Editing Chesterfield Canal (section)

==History==
[[Image:Chesterfield Canal near renishaw.JPG|thumb|left|A section of the canal undergoing restoration]]

Lead had been mined in [[Derbyshire]] on a commercial scale since at least 1300, but the industry was hampered by poor transport links. The pigs of lead were carried by pack horses to [[Bawtry]], where there were wharves on the [[River Idle]]. Small boats carried them to the [[River Trent]], where the cargo was transferred to larger vessels for onward distribution. There was no proper system of road maintenance, and so the use of carts and wagons for the over-land journey was not possible. The River Idle was also unreliable, being affected by floods and droughts, but there were no alternatives, and the industry flourished despite the difficulties.{{sfn |Roffey |1989 |p=13}} The [[River Derwent, Derbyshire|Derwent Navigation]] was authorised in 1719, running from [[Derby]] to the River Trent, but it was less reliable than the Idle, and so did not seriously affect trade through Bawtry. The London Lead Company, one of the main traders, together with others involved in lead and coal mining, looked for possible solutions, and were joined in this by several prominent landowners.{{sfn |Roffey |1989 |pp=13–14}}

The main impetus for a canal came from the owners of mineral rights. The London Lead Company met with the Duke of Devonshire, the Duke of Newcastle, and others, but proposals were actively supported by the towns of [[Chesterfield, Derbyshire|Chesterfield]], [[Worksop]] and [[Retford]]. Retford had obtained an act of Parliament, the Idle Navigation Act of 1719 to improve the River Idle from Bawtry to the town, but very little work was done to implement the scheme. In addition to being a market town, Retford also manufactured bricks and tiles, had reserves of gravel, and produced an agricultural surplus. In 1769, a steering group produced a pamphlet extolling the advantages of a proposed canal, which was available to everyone, but was primarily addressed to the [[Henry Pelham-Clinton, 2nd Duke of Newcastle|Duke of Newcastle]], [[Lord George Augustus Cavendish]], and the [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for Derbyshire, [[Godfrey Bagnall Clarke]].{{sfn |Roffey |1989 |p=14}}

[[File:Chesterfield canal.jpg|thumb|The Chesterfield Canal surveyed in 1769. Published in the ''Gentleman's Magazine'' in 1777.]]

The route of the canal was surveyed by [[James Brindley]] and [[John Varley (canal engineer)|John Varley]], who estimated the cost at £94,908 17[[Shilling|s]]. Brindley presented his proposals to a meeting in Worksop on 24 August 1769. Bawtry interests asked [[John Grundy, Jr.|John Grundy]] to carry out a second survey. He proposed a rather shorter course, from Stockwith in a straight line to Bawtry and then by Scrooby, Blyth and Carlton, to join Brindley's line at Shireoaks. Grundy's line was {{convert|5+1/2|mi|km}} shorter, and the cost estimated at £71,479&nbsp;6[[Shilling|s]]&nbsp;{{frac|9|1|2}}[[Penny|d]]. Although Grundy's line was considerably cheaper, it achieved this by missing [[Worksop]] and [[Retford]], and the investors had already decided in favour of Brindley's route.

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Chesterfield to Stockwith (Trent) Canal Act 1771
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of Great Britain
| long_title            = An Act for making a navigable Cut or Canal from Chesterfield, in the County of Derby, through or near Worksop and Retford, to join the River Trent at or near Stockwith, in the County of Nottingham.
| year                  = 1771
| citation              = [[11 Geo. 3]]. c. 75
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 28 March 1771
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = 
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
An application was made to Parliament and the [[act of Parliament]], the '''{{visible anchor|Chesterfield to Stockwith (Trent) Canal Act 1771}}''' ([[11 Geo. 3]]. c. 75) was given [[royal assent]] on 28 March 1771, entitled ''An Act for making a navigable Cut or Canal from Chesterfield, in the county of Derby, through or near Worksop and Retford, to join the River Trent, at or near Stockwith, in the county of Nottingham.''{{sfn |Priestley |1831 |p=149}}

