Greasbrough Canal - History

History

Collieries to the south of Wentworth Park and near Bassingthorpe had been connected to the River Don Navigation by a waggonway, which had been completed by 1762. In order to improve transport of the coal, the Marquess of Rockingham asked John Varley to survey a route from the Don to either Cinder Bridge or Sough Bridge near Greasbrough. Varley was an assistant to the canal engineer James Brindley. Varley's proposal was for a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) canal, which would require three locks, as there was a fall of around 25 feet (7.6 m) over the route. His survey, which is in the Sheffield Archives Office, was judged to be good by the engineer John Smeaton, but he thought that the scheme lacked an adequate water supply. No action was taken, and Smeaton was asked to re-survey the route in 1775. He suggested using five locks, rather than three, and estimated the cost of the project to be £5,952, which included £2,500 for the locks. Again, no action was taken, but a third survey was commissioned in 1778, this time by William Fairbank. The engineer William Jessop was then asked to construct the canal. He reduced the number of locks to four, and included a reservoir for water supply. Work began in 1779, and was probably completed the following year. Cinder Bridge was the main terminus, but Sough Bridge was served by a short branch. Tramways connected the canal to the collieries, which were leased from the Marquess by the Fentons.

The canal, when opened in 1780, left the River Don Navigation above Eastwood lock, and passed under the road to Rawmarsh, to reach a terminal from where the coal was loaded, on the eastern side of the village of Greasbrough. This section was just under 1.5 miles (2.4 km) in length. A short branch, around 500 yards (460 m) in length, left this canal and, travelling in a north-easterly direction, terminated by Taylors Lane at Parkgate, near to its junction with School Road. Here it met with tramways from New Park Colliery, Swallow Wood Colliery and other coal interests in and near Rawmarsh. From 1823 one side of the canal at this point faced on to the newly opened works of the Park Gate Iron Company. The branch is sometimes known as the Newbiggin Branch.