Eakring
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eakring is a village in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire situated between the A617 and A616, between Ollerton and Southwell.
The village pub is the Savile Arms on Bilsthorpe Road. The Robin Hood Way passes through the village.
William Mompesson, the vicar of Eyam during the Plague in 1666, moved to the village in 1670, living there for 38 years, and is buried in the churchyard.
[edit] Drilling of oil during the Second World War
In the late 1930's oil exploration was undertaken by the D'Arcy Exploration Co Ltd, part of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company Ltd. Using geological data from colliery workings, geologists calculated that an anticline was situated under Eakring. A nearby borehole at Kelham had produced oil. Drilling to levels between 7463ft and 7468ft had found significant quantities of oil - which turned to be particularly significant when the Second World War and the U-Boat campaign started. Wells also produced oil at Caunton and Kelham Hills. The oil had a specific gravity of 0.86 - which is high grade oil. The UK typically had oil reserves of five million barrels, which were under strength. In March 1943, production began at around 100 wells, being coordinated by Philip Southwell, a petroleum engineer from the D'Arcy Oil Company who had liaised with Lloyd Noble, president of Noble Drilling Corporation in Oklahoma. Throughout the operation, the location of the oil field was kept secret. American oil workers lived in the anglican monastery at Kelham Hall. In total, the oil field produced around 3.5 million barrels of oil. In contrast, the Germans had to rely on synthetic oil, which was manufactured, and largely ceased production during 1944 from aerial bombardment.
