Dearne and Dove Canal
Encyclopedia
The Dearne and Dove Canal ran for almost ten miles through South Yorkshire
, England
from Swinton
to Barnsley
through nineteen locks, rising 127 yards. The canal also had two short branches, the Worsbrough
branch and the Elsecar
branch, both about two miles long with reservoirs at the head of each. The Elsecar branch also has another six locks. The only tunnel was bypassed by a cutting in 1840.
The canal was created mainly to carry cargo from the extensive coal mining
industry in the area. Other cargo included pig iron
, glass
, lime
, oil
products and general merchandise. A combination of railway competition and subsidence
caused by the same mines it served forced the canal into a gradual decline, closing completely in 1961. As the local coal industry also collapsed in the 1980s the canal was thrown a lifeline with the forming of the Barnsley Canal Group who are now attempting to restore the whole canal, an effort further boosted by the abandonment of the railway which replaced it.
. However the idea was not pursued, until a meeting of the shareholders of the Don Navigation Company in 1792, where a canal from the River Don Navigation
into Barnsley was proposed. At the same time the Aire & Calder Navigation company was considering a canal from Wakefield
to Barnsley. On 20 October 1792, the rival companies held a famous meeting at the White Bear Inn (now the Royal Hotel) in Barnsley and agreed to join their canals just south of Barnsley and go forward with complementary proposals. These were to become the Dearne and Dove Canal and the Barnsley Canal
, both of which sought to provide access to the coalfields of Barnby bridge and Haigh bridge.
The canal obtained its Act of Parliament
on 3 June 1793, on the same day as the Act which authorised the building of the Barnsley Canal
. The Act created the Dearne and Dove Canal Company, consisting of 211 people, and allowed them to raise £60,000 by issuing shares, and a further £30,000 by mortgage if required. Robert Mylne
was named as chief engineer
on the project, and appears to have made the initial survey and given evidence to parliament in support of the bill. However the construction was managed by John Thompson, the engineer to the Don Navigation Company, until he died in 1795. The post was then held by Robert Whitworth until 1799, when he died also, and it is thought that one of Whitworth's sons acted as engineer until the finish of the work. The canal was opened as far as Elsecar
by 1798 and fully opened by November 1804 at a cost of just under £100,000. The cost overrun was managed when the company obtained a second Act of Parliament on 30 May 1800, which allowed the original option for a £30,000 mortgage to be raised by shares, a mortgage of £10,000 to be obtained, and the toll rates to be increased. Construction costs included the provision of two reservoirs, at Elsecar and Worsbrough
, tramroads from Elsecar basin to two ironworks and a colliery, which included inclined planes
, and a 472 yards (431.6 m) tunnel near Swinton
, which was built using the cut-and-cover method. The canal was shut briefly in the summers of 1805 and 1806 due to a shortage of water, but was initially successful and by 1830 it was carrying 181,000 tons of coal a year.
In the early 1820s, several proposals were made to build additional tramroads and reservoirs, but the plans were opposed by the Barnsley Canal and the Aire and Calder. Plans for an additional reservoir at Wentworth Castle, above the Worsbrough reservoir, were opposed in the House of Lords, unless the Company would release its exclusive rights to build tramways from the canal to local collieries, and the bill was withdrawn, rather than agree to a clause which would have broken their monopoly on the coal reserves near to the canal. A decision was taken instead to raise the level of the Worsbrough reservoir by 4.5 feet (1.4 m), thereby increasing the surface area to 62 acres (25.1 ha), and this was completed in 1826.
, running from Leeds to Derby, opened in 1840 and this represented a major threat to the domination of the coal trade by all the South Yorkshire
navigations. Parts of the railway ran alongside the canal. At Adwick upon Dearne
the railway constructed a long cutting, and in order to maintain their alignment, the canal tunnel was demolished and the canal was re-routed to share the new cutting. The canal Company took the opportunity to build interchange facilities with the new railway.
With the threat of the railways taking trade from the canals, the Don Navigation Company decided to purchase the Barnsley Canal, and to lease the Dearne and Dove for a year, after which they would buy it. The agreement with the Dearne and Dove went ahead, with the River Don Navigation taking over the canal from 1 January 1846, and paying £210,000 for it on 2 January 1847, but they failed to reach agreement with the Barnsley Canal. Tolls were reduced by 60 per cent in 1846, with free passage for empty boats from 1847, with the result that much of the coal traffic which had previously used the Barnsley Canal now used the Dearne and Dove. The South Yorkshire, Doncaster & Goole Railway Company was authorised in 1847, and the Act of Parliament allowed them to amalgamate with the Don Navigation Company, and hence the Dearne and Dove, once they had raised half of their authorised capital. The amalgamation took place on 19 April 1850. The railway company opened their line from Doncaster to Swinton in November 1849, which was followed by a branch to Elsecar in February 1850, and another branch to Worsbrough in June 1850. At Elsecar, the canal basin was moved, and about 200 yards (182.9 m) of the canal were filled in to make way for the railway. While the takeover was beneficial to traffic on parts of the Don Navigation, tonnage carried on the Dearne and Dove fell.
