walls to deteriorate rapidly. The lining acts as a structural sleeve, transferring loads outward and protecting the excavated void from progressive spalling and collapse.

The method varied by depth, rock type, and available materials. In shallow to moderate shafts, roughly squared stones were laid dry or in mortar in a ring around the shaft perimeter. Deeper shafts, particularly in weak or friable strata, received more substantial brick or stone linings often several feet thick. The lining would be installed as the shaft sank, typically by teams working on temporary staging, and the space between the lining and natural rock might be packed with rubble or left open depending on water conditions and the competence of the surrounding formation.

Decline and terminology

Ginging became less common as mining technology advanced in the 19th and 20th centuries. Steel tubbing, reinforced concrete, and mechanized shaft sinking methods offered better control, faster installation, and superior reliability. The term itself is now obsolete in active mining; you will encounter it only in historical mining records, engineering reports from the 18th and 19th centuries, and descriptions of abandoned or heritage mine sites.

The etymology of "ginging" is uncertain. Some sources connect it to ginger, perhaps alluding to the tightly fitted rings of lining that held together like ginger segments, though this is speculative. The practice was widespread across English, Welsh, and Continental coalfields and metalliferous mines, and the term appears consistently in mining company records and engineering literature through the 1800s.

Understanding ginging is essential when surveying or stabilizing historic mineshafts. The thickness, quality, and condition of old ginging affects whether a shaft can safely be sealed, re-opened, or left in place. Deteriorated brick or stone linings may have allowed ingress of soil and water, compromising the shaft's integrity further.