River Cheswold

Last updated

River Cheswold
River Chelwald
Chelwald Stream
Doncaster - footbridge over River Cheswold - geograph.org.uk - 2225226.jpg
Footbridge over the River Cheswold
South Yorkshire UK relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • coordinates 53°31′30″N1°08′31″W / 53.525°N 1.142°W / 53.525; -1.142
Mouth  
 • coordinates
 53°31′37″N1°08′42″W / 53.527°N 1.145°W / 53.527; -1.145
Length0.5 miles (0.8 km) (original arm)
Basin features
River system River Don

The River Cheswold is a short river in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The river originally formed a southern cut of the River Don, and passed underneath what is Friargate. The flow direction of the river has been changed, and it has been heavily modified, largely being culverted as it passes underneath the railway and bus stations. The river is sometimes labelled the shortest named river in Britain.

Contents

History

Although now largely culverted, the Cheswold stretches across the northern part of Doncaster town, from the Don Foundry southwards, then under the railway lines at Doncaster railway station, before turning northwards past St Georges Church and thence following the course of what is now, the River Don Navigation. [1] [note 1] [2] Originally, the Cheswold was an arm of the River Don, the southernmost arm that flowed south and eastwards across the northern part of Doncaster. [3] It met the original course of the River Don in the Friendly Street/Low Fishergate area, although it is unsure whether or not the route was a natural part of the Don, or if it was channelled through the area. [4] The Grey Friars had a house to the east of what is now Frenchgate near to the Cheswold after which Friar's Bridge is named; Frenchgate was historically the route of the Great North Road. [5] A map of 1767 shows the layout of Doncaster which was largely unchanged since Medieval times, and the writer suggests that the Cheswold was the original course of the River Don, but a northern cut, the present named River Don, was made to feed the mills north of the town. [6] [7] Friar's Bridge over the Cheswold was replaced by a single span bridge in 1740. [8] It has been suggested that during the Medieval period, craft which managed to make the "dangerous passage" up the Don River from the Humber Estuary, would have moored in the Cheswold, which was formerly the most important part of the town, and the highest navigable point on the River Don system. [9]

The Roman Fort, and later on the same site, Doncaster Castle, are both thought to have been built with the northern wall adjacent to the Cheswold, which formed a natural defence, and thus also developing the town's civilian quarter near to the River Cheswold. [10] [3] [11] The ditch around the east wall of the castle was later thought to have been filled by water seeping out of the Cheswold. [12] By the 13th century, when all defensive structures had been abandoned, houses fronted alongside the river, with backyards extending to the riverside. [13] By 1703, before the Don was diverted, the Cheswold was used to supply water to the town. [14] A waterwheel had been installed south of Friar's Bridge on Frenchgate, where the road crossed the river. The wheel was 28 feet (8.5 m) in diameter and 3 feet 10 inches (1.17 m) wide. However, the water supplied was muddy and polluted, particularly from sewage deposited upstream, so many wells in the town were relied upon for fresh water. [15] [16] Water from the Cheswold continued to supply parts of Doncaster up until 1916. [17] [18]

In the 1850s, a weir was installed opposite the Don Foundry at the northern end of the Cheswold arm. Additionally, underneath the railway lines, a culverted archway, some 17 feet 6 inches (5.33 m) wide was built. [19] Besides the railway structures, a bus station was built over the eastern side adjacent to the railway station in 1956. [20] The remaining stretch which is not culverted connects the Don Navigation with the River Don. The flow of water in this channel has been reversed - originally it flowed south-east, but now flows north-west as a drain for the Don Navigation. [21] [22] The northern cut of the Don created Crimpsall Island, which housed Doncaster Power Station, which took water from the Cheswold for its power generation. [23] [22] The site of the power station, on an island between the Don, the Don Navigation, and the Cheswold, is now the location of HMP Doncaster. [24] Due to the prison's location between several watercourses, it is known as Doncatraz, after the prison in San Francisco Bay named Alcatraz. [25]

