Dearne and Dove Canal
Dearne & Dove Canal History
1793
The Dearne & Dove Canal was granted its Act on exactly the same day as its nearest rival, the Barnsley
Canal. The Dearne & Dove Canal was to be built from the River Don Navigation near Swinton heading north
west into Barnsley. It was also to have branches into the rich coal fields of Silkstone to the south west of
Barnsley.
Although the Dearne & Dove Canal was owned by a completely independent company, it was
strongly promoted by the River Don Navigation Company who wanted to increase their profits by accessing mines
not currently in easy reach of their waterway. Beating the Aire & Calder company (who were behind the
Barnsley Canal) was also foremost in their plans. Robert Whitworth was appointed engineer and he planned a
route which was to follow the courses of the two rivers which gave the route its name.
The canal was to be 9 miles long, built to broad standards with 19 locks, it was to be built
specifically to carry coal from the collieries on route and would have two short arms which would reach other
collieries away from the main line. Both of these arms would also serve as water feeders with reservoirs built
alongside each of them. In Barnsley the main line would make a junction into the rival Barnsley Canal creating
a continuous route from Sheffield to Wakefield.
1804
The Dearne & Dove took considerably longer to complete than its rival to
the north. The Barnsley Canal had been partly open since 1799 and had been
fully opened in 1802, two years before the Dearne & Dove. Both routes cost
just under £100,000 each to build.
1830
The Dearne & Dove Canal was a good success. It reached its peak in the
1830's but soon after this the railways began to arrive.
1846
When railway competition arrived it was the Don Navigation who were facing the
biggest losses. To counter this they leased the Dearne & Dove Canal and
took over the running of its route.
Although this meant they could make sure the canal was used to their liking, it did nothing
to stop railway competition.
1850
The Don Navigation Company "amalgamated" with the Doncaster & Goole Railway Company and the two concerns
became one under the name of the South Yorkshire & River Dun Company. (Dun is an alternative name for Don).
The new company continued to lease the Dearne & Dove Canal throughout this period.
1857
The SY&RD company bought the Dearne & Dove Canal outright for £210,000. They already owned the
Stainforth & Keadby Canal so this meant they now owned the whole waterway route from the River Trent to
Doncaster, Rotherham, Sheffield and Barnsley. A few years later the SY&RD company was itself leased to the
Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway Company but the new controllers had little interest in water
bound trade. Bit by bit the Dearne & Dove was used by less and less traffic.
1894
The business merry-go-round spun again when all the waterways owned by the SY&RD company were bought up by
the Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation Company as part of a project to build better communication
between Sheffield and the Humber. However, the MS&LR company still held the lease on these waterways and
therefore keptcontrol over finances. This meant that the new owners found it almost impossible to develop the
routes. Being in a heavy mining area the Dearne & Dove Canal always suffered from subsidence. Because the
railway lessees would not hand over money for repairs the canal soon deteriorated.
1906
The canal branch to Worsbrough was the first part of the Dearne & Dove Canal to be closed to navigation
though it was kept open as a feeder from the reservoir on its line.
1928
The second of the two branches (to Elsecar) was also closed to navigation.
1934
The S&SYN company decided to close the Dearne & Dove Canal and the last boat to travel the full route
from the River Don to Barnsley past through during this year. The canal was not closed completely however and
many short-haul journeys continued for another 18 years. (The canal was nationalised along with the rest of
Britain's canal network in 1948).
1961
The British Transport Commission officially closed the whole of the Dearne & Dove Canal. Only the first ½
mile was kept open to allow access to Canning Town Glassworks. The rest was left to die.
1994
The Elsecar Branch of the canal became the first part of the route to see major restoration work. Alongside the
canal a new heritage complex including a pumping engine, steam trains and cottages was constructed. Nearby, the
canal itself was dredged and filled-in locks were excavated.
TODAY
The Dearne & Dove Canal, along with its old rival the Barnsley Canal, is now carefully watched over by the
Barnsley and Dearne & Dove Trust. who hope to fully restore both waterways. The Dearne
& Dove Canal will be (by far) the most difficult of the two to restore as it has many blockages and
missing links. One solution to this may include using the River Dearne as a bypass around some of the
obstacles.