The promoters consisted of one hundred and seventy-four persons, amongst whom were the [[William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire|Duke of Devonshire]], the Duke of Newcastle, [[Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Baron Scarsdale|Lord Scarsdale]], the [[John Fountayne|Dean of York]], and [[Sir Cecil Wray, 13th Baronet|Sir Cecil Wray]]. They were incorporated by the name of ''The Company of Proprietors of the Canal Navigation from Chesterfield to the River Trent'', and empowered to raise among themselves the sum of £100,000, in one thousand shares of £100 each, to fund the construction.{{sfn |Richardson |1996}}

Immediately on the passing of the act, construction began under the direction of Brindley. Upon his death in September 1772, John Varley moved from Clerk of Works to Resident Engineer with [[Hugh Henshall]], Brindley's brother-in-law, appointed in a consultative capacity. He agreed to make inspections every three months. Henshall became Chief Engineer in 1773 and John Varley continued to work on the project.{{sfn |Hadfield |1970 |p=35}} By August 1773, the section between Shireoaks and Worksop was nearly complete, and the company created a works to build boats at Shireoaks. The boats were used to carry spoil from the construction, and also to deliver coal.{{sfn |Roffey |1989 |p=21}} The canal was effectively open from Shireoaks to below Worksop by 6 April 1774, and to Retford by 3 August. The price of coal to the residents of Retford dropped from 15s&nbsp;6d (77.5p) to 10s&nbsp;6d (52.5p) overnight. Hayton was reached on 22 February 1775, and the [[Norwood Tunnel]] opened on 9 May 1775.{{sfn |Hadfield |1970 |p=35}} The canal was to be built as a narrow canal, but in 1775, nine shareholders offered to fund the extra cost of making it a broad canal from Retford to Stockwith. Retford Corporation joined them, and each contributed £500, although the additional cost exceeded the £6,000 subscribed.{{sfn |Roffey |1989 |p=23}} The canal was opened throughout on 4 June 1777, with the lock into the River Trent at West Stockwith completed in the autumn,{{sfn |Hadfield |1970 |p=36}} but the only record of wide-beamed boats using it at Retford is prior to 1799.<ref>''Stamford Mercury'' 12 July 1799, column 3.</ref>

===Operation===
As built, the canal was almost {{convert|46|mi|km}} long, being {{convert|25|mi|km}} from the Trent to Worksop with a rise of {{convert|95|ft|m}}. From Worksop to the eastern portal of Norwood Tunnel it was {{convert|6.1|mi|km}} with a further {{convert|145|ft|m}} rise. From there to Chesterfield it was a further {{convert|13.9|mi|km}} with a fall of {{convert|73|ft|m}} followed by a rise of {{convert|40|ft|m}}. There were 65 locks in all, with two tunnels: a short {{convert|154|yd|m|adj=on}} tunnel near Gringley Beacon,{{sfn |Cumberlidge |2009 |p=99}}<ref name=cftmap>''Chesterfield Canal map and elevations'', Chesterfield Canal Society</ref> and the major {{convert|2884|yd|m|adj=on}} long Norwood Tunnel.{{efn|The length of the tunnel was quoted as {{convert|2850|yd|m}} when the tunnel opened, and although modern sources often quote the length as {{convert|3102|yd|m}}, there is no evidence that it was subsequently altered.{{sfn| Hadfield |1970 |p=35}} There is wide divergence across publications, but using grid references for the tunnel portals, the Institution of Civil Engineers calculated the length as {{convert|2884|yd|m}}{{sfn |Skempton |2002 |p=736}}}} At the time of construction, Norwood Tunnel was the second longest canal [[tunnel]] in Britain, exceeded only by another of Brindley's tunnels, that at [[Harecastle Tunnel|Harecastle]] on the [[Trent and Mersey Canal]].{{sfn |Roffey |1989 |p=24}} The canal was a typical Brindley contour canal, following the contours to avoid costly cuttings and embankments, which resulted in a less than direct route in places.

