The subsurface of the East Midlands region has been intensively explored by boreholes and seismic surveys on account of its rich resources of coal and hydrocarbons.This memoir is based on an exhaustive use of such data, acquired during seven decades of exploration, and aims to present a concise review of the tectonic and sedimentary history of the Carboniferous rocks of the East Midlands region. It is the fourth in a series of subsurface memoirs relating to Upper Palaeozoic basins, and forms a sequel to a previously published account of the adjacent south-west Pennine Basin (Smith et al., 2005).