Sheffield and Tinsley Canal

Sheffield is on the River Don, but the upper reaches of the river were not navigable. In medieval times, the goods from Sheffield had to be transported overland to the nearest inland port – Bawtry on the River Idle. Later, the lower reaches of the Don were made navigable, but boats could still not reach Sheffield. Proposals to link Sheffield to the navigable Don at Tinsley (and so to the Rivers Ouse and Trent, and to the Humber and the North Sea) were made as early as 1697, but these came to nothing. By 1751 the River Don had been improved as far as Tinsley, but that was still 4 mi short of Sheffield. The River Don Navigation maintained a wharf at Tinsley, and in 1788 they employed a…

In 1815, the Sheffield Canal Company was formed by the (55 Geo. 3. c. lxv) in order to construct a canal. The surveyors' recommended route was to leave the River Don at Jordan's Lock, opposite where the "Holmes Cut" of the Don Navigation joins the river and follow the north side of the Don Valley to a basin "in or near Savile Street". When this was put forward the Duke of Norfolk's estate noted that it would preclude coal from their collieries at Tinsley Park and Manor reaching the canal and as the Duke was the largest financial backer of the project an alternative should be sought more favourable to their cause. The alternative route was on the south side of the Don Valley, to terminate at…