Subsequently, both the railway and the canals were leased to the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway
, with a 999-year lease starting in June 1864, but in 1874 the lease became a takeover, and the canals were just a small part of a bigger undertaking. Users of the canals were unhappy with the high tolls and the lack of modernisation, and so in November 1888, the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Canal Company was formed, with the intent of obtaining the canals from the railway company. They obtained an Act of Parliament
on 26 August 1889, which created the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation
Company, with an authorised capital of £1.5 million, and powers to buy the canals, by compulsory purchase if agreement could not be reached with the railway company. The transfer did not occur until 1895, when agreement was finally reached, and the Dearne and Dove Canal became part of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation along with the Sheffield Canal
, the River Don Navigation
, and the Stainforth and Keadby Canal
.
to be used. Coal from the collieries on the canal would transferred from the compartment boats to larger vessels at a new coal handling plant to be located at Keadby. However, the company failed to raise the finance to purchase the canals from the railway company outright, and so struggled to make significant improvements. The Dearne and Dove was the least profitable part of the system, with high maintenance costs as a result of subsidence from the coal mining. As early as 1884, a 25 yards (22.9 m) stretch of the Worsbrough branch had collapsed due to subsidence
, which had taken 6 months and cost £19,000 to repair.
In 1906 the branch to Worsbrough
closed due to the increasing cost of maintenance, although it was retained as a water feeder. The depth of water at the top end of the canal could only be maintained at 4.5 feet (1.4 m), rather than 6 feet (1.8 m), and in 1909, the company agreed to allow mining beneath the canal. The Elsecar branch was the next to close in 1928, also due to subsidence. The last boat traversed the central section of the main line in 1934, although an abandonment order for the canal was not obtained, as the company expected opposition to such a bill. After this date water levels were not maintained: this allowed the maintenance necessary to combat the ever-present mining subsidence to be reduced; only a mile or so of each end of the canal attracted traffic and was properly maintained. In 1942 traffic at the Barnsley end ceased. Traffic from the Manvers Main colliery ended in 1952, and despite vigorous campaigning for the reinstatement of the canal by the Inalnd Waterways Association and the Inland Waterways Protection Society in the late 1950s, the canal was finally closed in 1961, under the terms of the British Transport Commission Act. Only the half mile (0.8 km) to the glassworks
in Swinton was retained. This included four locks which were supplied with water by pumps. The last boat called at the glassworks in 1977; since then the lower portion of the remaining canal has been incorporated into a boatyard, while the upper portion remains in water but not accessible by boat as the uppermost lock's gates have been replaced with a dam.
After closure the canal land passed into the hands of the local councils. Several drownings of children in the 1960s caused large parts of the canal in the Swinton and Wath-upon-Dearne areas to be filled in, however much the remaining canal was simply left to deteriorate, in some areas still in water, albeit at a much lower level than the original canal and very overgrown. Even as late as the early 1980s large parts of the canal line were easily recognisable with local roads passing over the old narrow sandstone hump-back canal bridges, however since then road-improvement schemes have seen the removal of redundant bridges and in some areas the utilisation of the canal bed for new roads.
In 1991 the canal group commenced restoring the top of the Elsecar branch of the canal in conjunction with work at what is now the Elsecar Heritage Centre
. A feasibility study
was also carried out on the branch. It determined that, although expensive, it is viable to restore that section of the canal. The Barnsley Canal Group was reformed as the Barnsley, Dearne & Dove Canals Trust in 2000.
The two branches have fared far better than the main line since its closure. The more rural nature of these sections means that the land has been left relatively untouched. In parts of the main line problems of obstruction and poor maintenance means that alternative routes have been suggested. This is particularly acute in Wath-upon-Dearne
, Wombwell
and Stairfoot
where road improvement and land-reclamation schemes have utilised and obliterated several miles of the former canal bed.
The closure of all the local mines that the canal served means that further subsidence is no longer a problem. The abandonment of the railway line that replaced the canal in 1988 has given the canal an alternative route. This land has been secured from intrusion by other land users and will be relatively easily excavated to create a new channel. It is also being used as part of the Trans Pennine Trail
.