Although culverted, the river still loops underneath Frenchgate and discharges into the River Don (New Cut), [26] being some 0.5 miles (0.8 km) in length; reputedly the shortest river in Britain. [27] [9] The culverted River flows underneath both the railway station, and the bus station, the latter being built in 1956. [28]

Etymology

The first known record of the river is in a document from 1279, where it is described as Flum de Cheswalt. [29] Various spellings have been used since then such as River Chelwald, Chelwald Stream, and Cheswalt. [30] Smith asserts that the origin of the name is uncertain, with the possibility of it being the name of a person. The most likely derivation is that of the Old English Ceosol (gravel) and Wald/Walte meaning a wall. [31]

Notes

  1. ↑ In 1853, the parish church of St George burnt down. One of the fire engines responding to the fire was situated in the vicarage grounds near the Cheswold stream, so that it could use the water from that watercourse.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doncaster</span> City in South Yorkshire, England

Doncaster is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Noted for its racing and railway history, it is situated in the Don Valley on the western edge of the Humberhead Levels and east of the Pennines. It had a population of 87,455 at the 2021 census, whilst the wider metropolitan borough had a population of 308,100.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Don, Yorkshire</span> River in South Yorkshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire, England

The River Don is a river in South Yorkshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It rises in the Pennines, west of Dunford Bridge, and flows for 69 miles (111 km) eastwards, through the Don Valley, via Penistone, Sheffield, Rotherham, Mexborough, Conisbrough, Doncaster and Stainforth. It originally joined the Trent, but was re-engineered by Cornelius Vermuyden as the Dutch River in the 1620s, and now joins the River Ouse at Goole. Don Valley is a UK parliamentary constituency near the Doncaster stretch of the river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Rother, South Yorkshire</span> River in South Yorkshire, England

The River Rother, a waterway in the northern midlands of England, gives its name to the town of Rotherham and to the Rother Valley parliamentary constituency. It rises in Pilsley in Derbyshire and flows in a generally northwards direction through the centre of Chesterfield, where it feeds the Chesterfield Canal, and on through the Rother Valley Country Park and several districts of Sheffield before joining the River Don at Rotherham in Yorkshire. Historically, it powered mills, mainly corn or flour mills, but most had ceased to operate by the early 20th century, and few of the mill buildings survive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mexborough</span> Town in South Yorkshire, England

Mexborough is a town in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. Situated between Manvers and Denaby Main, it lies on the River Don close to where it joins the River Dearne, and the A6023 road runs through the town. It is contiguous with the town of Swinton which is directly to the southwest immediately across the railway and Conisbrough to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Don River</span> River in South Yorkshire, England

The Little Don River also known as the Porter, is a tributary of the River Don in South Yorkshire, England. Arising on the Langsett Moors in the northern Peak District, the Little Don River feeds the Langsett and Underbank Reservoirs. It runs through the town of Stocksbridge before joining the River Don.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doncaster railway station</span> Railway station in South Yorkshire, England

Doncaster railway station is on the East Coast Main Line serving the city of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. It is 155 miles 77 chains (251 km) down the line from London King's Cross and is situated between Retford and York on the main line. It is managed by London North Eastern Railway. It is the second busiest station in South Yorkshire, and the fourth busiest station in Yorkshire & the Humber.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swinton, South Yorkshire</span> Town in South Yorkshire, England

Swinton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, England on the west bank of the River Don. It has a population of 15,559 (2011). The town is five miles north-northeast of the larger town of Rotherham and south-west of Mexborough. The original junior and infant school building built in 1852 on Church Street still exists, and is being converted into residential apartments called Fitzwilliam Lodge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Selby railway station</span> Railway station in North Yorkshire, England

