 Cannel coal has been used as jewellery since the neolithic, with pieces appearing in Scotland (often alongside jet) dating from the centuries before 3500BC.In England a member of the Bradshaigh family discovered a plentiful shallow seam of smooth, hard, cannel coal on his estate, in Haigh, Lancashire in the 16th century.The shallow depth at which it was found meant it was suitable for the simple surface mining methods available at that time.