Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation - History

History

The River Don is known to have been navigable up to Doncaster as early as 1343, when a commission looked at the problems caused by bridges and weirs. It underwent major changes in the 1620s, when Cornelius Vermuyden closed the channel which crossed Hatfield Chase to reach the River Trent at Adlingfleet, and diverted all of the water northwards to the River Aire. Following flooding and riots, a new outlet was cut from Newbridge to Goole, which was known as the Dutch River. Serious thought was given to improving the river from 1691, but disagreements between groups from Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield prevented progress. Finally, the Sheffield Cutlers obtained an Act of Parliament in 1726 to improve the river up to Tinsley. Doncaster Corporation then obtained an Act in 1727 to authorise improvements below Doncaster.

The Dutch River was difficult to navigate, and in 1793, the Stainforth and Keadby Canal was authorised, to provide a link from the Don at Stainforth to the Trent at Keadby. Although notionally independent, it was effectively under the control of the Don Navigation when it opened, probably in 1802. The Dearne and Dove Canal was also authorised in 1793, from Swinton to Barnsley, and was again under Don Navigation control, since most of the shareholders were also shareholders in the Don. A canal from Tinsley into Sheffield was delayed for years by opposition from the Don Navigation, but was authorised in 1815 and opened in 1819.

By the 1840s, there were a number of proposals to build railways in the region, and the River Don Navigation Company acted to ensure they would remain in business. An attempted takeover of the Barnsley Canal in 1845 was not concluded, but gave them some bargaining power while it appeared likely. They bought out the Dearne and Dove Canal in 1846, and acquired the Sheffield Canal from the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway in 1848, who, as the Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, had bought it in 1846. After protracted negotiations, they absorbed the Stainforth and Keadby Canal in 1849. They then amalgamated with the South Yorkshire, Doncaster and Goole Railway in 1850, to become the South Yorkshire Railway and River Dun Company. This in turn was leased to the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway for 999 years in 1864. By the 1880s, there was dissatisfaction among the users that the rates for traffic were higher than on the railways, and the canals were failing to modernise, as steam boats were banned, despite them having been in use for 50 years on the neighbouring Aire and Calder Navigation.