The canal is referred to as 'a vital missing link' by the Barnsley, Dearne & Dove Canals Trust. Their aim is to completely restore the canal along with the Barnsley Canal in order to complete the Yorkshire Ring
. The canal is now undergoing restoration
. The Elsecar branch is to be the first part of the canal to be restored. The top two pounds and top lock have been restored and a launch ramp has been added in the top pound. Funding was obtained from the Yorkshire European Community Trust, and the lock gates were fitted in May 1999. Other parts of the canal such as the top of the Worsbrough branch have remained in good condition despite years of neglect.
Parts of the towpath
form sections of the Trans Pennine Trail
, a long distance footpath that connects Liverpool
, Leeds
, Hull
and Chesterfield
. The reservoir at the top of the Elsecar branch has been designated a local nature reserve
by Barnsley Council and the area surrounding the reservoir at the top of the Worsbrough branch has become Worsbrough Country Park.
The canal started at a junction with the Don Navigation at Swinton. From there it passed through six locks before it passed through a 472 yard tunnel. This tunnel was bypassed in 1840 when the canal was diverted to run through the same cutting created to accommodate the railway. It then passed Manvers Main Colliery and entered Wath-upon-Dearne
running parallel to Doncaster Road, before passing between rows of terraced houses past the town centre. It then looped north-west towards the middle of the valley, with a wide section on a high embankment
which became known as the Bay of Biscay. After that it passed into Brampton and back onto the hillside. There were another four locks up to the junction with the Elsecar branch, which lay between Brampton and Wombwell
at the junction of the Dearne Valley Parkway and the A633.
The canal then passed Wombwell to the north of the town centre, and Aldham before arriving at the eight locks of the Stairfoot
flight. At that point there followed the junction with the Worsbrough Branch. The canal then passed through the site of Stairfoot Roundabout and headed towards Hoyle Mill where a final stop lock marks the boundary between the Dearne & Dove and Barnsley Canals.
). After passing below Hemingfield
and the site of the Hemingfield Colliery it finished at Elsecar basin. The reservoir is about another half a mile from the basin past the heritage centre
. The majority of the towpath is on the Elsecar Greenway, part of the Trans Pennine Trail.
. After this it ran alongside the River Dove
until reaching Worsbrough Basin. The reservoir is just beyond the basin.
to Barnsley
railway line, which was abandoned in 1988.
In August 2004, a professional engineering company was commissioned to conduct a feasibility study of restoration options, and presented its findings in November 2006. The estimated costs for a full restoration of the Dearne and Dove and the Barnsley Canals to take narrow boats was £127 million, and the likely benefits to the local economy were estimated at £3.1 million per year. The route which this proposed would follow the old route through Swinton onto the old Manvers pit pony field where it would divert around the newly built Dearne Valley College and Call Centres. It would then divert around to the north of Wath-Upon-Dearne via the longest Aqueduct in the world to join up to its old route near what was once the Bay of Biscay. There would be relatively minor course corrections to the rest of the route through to Barnsley, although it would follow a parallel route to the original canal on this section.
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
from Swinton
Swinton, South Yorkshire
Swinton is a suburban town within the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, England on part of the west bank of the River Don...
to Barnsley
Barnsley
Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Dearne, north of the city of Sheffield, south of Leeds and west of Doncaster. Barnsley is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, of which Barnsley is the largest and...
through nineteen locks, rising 127 yards. The canal also had two short branches, the Worsbrough
Worsbrough
Worsbrough is an area about two miles south of Barnsley in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England.-Geography:Worsbrough includes Worsbrough Bridge, Worsbrough Common, Worsbrough Dale, Worsbrough Village and Ward Green. The River Dove flows east-west through Worsbrough and...
branch and the Elsecar
Elsecar
Elsecar is a village forming part of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. Like many villages in the area, it was for many years a coal mining village until the widespread pit closures during the 1980s. Elsecar is next to the villages of Hoyland and Jump.Elsecar is...
branch, both about two miles long with reservoirs at the head of each. The Elsecar branch also has another six locks. The only tunnel was bypassed by a cutting in 1840.
The canal was created mainly to carry cargo from the extensive coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
industry in the area. Other cargo included pig iron
Pig iron
Pig iron is the intermediate product of smelting iron ore with a high-carbon fuel such as coke, usually with limestone as a flux. Charcoal and anthracite have also been used as fuel...
, glass
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
, lime
Agricultural lime
Agricultural lime, also called aglime, agricultural limestone, garden lime or liming, is a soil additive made from pulverized limestone or chalk. The primary active component is calcium carbonate...
, oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
products and general merchandise. A combination of railway competition and subsidence
Subsidence
Subsidence is the motion of a surface as it shifts downward relative to a datum such as sea-level. The opposite of subsidence is uplift, which results in an increase in elevation...
caused by the same mines it served forced the canal into a gradual decline, closing completely in 1961. As the local coal industry also collapsed in the 1980s the canal was thrown a lifeline with the forming of the Barnsley Canal Group who are now attempting to restore the whole canal, an effort further boosted by the abandonment of the railway which replaced it.
Creation and early years
The idea of creating a navigable waterway from the River Don to Barnsley along the course of the River Dearne was first proposed in 1773 by the Marquess of RockinghamMarquess of Rockingham
Marquess of Rockingham was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1746 for Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Earl of Malton. The Watson family descended from Lewis Watson, Member of Parliament for Lincoln. He was created a Baronet, of Rockingham Castle in the County of Northampton,...
. However the idea was not pursued, until a meeting of the shareholders of the Don Navigation Company in 1792, where a canal from the River Don Navigation
River Don Navigation
The River Don Navigation was the result of early efforts to make the River Don in South Yorkshire, England, navigable between Fishlake and Sheffield...
into Barnsley was proposed. At the same time the Aire & Calder Navigation company was considering a canal from Wakefield
Wakefield
Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
to Barnsley. On 20 October 1792, the rival companies held a famous meeting at the White Bear Inn (now the Royal Hotel) in Barnsley and agreed to join their canals just south of Barnsley and go forward with complementary proposals. These were to become the Dearne and Dove Canal and the Barnsley Canal
Barnsley Canal
The Barnsley Canal is a canal that ran from Barnby Basin, through Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England to a junction with the Aire and Calder Navigation near Wakefield. It was long and included 15 locks. It was taken over by the Aire and Calder Navigation in 1854, and despite competition from the...
, both of which sought to provide access to the coalfields of Barnby bridge and Haigh bridge.
The canal obtained its Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
on 3 June 1793, on the same day as the Act which authorised the building of the Barnsley Canal
Barnsley Canal
The Barnsley Canal is a canal that ran from Barnby Basin, through Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England to a junction with the Aire and Calder Navigation near Wakefield. It was long and included 15 locks. It was taken over by the Aire and Calder Navigation in 1854, and despite competition from the...
. The Act created the Dearne and Dove Canal Company, consisting of 211 people, and allowed them to raise £60,000 by issuing shares, and a further £30,000 by mortgage if required. Robert Mylne
Robert Mylne
Robert Mylne was a Scottish architect and civil engineer, particularly remembered for his design for Blackfriars Bridge in London. Born and raised in Edinburgh, he travelled to Europe as a young man, studying architecture in Rome under Piranesi...
was named as chief engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
on the project, and appears to have made the initial survey and given evidence to parliament in support of the bill. However the construction was managed by John Thompson, the engineer to the Don Navigation Company, until he died in 1795. The post was then held by Robert Whitworth until 1799, when he died also, and it is thought that one of Whitworth's sons acted as engineer until the finish of the work. The canal was opened as far as Elsecar
Elsecar
Elsecar is a village forming part of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. Like many villages in the area, it was for many years a coal mining village until the widespread pit closures during the 1980s. Elsecar is next to the villages of Hoyland and Jump.Elsecar is...
by 1798 and fully opened by November 1804 at a cost of just under £100,000. The cost overrun was managed when the company obtained a second Act of Parliament on 30 May 1800, which allowed the original option for a £30,000 mortgage to be raised by shares, a mortgage of £10,000 to be obtained, and the toll rates to be increased. Construction costs included the provision of two reservoirs, at Elsecar and Worsbrough
Worsbrough
Worsbrough is an area about two miles south of Barnsley in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England.-Geography:Worsbrough includes Worsbrough Bridge, Worsbrough Common, Worsbrough Dale, Worsbrough Village and Ward Green. The River Dove flows east-west through Worsbrough and...
, tramroads from Elsecar basin to two ironworks and a colliery, which included inclined planes
Cable railway
A cable railway is a steeply graded railway that uses a cable or rope to haul trains.-Introduction:...
, and a 472 yards (431.6 m) tunnel near Swinton
Swinton, South Yorkshire
Swinton is a suburban town within the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, England on part of the west bank of the River Don...
, which was built using the cut-and-cover method. The canal was shut briefly in the summers of 1805 and 1806 due to a shortage of water, but was initially successful and by 1830 it was carrying 181,000 tons of coal a year.
