Dearne and Dove Canal

Dearne and Dove Canal
The bottom gate of the third lock in 2008, with Waddington's yard occupying the line of the canal beyond
Specifications
Maximum boat length	58 ft 0 in (17.68 m)
Maximum boat beam	14 ft 10 in (4.52 m)
Locks	25
Status	Restoration proposed, part new route
History
Original owner	Dearne and Dove Canal Company
Principal engineer	Robert Mylne
Other engineer(s)	John Thompson
Date of act	1793
Date completed	1804
Date closed	1961
Geography
Start point	Barnsley 53°33′25″N 1°27′50″W / 53.5569°N 1.4640°W / 53.5569; -1.4640 (Junction with Barnsley Canal)
End point	Swinton 53°29′04″N 1°18′10″W / 53.4845°N 1.3028°W / 53.4845; -1.3028 (Junction with River Don Navigation)
Branch(es)	Elsecar, Worsborough
Connects to	River Don Navigation, Barnsley Canal

v t e Dearne and Dove Canal
Legend
Barnsley Canal (to Barnsley) Barnsley Canal (to Wakefield) 19 Hoyle Mill stop lock (Junction Lock) Worsborough Reservoir Penistone Line railway bridge Worsborough Branch 11-18 Stairfoot flight (8) Bradberry Balk Bridge (d) Littlefield Bridge (d) Station Road Bridge (d) Double Bridge (d) Everill Gate Bridge (d) Junction Bridge (d) Elsecar Reservoir Elsecar Locks (5) Elsecar Branch 8-10 Brampton Locks (3) Knoll Beck new Bridge (A633) 7 Well Spring (Wath) Lock Old Moor Bridge (d) Factory Bridge (d) Wet Moor Bridge 'Bay of Biscay' Brewery Bridge (d) Outlane Swing Bridge (d) Bolton Bridge (d) Common Bridge Manvers Main Colliery 5-6 Swinton Locks (2) Wakefield line railway bridge Canning Town glassworks Halmshaw Bridge (A6022) 1-4 Swinton Locks (4) River Don Navigation

The Dearne and Dove Canal ran for almost ten miles through South Yorkshire, England from Swinton to Barnsley through nineteen locks, rising 127 feet (39 m). The canal also had two short branches, the Worsbrough branch and the Elsecar branch, both about two miles long with reservoirs at the head of each. The Elsecar branch also has another six locks. The only tunnel was bypassed by a cutting in 1840.^[1]

The canal was created mainly to carry cargo from the extensive coal mining industry in the area. Other cargo included pig iron, glass, lime, oil products and general merchandise. A combination of railway competition and subsidence caused by the same mines it served forced the canal into a gradual decline, closing completely in 1961. As the local coal industry also collapsed in the 1980s the canal was thrown a lifeline with the forming of the Barnsley Canal Group who are now attempting to restore the whole canal, an effort further boosted by the abandonment of the railway which replaced it.