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Dearne & Dove Canal Route
The Dearne & Dove Canal left the River Don (now part of the Sheffield & South
Yorkshire Navigation) on the east side of Swinton. Swinton Junction can be found close to Swinton Station at
Dun Street near the Red House pub off the A6022 which runs between Swinton & Mexborough.
There is one lock on the river near the junction and there were 5 locks immediately after
the junction on the Dearne & Dove Canal. My reference book says that in the early 1970's these were still
used as moorings for long-since-redundant barges. Today the locks are used as dry docks for boat maintenance.
It is thought that a restored canal would not use this original junction but would bypass it via the River
Dearne.
The canal headed north west towards Wath upon Dearne but the route is completely filled in
after the top surviving lock (about ½ a mile from Swinton Junction). About one mile further on, near Wath and
Adwick, there was a 472 yard tunnel though a bypass was constructed when the railway was built in the mid
1800's.
The original tunnel still survives and (in 1971) could still be found in the undergrowth to
the south of the railway. Past Adwick the course of the canal followed the railway on its south side. The minor
road heading north off the A633 and other lanes off the same road all lead to the canal but most bridges have
been flattened. On Westmoor Lane there is a good stone bridge crossing the filled in route (if it has not also
been flattened by now).
At Brampton the canal route came alongside the A633 but there is little trace of it today.
It was here that the Elsecar Branch left heading south west. The branch was also used as a feeder and is still
in water today. It is marked on my road atlas from the main line very close to the junction of the A633 &
the B6089.
There were 6 locks on the branch though all were converted into weirs. The top part of the
branch runs alongside the B6097 between Hemmingfield and Elsecar but it was described in 1971 as "a miserable
stretch of water overlooked by coal-tips". However, the mines are now closed so the area may well have been
redeveloped or landscaped.
In Elsecar a project known as the "Heritage Workshops" has opened and is due for completion
in 1997. It is situated on the old canal wharf and should include some canal restoration in the scheme. The
small Elsecar Reservoir is situated a few hundred yards south west of the end of the branch in Elsecar. In the
1920's the reservoir became very popular with local people and the village gained the nickname
"Elsecar-by-the-sea"!
The rest of the main line from Brampton to Barnsley was already in the hands of a West
Riding land reclamation scheme in 1971 so by now most of this part of the route may be impossible to trace.
A short stretch (in 1971) could still be found in water between Wombwell and Barnsley where
the canal passed under the A633 though it was described as little more than a weed filled ditch and my
reference book's author predicted that it would soon be completely obliterated. However, my road atlas clearly
marks a short broad blue line of water at the point where the A633 crosses the route on the north west side of
Wombwell. I expect that if this is the remains of the canal then it is not really quite as blue as the line on
my map!!!
Just past the blue line there used to be 7 locks and a junction with the Worsbrough Branch,
some of which could still be detected in the early 1970's and is marked as a stream on my atlas. Worsbrough
reservoir is situated to the west of the village between Worsbrough Hall and the M1. There was a basin at the
end of the Worsbrough Branch which was still filled with water in the 1970's and was described as "a pleasant
area".
Today, the area around the reservoir has become Worsbrough County Park, 200 acres containing
footpaths, fishing areas, a working farm and a mill museum. At the bottom of the overflow car park is a path
which leads to the canal branch. There is a short stretch still in water, with well kept grass banks. The head
of this branch was a very busy transhipment wharf, the neighbouring A61 formerly being an important turnpike
road. The Wharf pub is close by.
The remainder of the main line into Barnsley is not described in my reference book though
the junction with the Barnsley Canal can still be seen in the town centre. Better still, the area around the
junction has recently (1990's) been fully restored. Just before the junction is a stop lock which marks the
official end of the Dearne & Dove Canal, at the junction the preserved foundations of Aqueduct House (a
canal cottage) can be seen and there are some rare pulley-stones, devices which helped horse-drawn boats to
negotiate tight bends without the towrope going slack. The Barnsley Canal heads north west towards Barugh and
north east towards Wakefield. Both directions are part of a "Waterside Walk" (see the Barnsley Canal for more
info).
For more information on the Dearne & Dove Canal and details of its proposed
restoration see the Barnsley and Dearne & Dove Trust
website.
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