Selby railway station is a Grade II listed station which serves the market town of Selby in North Yorkshire, England. The original terminus station was opened in 1834 for the Leeds and Selby Railway. The Hull and Selby Railway extended the line in 1840 and a new station was built, with the old station becoming a goods shed. The station was rebuilt in 1873 and 1891; the 1891 rebuilding was required due to the replacement of the swing bridge over the River Ouse at the same time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meers Brook</span> Stream in Sheffield, England

The Meers Brook is a stream in Sheffield, England and one of the main tributaries of the River Sheaf. The Meers Brook originates in Gleadless and flows downhill through Gleadless Valley and Meersbrook then, culverted, continues underneath Heeley to pour into the River Sheaf near Saxon Road and Clyde Road in Lowfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackburn Brook</span> Stream in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England

The Blackburn Brook is a stream in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England which flows through the Blackburn Valley along the M1 and Ecclesfield Road and joins the River Don near the Meadowhall shopping centre. Downstream from the A61 road at Chapeltown the Blackburn Brook is defined as a main river by the Environment Agency, which requires new building development to be at least 26 feet (8 m) from the bank side as a flood defence measure and to allow access to the watercourse for maintenance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stainforth and Keadby Canal</span> Canal in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, England

The Stainforth and Keadby Canal is a navigable canal in South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, England. It connects the River Don Navigation at Bramwith to the River Trent at Keadby, by way of Stainforth, Thorne and Ealand, near Crowle. It opened in 1802, passed into the control of the River Don Navigation in 1849, and within a year was controlled by the first of several railway companies. It became part of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation, an attempt to remove several canals from railway control, in 1895. There were plans to upgrade it to take larger barges and to improve the port facilities at Keadby, but the completion of the New Junction Canal in 1905 made this unnecessary, as Goole could easily be reached and was already a thriving port.

The South Yorkshire Railway was a railway company with lines in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Don Navigation</span> Waterway navigation in South Yorkshire, England

The River Don Navigation was the result of early efforts to make the River Don in South Yorkshire, England, navigable between Fishlake and Sheffield. The Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden had re-routed the mouth of the river in 1626, to improve drainage, and the new works included provision for navigation, but the scheme did not solve the problem of flooding, and the Dutch River was cut in 1635 to link the new channel to Goole. The first Act of Parliament to improve navigation on the river was obtained in 1726, by a group of Cutlers based in Sheffield; the Corporation of Doncaster obtained an Act in the following year for improvements to the lower river. Locks and lock cuts were built and by 1751 the river was navigable to Tinsley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hexthorpe</span> Human settlement in England

Hexthorpe is a suburb of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the area's shape resembles a rhombus, with borders with Balby and Doncaster town centre, separated by railway lines and the river separating the area from the villages of Sprotbrough and Newton. The Hexthorpe House was a well known pub in the area. Following a fire, the pub remained derelict for a few months and the remains were demolished in 2009. The old pub sign was saved and has now been erected in Hexthorpe Flatts Park.

The Hull and Doncaster Branch is a secondary main railway line in England, connecting Kingston upon Hull to South Yorkshire and beyond via a branch from the Selby Line near Gilberdyke to a connection to the Doncaster–Barnetby line at a junction near Thorne 8 miles north-east of Doncaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knaresborough Viaduct</span> Railway viaduct in North Yorkshire, England

Knaresborough Viaduct is a viaduct in the North Yorkshire town of Knaresborough, England. The viaduct carries the Harrogate line over the River Nidd in the town. The viaduct was supposed to have opened in 1848, but the first construction collapsed into the river very near to completion, which necessitated a new viaduct and delayed the opening of the line through Knaresborough by three years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">York and Doncaster branch</span> Railway line in Yorkshire, England

The York and Doncaster branch was a railway line that opened in 1871 connecting Doncaster with York via Selby in Yorkshire, England. This line later became part of the East Coast Main Line (ECML) and was the route that express trains took between London King's Cross, the north of England and Scotland. It was opened by the North Eastern Railway (NER) between York and Shaftholme Junction, some 4.5 miles (7.2 km) north of Doncaster railway station. Between its opening in 1871 and the grouping in 1923, the line was used by both the NER, and the Great Northern Railway (GNR). All of the intermediate local stations that had opened with the line in 1871 closed down in the 1950s and 1960s leaving just Selby open between the town of Doncaster and the city of York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Tutt</span> River in North Yorkshire, England

