Ea Beck

Last updated

Ea Beck
  • Frickley Beck
  • Hampole Dike
  • Old Ea Beck
  • Thorpe Marsh Drain
Thorpe Marsh Drain - geograph.org.uk - 1329463.jpg
Thorpe Marsh Drain (Ea Beck) near its confluence with the Don
South Yorkshire UK relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Location of the mouth into the River Don
Location
County South Yorkshire
CountryEngland
Physical characteristics
Mouth  
 • location
 Thorpe in Balne
 • coordinates
 53°35′28″N1°05′28″W / 53.591°N 1.091°W / 53.591; -1.091
Length20 miles (32 km)
Basin features
River system River Don

The Ea Beck, also spelled Eaubeck [1] or Eau Beck, [2] is a small river in South Yorkshire, England, that flows eastwards into the River Don at Thorpe-in-Balne. The Environment Agency lists the beck as starting at South Elmsall, but mapping lists the beck with several names along its course. The beck has twice flooded areas and villages that it passes through in the 21st century.

Contents

Toponymy

The derivation of the name Ea for the beck has at least two possibilities: Oliver Rackham suggested that the name Ea indicates a drained or altered river-course, which was a common Anglo-Saxon term for drained fenland rivers in East Anglia, Hampshire and the peatlands of Yorkshire around the River Don. [3] Eilert Ekwall suggests the word ēa has the same route (Old Norse) and means just river, being used as a root for the rivers Eye, Ray, Rea and Yeo. [4]

Catchment area overview

The beck is recorded by the Environment Agency as being 20 miles (32 km) long, and draining a catchment area of 36 square miles (92 km2). [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] However, on Ordnance Survey mapping, it is labelled as The Beck, Hague Hall Beck, Smallholme and Tilts Drain, and Thorpe Marsh Drain. [10] [11]

The beck runs through a former coal mining area, though the river valleys is known for its magnesian limestone deposits around the Doncaster area. [12]

Course

The name Ea Beck for the watercourse has different boundaries for different authorities. Near the headwaters tributaries, Wakefield Council refer to it is Ea Beck at South Kirkby, whereas on mapping it is shown as The Beck. [13] Some of the becks feeding the western end of the river are known also as the Ea Beck Catchment. [14] Other groups state that the name Ea Beck is the watercourse formed by the confluence of the River Skell and Hampole Dike. [15] The course of the beck has been heavily altered, especially in its lower reaches, due to the coal seams found in that area which needed to be free from water ingress. [16] Mining subsidence has led to the beck being modified with raised banks and pumps to effectively drain the water away. [15] Colliery pumping programmes and raised banks along the river's course were implemented under the Doncaster Drainage Act of 1929. [17]

The River Skell (or Skell Brook), which lends its name to Skellow and Skelbrooke, is a tributary of the Old Ea Beck between Skellow and Adwick le Street. [18] [19] [20]

The river has four monitoring stations at (from west to east) South Elmsall, Adwick-le-Street, Norwood, and Norwood (downstream). Norwood (downstream) recorded a high of 24.4 feet (7.45 m) on 10 November 2019. [21] [22] The mouth of the river is at Thorpe-in-Balne, where the exit into the River Don is tide-locked with gates. [23] The beck, along with the River Went, are the two main tributaries of the River Don, before it flows into the Ouse at Goole. [24]

History

The beck is designated as a major river from Hague Hall Beck and Frickley Beck, to its outfall into the River Don at Thorpe in Balne. [25] [26] A long watercourse was taken from Ea Beck in the 1780s to power a corn mill at Adwick-le-Street. [27]

As the beck is slow moving, the lower reaches nearer to the River Don are found with callitriche stagnalis. [25] Flooding on the beck is quite common, though in June 2007, water overtopped the banks and inundated the villages of Toll Bar and Bentley. [28] [29] The tidal flood gates at the mouth of the River, were installed to prevent a backflow upriver from the Don. However, as that was already flooded with water from upstream in Sheffield, the gates remained closed and caused flooding along the Beck, causing problems in villages such as Toll Bar. [30] South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service deployed firefighters to help pump water away from affected properties, in what was described as "the largest-ever peacetime fire service operation seen in Britain." [31] This prompted the Environment Agency to invest over £3 million in flood defences along the river, which were completed in 2010. [32] The beck was subject to flooding again in November 2019. [33] The history of flooding on the beck has meant Doncaster Council rate the beck as one of its major rivers and as such is monitored closely for any weather events. [34]

