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Chesterfield Canal

Records relating to the Chesterfield Canal: plans 1892.

1892

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The Chesterfield Canal was promoted by the towns of Chesterfield and Retford as a means of transporting mainly coal from the River Trent westwards. The first public meeting was held in 1769 with James Brindley, who surveyed a narrow canal from Chesterfield to Stockwith on the River Trent, present. An Act of Parliament was passed in 1771 and James Brindley was made engineer with his assistant, John Varley as clerk of the works. Work started in October 1771 at Norwood Tunnel. James Brindley died in September 1772, leaving John Varley to carry on. In 1774 Hugh Henshall, James Brindley’s brother-in-law was made chief engineer, but John Varley remained resident engineer. In May 1775 it was agreed to widen the canal between Retford and the Trent so that it could carry wider riverboats. The 2884 yard Norwood Tunnel was opened on 9 May 1775. By August 1776 the canal was completed between West Stockwith and Norbriggs, near Staveley. The entire canal was opened on 4 June 1777. It was 46 miles long with 65 locks, 6 of which were broad including the tidal lock to the Trent and 2 tunnels at Norwood and Drakeholes neither of which had a towpath. There were three branches to Norbriggs, Staveley and a quarry near Worksop. Water supply came from four reservoirs initially, later six, the largest being that at Pebley. There was also supply from three rivers: the Idle at Retford, the Ryton at Thorpe and Worksop and the Rother at Chesterfield. The first dividend to shareholders was paid in 1789 following initial poor trading caused by the American War of Independence. After that the canal company did well, and continued to do so until the middle of the 19th century. The cargoes were varied, including stone to rebuild the Houses of Parliament in the 1840s. The stone was quarried in North Anston, loaded into canal boats at Dog Kennels Bridge, Kiveton Park and carried to West Stockwith where it was transferred to Trent sloops for the journey to Westminster, via the Humber, the North Sea, and the River Thames. The Chesterfield Canal Company formed the Manchester & Lincoln Union Railway and Chesterfield & Gainsborough Canal Company (M&LUR/C&GCC) in 1847. Later that year on 9 July the company was taken over by the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway (MSLR). To accommodate the new railway Norwood Tunnel was lengthened to 3102 yards and the canal was realigned in the Renishaw area, and lost half a mile from its length. Under railway control the canal continued to do well, the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway introducing a small carrying fleet that lasted until 1892. This fleet and all other working boats on the Chesterfield Canal were horse-drawn. By the 20th century trade was in decline. Mining subsidence seriously damaged Norwood Tunnel in October 1907, the canal was cut in two, and eventually working boats went no further than Shireoaks. In 1923 the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway became a part of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), under London and North Eastern Railway control in the 1920s and 1930s parts of the wide canal between Retford and the Trent were narrowed. Coal cargoes from Shireoaks Colliery ceased after the Second World War and the only boat traffic was occasional cargoes to Worksop, and the carrying of bricks from the kilns at Walkeringham, which ceased in 1955. The last working boats on the canal carried silt from the Trent to Walkeringham where it was dried and sieved, for use as silver polish until about 1962. The canal was saved by the 1968 Transport Act which stated that the 26 miles between Stockwith and Worksop were to be maintained as a “Cruiseway”. This success was the result of vigorous campaigning by the Retford & Worksop Boat Club. However, some people felt that the other 20 miles of the canal should be restored and in 1976 the Chesterfield Canal Society (CCS) was formed to achieve that end. In 1998 the organisation became the Chesterfield Canal Trust (CCT) that is campaigning to restore the canal. For further information on the Chesterfield Canal see Edward Paget-Tomlinson's 'The Illustrated History of Canals & River Navigations'.

This subsubfonds has been arranged chronologically.