In the early 1820s, several proposals were made to build additional tramroads and reservoirs, but the plans were opposed by the Barnsley Canal and the Aire and Calder. Plans for an additional reservoir at Wentworth Castle, above the Worsbrough reservoir, were opposed in the House of Lords, unless the Company would release its exclusive rights to build tramways from the canal to local collieries, and the bill was withdrawn, rather than agree to a clause which would have broken their monopoly on the coal reserves near to the canal. A decision was taken instead to raise the level of the Worsbrough reservoir by 4.5 feet (1.4 m), thereby increasing the surface area to 62 acres (25.1 ha), and this was completed in 1826.
Railway competition
The North Midland RailwayNorth Midland Railway
The North Midland Railway was a British railway company, which opened its line from Derby to Rotherham and Leeds in 1840.At Derby it connected with the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway and the Midland Counties Railway at what became known as the Tri Junct Station...
, running from Leeds to Derby, opened in 1840 and this represented a major threat to the domination of the coal trade by all the South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
navigations. Parts of the railway ran alongside the canal. At Adwick upon Dearne
Adwick upon Dearne
Adwick upon Dearne is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. It is located on the River Dearne. It has a population of 351....
the railway constructed a long cutting, and in order to maintain their alignment, the canal tunnel was demolished and the canal was re-routed to share the new cutting. The canal Company took the opportunity to build interchange facilities with the new railway.
With the threat of the railways taking trade from the canals, the Don Navigation Company decided to purchase the Barnsley Canal, and to lease the Dearne and Dove for a year, after which they would buy it. The agreement with the Dearne and Dove went ahead, with the River Don Navigation taking over the canal from 1 January 1846, and paying £210,000 for it on 2 January 1847, but they failed to reach agreement with the Barnsley Canal. Tolls were reduced by 60 per cent in 1846, with free passage for empty boats from 1847, with the result that much of the coal traffic which had previously used the Barnsley Canal now used the Dearne and Dove. The South Yorkshire, Doncaster & Goole Railway Company was authorised in 1847, and the Act of Parliament allowed them to amalgamate with the Don Navigation Company, and hence the Dearne and Dove, once they had raised half of their authorised capital. The amalgamation took place on 19 April 1850. The railway company opened their line from Doncaster to Swinton in November 1849, which was followed by a branch to Elsecar in February 1850, and another branch to Worsbrough in June 1850. At Elsecar, the canal basin was moved, and about 200 yards (182.9 m) of the canal were filled in to make way for the railway. While the takeover was beneficial to traffic on parts of the Don Navigation, tonnage carried on the Dearne and Dove fell.
Subsequently, both the railway and the canals were leased to the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway
Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway
The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway was formed by amalgamation in 1847. The MS&LR changed its name to the Great Central Railway in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension.-Origin:...
, with a 999-year lease starting in June 1864, but in 1874 the lease became a takeover, and the canals were just a small part of a bigger undertaking. Users of the canals were unhappy with the high tolls and the lack of modernisation, and so in November 1888, the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Canal Company was formed, with the intent of obtaining the canals from the railway company. They obtained an Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
on 26 August 1889, which created the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation
Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation
The Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation is a system of navigable inland waterways in South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, England....
Company, with an authorised capital of £1.5 million, and powers to buy the canals, by compulsory purchase if agreement could not be reached with the railway company. The transfer did not occur until 1895, when agreement was finally reached, and the Dearne and Dove Canal became part of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation along with the Sheffield Canal
Sheffield Canal
The Sheffield Canal is a canal in the City of Sheffield, England. It runs from Tinsley, where it leaves the River Don, to the Sheffield Canal Basin in the city centre, passing through 11 locks.- Early history :...
, the River Don Navigation
River Don Navigation
The River Don Navigation was the result of early efforts to make the River Don in South Yorkshire, England, navigable between Fishlake and Sheffield...
, and the Stainforth and Keadby Canal
Stainforth and Keadby Canal
The Stainforth and Keadby Canal is a navigable canal in South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, England. It connects the River Don Navigation at Bramwith to the River Trent at Keadby, by way of Stainforth, Thorne and Ealand, near Crowle.-History:...
.
Decline
The Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation Company intended to upgrade the system to take 300 or 400 ton boats, and to allow compartment boatsTom Pudding
Tom Pudding was the name given to the tub boats on the Aire and Calder Navigation, introduced in 1863 and used until 1985, which were a very efficient means of transferring and transporting coal from the open cast collieries of the South Yorkshire Coalfield near Stanley Ferry to the port of Goole,...
to be used. Coal from the collieries on the canal would transferred from the compartment boats to larger vessels at a new coal handling plant to be located at Keadby. However, the company failed to raise the finance to purchase the canals from the railway company outright, and so struggled to make significant improvements. The Dearne and Dove was the least profitable part of the system, with high maintenance costs as a result of subsidence from the coal mining. As early as 1884, a 25 yards (22.9 m) stretch of the Worsbrough branch had collapsed due to subsidence
Subsidence
Subsidence is the motion of a surface as it shifts downward relative to a datum such as sea-level. The opposite of subsidence is uplift, which results in an increase in elevation...
