The Strelley shaftmounds are the best preserved remains of the Strelley and Wollaton coal mining area, whose development in the 16th and 17th centuries was important to the expansion of the industry and its commercial success. The surface features provide evidence for the development of mining activities in this area, whilst buried remains will add further technological information, including information on winding gear and operations around the shaft head. Technological and organisational advances at this colliery, such as the installation of a very early wagonway, were influential on the development of the coal industry nationally. The colliery is well documented historically, and offers the possibility of combining archaeological and documentary evidence to produce a detailed understanding of an extensive early coal mining operation. Details The Strelley shaftmounds lie on almost level ground to the south, west and east of Broad Oak Farm, on the north western outskirts of Bilborough. The monument includes all the earthworks and buried remains of the shaftmounds and related coal mining features. Strelley colliery was named after the family which established it in the latter half of the 16th century. The Strelleys were rivals of the Willoughbys, who had earlier established collieries in the nearby Wollaton area. Litigations between the two families have left a rich source of documentary evidence for the technology and development of mines in the area and by the late 16th century the Strelley and Wollaton pits were the largest and most productive outside Tyneside. They continued to be successful in the 17th century, helped by investment in technology by the prospector Huntingdon Beaumont. One of Beaumont's innovations was the installation in 1603 of a wagonway to transport coal from Strelley pits to a storage area. This was amongst the first railed wagonways in Britain. Beaumont took the idea to the north east, where wagonways later became commonplace. Strelley therefore has a significant place in the history of mining technology. It remained productive at least into the later 17th century. Visible remains include a series of low shaftmounds of up to 5m wide which represent the remains of coal workings. A vertical shaft was sunk to the coal level and the seam was worked out horizontally, giving the pit a bell-shaped profile and leaving a low collar of spoil at the shaft mouth. These undisturbed shaft mounds are rare survivals, and will include valuable technological evidence. Earthworks and buried remains will include further technological data, and include evidence of pit top features such as winding gear and of the early wagonway. Modern field fences are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath is included.