Hatfield Chase - History of The Drainage

History of The Drainage

Hatfield Chase lay above the confluence of three rivers, the Don, the Torne and the Idle, which meandered into the Trent near its entrance to the Humber. The whole of this area, apart from the Isle of Axholme, is less than 10 feet (3.0 m) above sea level and was therefore subject to frequent flooding. Although the area included some common land it was unlawful to take fish or game though many locals gained their livelihood by fishing and fowling the area which was unsuitable for agriculture.

The circumstances of Charles' appointment of Vermuyden to drain this area in 1626 are obscure. A story that he had accompanied an earlier royal hunting party is almost certainly fictional. But the king was keen to make his assets profitable and the contract divided the land into three parts, one for the king, one for the adventurers who would drain the land and the remainder for those locals who had interests in the land.

Vermuyden brought over a number of Walloon partners, known as the Participants, who took shares and performed the drainage work, including a number of Huguenot families fleeing from religious persecution who settled at Sandtoft. The work was substantially completed by 1628 at a cost of £400,000.

The eastern branch of the Don river was blocked and the banks of the northern branch into the River Aire were raised. The northern branch was originally a Roman navigation channel called Turnbridgedike. A 2-mile (3.2 km) bank which ran along the south side of the river from Fishlake to Thorne included a navigable sluice, to allow boats to reach Sandtoft. Lifting gates gave access to a lock chamber which was 50 by 15 feet (15 by 4.6 m). Beyond Thorne, a further bank ran for 5 miles (8.0 km) to the Aire. The River Idle was blocked by a dam and its waters were diverted into the River Trent at Stockwith along Bycarrs Dyke. A 5-mile (8.0 km) barrier bank was constructed along the northern edge of the channel, from the dam to the River Trent. The Torne was embanked and straightened by cutting a drain which emptied via a sluice into the Trent at Althorpe. An 8-mile (13 km) drain was cut from where the Idle had been blocked to Dirtness, passing under the Torne at Tunnel Pits. At Dirtness it was joined by another drain, bringing water from the west, and then ran for a further 5 miles (8.0 km) to another sluice at Althorpe. The work was on a scale not previously seen in England, and Vermuyden's contribution was recognised when he was knighted in January 1629. In 1629, a Court of Sewers for the Level of Hatfield Chase was established by Royal Warrant.

The drainage transformed the whole area, creating rich agricultural land where there had previously been swamps though it was still subject to periodic flooding.

Many local people were not very happy with the outcome. Those entitled to common rights, mainly from the Isle of Axholme, claimed they had been allotted the worst land. There were complaints of flooding from those further down the Don in the villages of Fishlake, Sykehouse and Snaith. Recrimination against foreign settlers was encouraged by those who had lost their fishing and other livelihood.

The flooding of Fishlake and Sykehouse resulted from there being insufficient washlands to hold the flow of the Don while the sluice at Turnbridgedike was closed by high water levels in the Aire. A navigable sluice was constructed at Turnbridgedike, including a lock chamber which was 60 by 18 feet (18 by 5.5 m) and 17 discharge gates, each 6 by 8 feet (1.8 by 2.4 m). The structure was probably built by Hugo Spiering, who assisted Vermuyden, and was called the Great Sluice. This still did not fully alleviate the problems of flooding, and so a new 5-mile (8.0 km) embanked channel was constructed from Newbridge to the River Ouse at Goole between 1632 and 1635. The river levels at Goole were some 5 to 10 feet (1.5 to 3.0 m) lower than at Turnbridgedike, and so discharge was more efficient. The total cost of the channel and outfall sluice was £33,000. There was no navigable connection to the Ouse at Goole, as boats continued to access the Aire at Turnbridgedike. The channel eventually became the wide Dutch River after two drains were swept into one following a great flood.

After various lawsuits and petitions, locals took action during the confusion of the Civil War and flooded Hatfield Chase by raising floodgates and damaging banks and sluices. Riots broke out when the courts finally ruled against them in 1650. Peace was restored, but lawsuits continued for the rest of the century and were not finally resolved until 1719.