, which had taken 6 months and cost £19,000 to repair.
In 1906 the branch to Worsbrough
Worsbrough
Worsbrough is an area about two miles south of Barnsley in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England.-Geography:Worsbrough includes Worsbrough Bridge, Worsbrough Common, Worsbrough Dale, Worsbrough Village and Ward Green. The River Dove flows east-west through Worsbrough and...
closed due to the increasing cost of maintenance, although it was retained as a water feeder. The depth of water at the top end of the canal could only be maintained at 4.5 feet (1.4 m), rather than 6 feet (1.8 m), and in 1909, the company agreed to allow mining beneath the canal. The Elsecar branch was the next to close in 1928, also due to subsidence. The last boat traversed the central section of the main line in 1934, although an abandonment order for the canal was not obtained, as the company expected opposition to such a bill. After this date water levels were not maintained: this allowed the maintenance necessary to combat the ever-present mining subsidence to be reduced; only a mile or so of each end of the canal attracted traffic and was properly maintained. In 1942 traffic at the Barnsley end ceased. Traffic from the Manvers Main colliery ended in 1952, and despite vigorous campaigning for the reinstatement of the canal by the Inalnd Waterways Association and the Inland Waterways Protection Society in the late 1950s, the canal was finally closed in 1961, under the terms of the British Transport Commission Act. Only the half mile (0.8 km) to the glassworks
Glassworks
Glassworks is a chamber music work of six movements by Philip Glass. It is regarded as being a characteristically Glass-like work. Following his larger-scale concert and stage works, Glassworks was Philip Glass's successful attempt to create a more pop-oriented "Walkman-suitable" work, with...
in Swinton was retained. This included four locks which were supplied with water by pumps. The last boat called at the glassworks in 1977; since then the lower portion of the remaining canal has been incorporated into a boatyard, while the upper portion remains in water but not accessible by boat as the uppermost lock's gates have been replaced with a dam.
After closure the canal land passed into the hands of the local councils. Several drownings of children in the 1960s caused large parts of the canal in the Swinton and Wath-upon-Dearne areas to be filled in, however much the remaining canal was simply left to deteriorate, in some areas still in water, albeit at a much lower level than the original canal and very overgrown. Even as late as the early 1980s large parts of the canal line were easily recognisable with local roads passing over the old narrow sandstone hump-back canal bridges, however since then road-improvement schemes have seen the removal of redundant bridges and in some areas the utilisation of the canal bed for new roads.
Restoration
In 1 April 1984, after a number of articles in the local press, twelve people met to address the lack of interest in local waterways. The Barnsley Canal Group was formed at this meeting and started campaigning for the preservation and restoration of the Dearne and Dove and Barnsley Canals. Since the late 1980s the group has been active in trying to protect the remaining canal bed from obstruction through the local planning process.In 1991 the canal group commenced restoring the top of the Elsecar branch of the canal in conjunction with work at what is now the Elsecar Heritage Centre
Elsecar Heritage Centre
Elsecar Heritage Centre is a Living History centre in Elsecar, South Yorkshire. It also comprises various shops, galleries, art studios and an exhibition hall. It runs craft workshops, special events, and a monthly antiques fair. The buildings were originally used for various industries including...
. A feasibility study
Feasibility study
Feasibility studies aim to objectively and rationally uncover the strengths and weaknesses of the existing business or proposed venture, opportunities and threats as presented by the environment, the resources required to carry through, and ultimately the prospects for success. In its simplest...
was also carried out on the branch. It determined that, although expensive, it is viable to restore that section of the canal. The Barnsley Canal Group was reformed as the Barnsley, Dearne & Dove Canals Trust in 2000.
The Canal Today
| Section | Obstructed | Filled In | Not in Water | In water |
| Main line | 1.3 (13%) | 6.5 (67%) | 1 (10%) | 1 (10%) |
| Elsecar Branch | NIL | 0.1 (6%) | 1 (47%) | 1 (47%) |
| Worsbrough Branch | NIL | 1 (50%) | 0.9 (44%) | 0.1 (6%) |
| Whole Canal | 1.3 (9%) | 7.6 (55%) | 2.9 (21%) | 2.1 (15%) |
The two branches have fared far better than the main line since its closure. The more rural nature of these sections means that the land has been left relatively untouched. In parts of the main line problems of obstruction and poor maintenance means that alternative routes have been suggested. This is particularly acute in Wath-upon-Dearne
Wath-upon-Dearne
Wath-upon-Dearne is a small town on the south side of the Dearne Valley in the historic county of the West Riding of Yorkshire and the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, lying 5 miles north of Rotherham, almost midway between Barnsley and Doncaster. It has a population...