In late 1775, the company had decided to build a branch, which left the canal between Renishaw and Staveley, and ran generally southwards for about {{convert|1|mi|km}} to the turnpike road at Norbriggs. This may have been to help with transport to Chesterfield, until the main line was completed, but in 1777, the company leased Norbriggs Colliery. Henshall supervised its operation, and transport of coal to the branch canal was improved by the provision of a "Newcastle Rail Road" in 1778, which used wooden rails. The company pulled out of running the mine in 1797, when they advertised it to be let.{{sfn |Hadfield |1970 |pp=35–36}} Water supply was initially by a reservoir at Pebley, which was later supplemented by reservoirs at Harthill, Woodall and Killamarsh. Near Worksop, a private branch was built to serve the Lady Lee quarry, which ran for about {{convert|0.75|mi|km}}, while at Netherthorpe, a branch connected to the East Inkersall tramroad, which served pits near the [[Adelphi Canal]].{{sfn |Hadfield |1970 |p=36}} A gasworks was later built at the junction, and while the 1877 Ordnance Survey map shows a short stub of the branch, connecting to the Seymour and Speedwell Branch railway, by 1898 a railway siding had replaced it, leaving just a basin at the junction to serve the gasworks.<ref>Ordnance Survey, 1:2,500 map, 1877 and 1898</ref> Another private branch was built in 1840, which crossed the Norbriggs road at Netherthorpe to serve the Speedwell Colliery. It was built by the Barrows, who also owned Staveley ironworks, but by 1860 had been replaced by a railway.{{sfn |Hadfield |1970 |p=198}}

By 1789, the company had spent a total of £152,400, raised through shares and by mortgages. Income for the year was £8,320, and after interest payments had been met, that left a net profit of £2,780, enabling them to make their first dividend payment of one per cent. 74,312 tons of traffic were carried that year, of which 42,380 tons were coal, with the rest consisting of lead, iron, stone, corn, lime, timber and sundries.{{sfn |Hadfield |1970 |p=36}} Dividends had risen to five per cent by 1795, were eight per cent the following year, and were six or seven per cent until at least 1836. There were several suggestions for links to the [[River Don Navigation]] or the [[Sheffield Canal]], the first in 1792 as part of the scheme to build a canal to Sheffield, and subsequently in 1824, as part of the Grand Commercial Canal, and in 1852, when a Sheffield and Chesterfield Junction Canal was proposed, but none of them moved past the planning stage.{{sfn |Hadfield |1970 |p=73}}

===Railway age===
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Manchester and Lincoln Union Railway and Chesterfield and Gainsborough Canal Act 1846
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for making a Railway from the Midland Railway at Staveley to the Town of Worksop, and for consolidating into One Undertaking the said proposed Railway and the Canal Navigation from Chesterfield to the River of Trent.
| year                  = 1846
| citation              = [[9 & 10 Vict.]] c. ccclviii
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 7 August 1846
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = {{ubli|[[Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Act 1849]]}}
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/9-10/358/pdfs/ukla_18460358_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
In the 1840s, [[Railway Mania]] was gripping the country, with many speculative schemes being proposed. Rather than face steady demise as the new form of transport developed, a number of the proprietors formed the Manchester & Lincoln Union Railway company in October 1845. The intention was to build a line from Liverpool to Grimsby, and to convert part of the canal into a railway. Locally, this included a line from Staveley to Gainsborough, via Worksop, with a branch to Lincoln and another from Worksop to Beighton. The previous year, the [[Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway]] had been proposed, to build a line from Sheffield to Gainsborough, and was supported by the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne & Manchester Railway. The new scheme was in direct competition to the earlier one, but the two sets of proprietors met and agreed to amalgamate. Now arguing from a position of strength, the Manchester & Lincoln Union rescinded their plans for most of their lines, and obtained the '''{{visible anchor|Manchester and Lincoln Union Railway and Chesterfield and Gainsborough Canal Act 1846}}''' ([[9 & 10 Vict.]] c. ccclviii) on 7 August 1846 allowing them to construct a line from the [[Midland Railway]] at Staveley to the canal at Worksop. The new company amalgamated with the Chesterfield Canal, to become the rather unwieldy Manchester and Lincoln Union Railway and Chesterfield and Gainsborough Canal, with powers to further amalgamate with the Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway. However, by the time they announced this, the Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway had already become part of the [[Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway]], and so they amalgamated with that company instead. The act of Parliament stated that although the canal company was to be dissolved, the entire canal was to be retained, its water supplies maintained, and tolls were to be fixed at a just level.{{sfn |Hadfield |1970 |pp=196–197}}