Settlements

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References

  1. ↑ Howes, Colin Anthony. "Changes in the status and distribution of mammals of the order Carnivora in Yorkshire from 1600. County history of the fox, badger, otter, pine marten, stoat, weasel, polecat, American mink, wildcat and domestic cat". Bradford Scholars. University of Bradford. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  2. ↑ "Thorpe Marsh CCGT Power Station" (PDF). Thorpe Marsh Power. Sinclair Knight Merz. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  3. ↑ Rackham, Oliver (2000). The history of the countryside : the classic history of Britain's landscape, flora and fauna. London: Phoenix Press. p. 386. ISBN   1842124404.
  4. ↑ Ekwall, Eilert (1960). The concise Oxford dictionary of English place-names (4 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 155. ISBN   0-19-869103-3.
  5. ↑ "Frickley Beck from Source to Ea Beck | Catchment Data Explorer | Catchment Data Explorer". environment.data.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  6. ↑ "Ea Beck from Source to Frickley Beck | Catchment Data Explorer | Catchment Data Explorer". environment.data.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  7. ↑ "Ea Beck from Frickley Beck to the Skell | Catchment Data Explorer | Catchment Data Explorer". environment.data.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  8. ↑ "The Skell from Source to Ea Beck | Catchment Data Explorer | Catchment Data Explorer". environment.data.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  9. ↑ "Ea Beck from the Skell to River Don | Catchment Data Explorer | Catchment Data Explorer". environment.data.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  10. ↑ "278" (Map). Sheffield and Barnsley. 1:25,000. Explorer. Ordnance Survey. 2019. ISBN   978-0-319-24475-3.
  11. ↑ "279" (Map). Doncaster. 1:25,000. Explorer. Ordnance Survey. 2015. ISBN   978-0-319-24476-0.
  12. ↑ Cheng, Hsiao-Yun (2012). The ‘Landscape Character Turn’: an Examination of Experience in the UK and Taiwan (Thesis). Sheffield: University of Sheffield. p. 153. OCLC   926906674.
  13. ↑ "[Withdrawn] Ea Beck, South Kirkby: decision of factual change". GOV.UK. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  14. 1 2 3 "Wakefield still on high alert as more rain is forecast". Wakefield Express. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  15. 1 2 RCOMS 2007, p. 4.
  16. ↑ "December 1937 report. Includes: Brodsworth - Parkgate Seam, Mill Stream - Old Ea Beck..." discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  17. ↑ "Domesday to the dawn of the New Millennium" (PDF). dcrt.org.uk. p. 21. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  18. ↑ Smith 1986, p. 34.
  19. ↑ "Skellow". getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  20. ↑ "The Skell from Source to Ea Beck | Catchment Data Explorer | Catchment Data Explorer". environment.data.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  21. ↑ "Ea Beck - River and sea levels in England - GOV.UK". check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  22. ↑ "Ea Beck level downstream at Norwood - GOV.UK". check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  23. ↑ "Don Lower Operational Catchment | Catchment Data Explorer". environment.data.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  24. ↑ Reeve, Elizabeth (2015). River Don. Stroud: Amberley Publishing. p. 6. ISBN   1445638681.
  25. 1 2 RCOMS 2007, p. 2.
  26. ↑ Wellhead, Andrew (January 2008). "Settlement Technical paper" (PDF). wakefield.gov.uk. p. 24. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  27. ↑ Bayliss, Derek, ed. (1995). Industrial archaeology of South Yorkshire. Telford: Association for Industrial Archaeology. p. 7. ISBN   0950844896.
  28. ↑ "£3m scheme aims to save area from repeat of devastating flood". The Yorkshire Post. 2 September 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  29. 1 2 3 "Toll Bar and Bentley flood defence projects under way". BBC News. 3 August 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  30. ↑ Wainwright, Martyn (2 July 2007). "Tide begins to turn for flooded villages". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  31. ↑ "£3m scheme aims to save area from repeat of devastating flood". The Yorkshire Post. 2 August 2010. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  32. ↑ "Toll Bar and Bentley flood defence projects under way". BBC News. 3 August 2010. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  33. ↑ "South Yorkshire flooding: Defences 'reduce impact'". BBC News. 8 November 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  34. ↑ "Flood Risk Management - Doncaster Council". www.doncaster.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  35. ↑ "Firefighters tackle tyre dump blaze". BBC News. 19 February 2003. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  36. ↑ Smith 1986, p. 35.
  37. 1 2 Lewis, Claire (11 November 2019). "Doncaster remains on flood alert with five 'severe' warnings issued for town". Doncaster Star. Retrieved 11 June 2022.

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