, Wombwell
Wombwell
Wombwell is a small town near Barnsley, located in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 15,180.Its name's origin may mean "Womba's Well", or "well in a hollow"....
and Stairfoot
Stairfoot
Stairfoot is a village in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England.It is perhaps so named because it lies in the valley bottom between the directly opposed undulations of two small hills on the old road from Barnsley to Doncaster....
where road improvement and land-reclamation schemes have utilised and obliterated several miles of the former canal bed.
The closure of all the local mines that the canal served means that further subsidence is no longer a problem. The abandonment of the railway line that replaced the canal in 1988 has given the canal an alternative route. This land has been secured from intrusion by other land users and will be relatively easily excavated to create a new channel. It is also being used as part of the Trans Pennine Trail
Trans Pennine Trail
The Trans Pennine Trail is a long distance path running from coast to coast across northern England entirely on surfaced paths and using only gentle gradients ....
.
The canal is referred to as 'a vital missing link' by the Barnsley, Dearne & Dove Canals Trust. Their aim is to completely restore the canal along with the Barnsley Canal in order to complete the Yorkshire Ring
Yorkshire Ring
The Yorkshire Ring is a canal ring in South and West Yorkshire, England. It was completed in 1905 with the construction of the New Junction Canal. It lasted for under thirty years before the closure of part of the Dearne and Dove Canal and subsequently the complete Barnsley Canal...
. The canal is now undergoing restoration
Waterway restoration
Waterway restoration is the activity of restoring a canal or river, including special features such as warehouse buildings, locks, boat lifts, and boats. In the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, the focus of waterway restoration is on improving navigability, while in Australia the term...
. The Elsecar branch is to be the first part of the canal to be restored. The top two pounds and top lock have been restored and a launch ramp has been added in the top pound. Funding was obtained from the Yorkshire European Community Trust, and the lock gates were fitted in May 1999. Other parts of the canal such as the top of the Worsbrough branch have remained in good condition despite years of neglect.
Parts of the towpath
Towpath
A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge...
form sections of the Trans Pennine Trail
Trans Pennine Trail
The Trans Pennine Trail is a long distance path running from coast to coast across northern England entirely on surfaced paths and using only gentle gradients ....
, a long distance footpath that connects Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
and Chesterfield
Chesterfield
Chesterfield is a market town and a borough of Derbyshire, England. It lies north of Derby, on a confluence of the rivers Rother and Hipper. Its population is 70,260 , making it Derbyshire's largest town...
. The reservoir at the top of the Elsecar branch has been designated a local nature reserve
Nature reserve
A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...
by Barnsley Council and the area surrounding the reservoir at the top of the Worsbrough branch has become Worsbrough Country Park.
Main Line
Wath-upon-Dearne
Wath-upon-Dearne is a small town on the south side of the Dearne Valley in the historic county of the West Riding of Yorkshire and the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, lying 5 miles north of Rotherham, almost midway between Barnsley and Doncaster. It has a population...
running parallel to Doncaster Road, before passing between rows of terraced houses past the town centre. It then looped north-west towards the middle of the valley, with a wide section on a high embankment
Embankment (transportation)
To keep a road or railway line straight or flat, and where the comparative cost or practicality of alternate solutions is prohibitive, the land over which the road or rail line will travel is built up to form an embankment. An embankment is therefore in some sense the opposite of a cutting, and...
which became known as the Bay of Biscay. After that it passed into Brampton and back onto the hillside. There were another four locks up to the junction with the Elsecar branch, which lay between Brampton and Wombwell
Wombwell
Wombwell is a small town near Barnsley, located in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 15,180.Its name's origin may mean "Womba's Well", or "well in a hollow"....
at the junction of the Dearne Valley Parkway and the A633.
The canal then passed Wombwell to the north of the town centre, and Aldham before arriving at the eight locks of the Stairfoot
Stairfoot
Stairfoot is a village in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England.It is perhaps so named because it lies in the valley bottom between the directly opposed undulations of two small hills on the old road from Barnsley to Doncaster....
flight. At that point there followed the junction with the Worsbrough Branch. The canal then passed through the site of Stairfoot Roundabout and headed towards Hoyle Mill where a final stop lock marks the boundary between the Dearne & Dove and Barnsley Canals.