Under the new regime, the canal was put back into good order in 1848, after many years where regular maintenance had been neglected. The benefits were immediate, with traffic increasing as a result.{{sfn |Hadfield |1970 |p=197}} Over 200,000 tons were carried in 1848, the highest recorded total.{{sfn |Nicholson |2006 |p=27}} The railway company started to operate as a carrier on the canal, and to maintain water levels, the reservoirs at Chesterfield were enlarged in 1856. Traffic levels were holding up in 1858, despite fierce competition from the London and North Western Railway. However, the owners considered options for converting the canal from Kiverton Park to Chesterfield into a railway in 1872, 1873 and 1884, but on each occasion, the plans were shelved.{{sfn |Hadfield |1970 |p=197}} The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway was expanding, and an act of Parliament, the [[Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Act 1889]] ([[52 & 53 Vict.]] c. ciii) was obtained which allowed them to divert parts of the canal to enable a new railway connecting Chesterfield, Staveley and Beighton to be constructed. The new route was straighter than the old, and reduced the length of the canal by around {{convert|1/2|mi|km|1}}. The Beighton to Staveley section of the new railway opened on 1 December 1891, and reached Chesterfield on 4 June 1892. The railway's carrying business on this and other canals ceased shortly afterwards.{{sfn |Hadfield |1970 |pp=197–198}} The original route of the canal at Hague Lane was largely destroyed by the construction of the railway and [[Renishaw Central railway station|Renishaw Central station]], but further north, the section around Chapel Wheel Forge and Dam is still clearly visible, and reinstatement of it as part of a restored canal was considered but rejected on practical grounds.{{sfn |Coles |2013c |loc=Sect 10.7}} Close to Bluebank Lock, the railway, known as the Great Central Railway Chesterfield Loop, turned to the east and passed to the south of Staveley Iron Works to reach [[Staveley Town railway station|Staveley Town station]]. Prior to construction of this section, the canal looped to the north around the iron works, passing through Cinderhill Lock before turning south-eastwards. The canal was re-routed along the southern edge of the works, and the railway crossed over at [[Staveley Works railway station|Staveley Works station]], almost on top of a new lock which was known as Staveley Works Lock or Hollingwood Lock.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/441575/374621/12/100613 |title=1:2500 map, 1877 and 1898 |publisher=Ordnance Survey}}</ref>

Parts of the canal above Worksop were affected by [[subsidence]] from local coal mines. By 1905, traffic had dropped to 45,177 tons, of which around 15,000 tons were coal and 11,000 were bricks. Some 40 boats were still working on the canal, although a short section between Staveley and Chesterfield had become unnavigable. The canal was making a loss, with receipts of £1,837 and expenditure of £3,883 in 1905. The largest drain on resources was the Norwood Tunnel, where £21,000 had been spent since 1871, in an attempt to repair damage and raise the roof.{{sfn |Hadfield |1970 |p=198}} However, on 18 October 1907 there was a further substantial collapse, and the tunnel was closed. Effectively, the canal above Worksop became redundant. Responsibility for the canal passed to the [[London and North Eastern Railway]] (LNER) in 1923, who carried out regular maintenance, and repaired and enlarged the lock connecting West Stockwith basin to the River Trent between 1923 and 1925. Various attempts to reduce the growth of weed, which had first appeared on the canal in 1852, were made, with variable success, and there was a brisk trade in munitions during the [[Second World War]]. The last serious commercial traffic on the canal was the carriage of bricks from Walkeringham to West Stockwith, which ended in 1955, although there was a small trade in warp, a fine silt dredged from the Trent at the mouth of the River Idle, and used by the cutlery trade in Sheffield for polishing metal, which lasted into the early 1960s.{{sfn |Nicholson |2006 |p=27}} Parts of the isolated section from the tunnel to Chesterfield were infilled and redeveloped.