AN INITIATIVE OF CRAFT REVIVAL TRUST.  Since 1999
Coal

Metal

Coal

Now refers to deposits of fossilized plant remains that have been subjected to moderate heat and pressure to partially converted to carbon and other hydrocarbons. As the original deposits formed in anaerobic swamp conditions coal often is contaminated with iron sulphide. The sulphur from these sulphides make coal unsuitable for many metallurgical processes without conversion to coke.
Coal was used extensively for smithing in the Romano-British period, even in regions well outside the coalfields.
The term coal (in various spellings) was applied to what is now know as charcoal, with coal being referred to as mineral coal, or sea coal.