Elsecar Branch
The Elsecar branch was built to serve the coal mines and so went past many of them. Starting in Brampton the branch passed Cortonwood Colliery (now a retail parkRetail park
In the United Kingdom, a retail park is a grouping of many retail warehouses and superstores with associated car parking. Its North American equivalent is a power centre. Retail parks are found on the fringes of most large towns and cities in highly accessible locations and are aimed at households...
). After passing below Hemingfield
Hemingfield
Hemingfield is a village in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England.The Elsecar Steam Railway currently terminates at Hemingfield; however, there is no platform at present, so there are plans to build a proposed Hemingfield railway station as part of an extension to...
and the site of the Hemingfield Colliery it finished at Elsecar basin. The reservoir is about another half a mile from the basin past the heritage centre
Elsecar Heritage Centre
Elsecar Heritage Centre is a Living History centre in Elsecar, South Yorkshire. It also comprises various shops, galleries, art studios and an exhibition hall. It runs craft workshops, special events, and a monthly antiques fair. The buildings were originally used for various industries including...
. The majority of the towpath is on the Elsecar Greenway, part of the Trans Pennine Trail.
Worsbrough Branch
After leaving Stairfoot the Worsbrough branch passes through Swaithe and then passes under the Penistone LinePenistone Line
The Penistone Line is operated by Northern Rail in the West Yorkshire Metro/ Travel South Yorkshire area of northern England. It connects Huddersfield and Sheffield via Penistone and Barnsley, serving many rural communities...
. After this it ran alongside the River Dove
River Dove, Barnsley
The River Dove is a river that extends through the Low Valley in Barnsley, England. The river contains shallow water levels.-Route:The River Dove starts at the outfall of Worsbrough Reservoir, which was built for the opening of the Dearne and Dove Canal in 1804. It supplied the Worsbrough Arm of...
until reaching Worsbrough Basin. The reservoir is just beyond the basin.
Proposed Restoration Route
In the survey done by the Barnsley Canal Group in 1987 it was established that the original route of the canal would be very difficult to restore. This is due in large part to canal land reclaimed by the council in the 1970s. Over time, several proposals have been put forward as to a possible new route. These include the use of the River Dearne or the use of the MexboroughMexborough
Mexborough is a town in the metropolitan borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, situated on the north bank of the River Don west of its confluence with the River Dearne...
to Barnsley
Barnsley
Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Dearne, north of the city of Sheffield, south of Leeds and west of Doncaster. Barnsley is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, of which Barnsley is the largest and...
railway line, which was abandoned in 1988.
In August 2004, a professional engineering company was commissioned to conduct a feasibility study of restoration options, and presented its findings in November 2006. The estimated costs for a full restoration of the Dearne and Dove and the Barnsley Canals to take narrow boats was £127 million, and the likely benefits to the local economy were estimated at £3.1 million per year. The route which this proposed would follow the old route through Swinton onto the old Manvers pit pony field where it would divert around the newly built Dearne Valley College and Call Centres. It would then divert around to the north of Wath-Upon-Dearne via the longest Aqueduct in the world to join up to its old route near what was once the Bay of Biscay. There would be relatively minor course corrections to the rest of the route through to Barnsley, although it would follow a parallel route to the original canal on this section.
Barnsley Canals Consortium
The Barnsley Canals Consortium is the name given to all the interested parties who are cooperating in order to restore the Dearne and Dove along with its sister canal the Barnsley. Its members include:-- Barnsley, Dearne & Dove Canals Trust
- Inland Waterways AssociationInland Waterways AssociationThe Inland Waterways Association was formed in 1946 as a registered charity in the United Kingdom to campaign for the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and sensitive development of British Canals and river navigations....
- Royston and Carlton Partnership
- Barnsley Metropolitan Borough CouncilMetropolitan Borough of BarnsleyThe Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley is a metropolitan borough of the metropolitan county of South Yorkshire, England. Its main town is Barnsley....
- Rotherham Metropolitan Borough CouncilMetropolitan Borough of RotherhamThe Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham is a metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. It is named for its largest town, Rotherham, but also spans the outlying towns of Maltby, Rawmarsh, Swinton, Wath-upon-Dearne, as well as a suburban and rural element composed of hills, escarpments and...
- Wakefield City CouncilWakefieldWakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
See also
- Canals of Great Britain
- History of the British canal systemHistory of the British canal systemThe British canal system of water transport played a vital role in the United Kingdom's Industrial Revolution at a time when roads were only just emerging from the medieval mud and long trains of pack horses were the only means of "mass" transit by road of raw materials and finished products The...