Norwood Tunnel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Norwood Tunnel was a 2884 yard (2633 m) long, 9 feet 3 inch wide and 12 feet high brick (3 million of them)[1] lined canal tunnel on the line of the Chesterfield Canal with its Western Portal in Norwood, Derbyshire and its Eastern Portal in Kiveton, South Yorkshire, England.[2]
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[edit] Origins
The Chesterfield Canal's Act of Parliament was passed in 1771. James Brindley was the chief engineer and John Varley the Clerk of the Works. John Varley was left to continue alone as acting chief engineer after the death of James Brindley in 1772. In 1774 Hugh Henshall, James Brindley's brother-in-law was made chief engineer with John Varley keeping the position of resident engineer. John Varley's father and brothers were implicated when Hugh Henshall discovered that some of the work on the Norwood Tunnel was sub-standard but John Varley avoided sharing the blame. The Norwood Tunnel was opened on 9th May 1775 and at the time held the record for Britain's longest canal tunnel jointly with James Brindley's Harecastle Tunnel.[3]
The Norwood Tunnel forms a large part of the summit pound of the canal with Norwood Locks descending from the Western Portal and Thorpe Locks descending to the East of the Eastern Portal.
The tunnel does not have a towpath, therefore the narrowboats were pushed through the tunnel by their crews. This process of pushing against the walls or roof of a canal tunnel with one's legs in order to propel the narrowboat through the tunnel is called Legging.
[edit] Other Chesterfield Canal Tunnels
- Drakeholes Tunnel is a second, shorter tunnel 154 yards long also without a towpath built for the Chesterfield Canal at Drakeholes, Nottinghamshire a location between the Norwood Tunnel and the River Trent.
- Hollingwood Common Tunnel is a disused navigable coalmine adit which terminated at the Chesterfield Canal near Staveley. This tunnel was 1.75 miles long, its water level was one foot lower than that of the canal requiring the transshipment of coal at the terminus. The boats used were loaded underground within the coalmine the tunnel served; these boats were 21 feet long and 3 feet 6 inches wide.[4]
[edit] Decline
The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MSLR) purchased the Chesterfield Canal in 1847. In order to accommodate its railway line the tunnel was (according to some sources and rejected by others) lengthened to 3102 yards (measuring the distance on a map suggests the tunnel was not extended).
After days of heavy rain a 12-14 yard section of the tunnel collapsed on 18 October 1907, leaving a large hole in a field near the road to Harthill. With only minimal boat-traffic on the declining canal the cost of repairing the fall could not be justified and the tunnel has remained blocked ever since, splitting the Chesterfield Canal into two sections.
[edit] The Tunnel Today
The Chesterfield Canal has been restored as far as the Eastern Portal of the Norwood Tunnel largely through the efforts of Chesterfield Canal Trust. Part of the canal West of the tunnel from Chesterfield to Staveley has also been restored. Further restoration is proceeding. Current plans for the tunnel include the opening up of the tunnel in the Kiveton Park area, creating a cutting followed by the restoration of the remaining tunnel to Norwood.
| Portal | Coordinates |
|---|---|
| Eastern | |
| Mid-point | Coordinates: |
| Western |
[edit] References
- ^ Whitwell Local History Group.
- ^ Chesterfield Canal Trust History.
- ^ British Waterways Archives.
- ^ Institute of Civil Engineers. Hollingwood Common Tunnel.
[edit] Further Reading
- De Salis, Henry Rodolph (1969). Bradshaw's Canals and Navigable Rivers. David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-4689-X.
- Farey, John (1811). General View of the Agriculture and Minerals of Derbyshire.