The River Tutt is a 8.7-mile (14 km) long tributary of the River Ure in North Yorkshire, England. The river rises near to the villages of Nidd and Scotton draining mainly arable land north eastwards before emptying into the Ure at Boroughbridge. Where the river joins the Ure in Boroughbridge, has been the site of significant historic flooding. An Environment Agency project to alleviate flooding on the river has seen diversion schemes and pumps added to prevent this.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holgate Beck</span> River in York, England

Holgate Beck is a small watercourse that flows north-eastwards through Holgate across the west side of the City of York, England. Primarily flowing through Holgate, from which it derives its name, the beck drains a large part of Askham Bog and Hob Moor, then running underneath the various lines near York railway station. It empties into the River Ouse at Water End, being one of five main tributaries for the River Ouse in York, and consequently added to the flooding in the river and immediate environs. To counter this, some flood diversionary schemes have been implemented near to Askham Bog and Hob Moor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beckhole Incline</span> Disused railway incline in North Yorkshire, England

Beckhole Incline was a steep, rope-worked gradient on the railway line between Whitby and Pickering, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, England. Opened in May 1836 as part of the horse-worked Whitby & Pickering Railway, the line was operated by three railway companies before becoming redundant on the opening of a diversionary line to the east that allowed through working by steam engines on the entire line. Although the incline was closed to regular traffic in 1865, it was used for a very brief period in 1872, to test a special locomotive intended for railways with steep gradients.

References

  1. ↑ "Doncaster". maps.nls.uk. Retrieved 7 June 2022. The river can be seen to the immediate east of the station and heading northeastwards towards the church grounds between Greyfriars Road and Volunteer Yard
  2. ↑ "Total destruction of Doncaster Parish Church by fire". York Herald. No. 4194. Column B. 5 March 1853. p. 7. OCLC   877360086.
  3. 1 2 Allen et al. 2005, p. 281.
  4. ↑ Firth 1997, p. 29.
  5. ↑ Fairbank, F. R. (1893). "The House of Grey Friars, Doncaster". Yorkshire Archaeological Journal. 12. Leeds: Yorkshire Archaeological Society: 485. ISSN   0084-4276.
  6. ↑ Hey, David (2005). A history of Yorkshire : "county of the broad acres". Lancaster: Carnegie Pub. p. 244. ISBN   1859361226.
  7. ↑ McComish et al. 2010, p. 80.
  8. ↑ "Yorkshire Notes". The York Herald. No. 11684. Column E. 10 November 1888. p. 12. OCLC   877360086.
  9. 1 2 Firth 1997, p. 30.
  10. ↑ Tomlinson 1887, p. 22.
  11. ↑ McComish et al. 2010, p. 76.
  12. ↑ Hey, David (2005). A history of Yorkshire : "county of the broad acres". Lancaster: Carnegie Pub. p. 110. ISBN   1859361226.
  13. ↑ Allen et al. 2005, p. 284.
  14. ↑ Tomlinson 1887, p. 193.
  15. ↑ Tomlinson 1887, pp. 193, 309.
  16. ↑ Firth 1997, p. 39.
  17. ↑ Firth 1997, p. 104.
  18. ↑ "Later Medieval". researchframeworks.org. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  19. ↑ Tomlinson 1887, p. 339.
  20. ↑ "Doncaster (Hansard, 18 July 1956)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  21. ↑ "River Cheswold". maps.nls.uk. Retrieved 23 August 2022. The arrow in the river indicates the flow in c. 1906
  22. 1 2 "Rivers, Canals, Oxbows, Major Streams and Subsidence Flashes" (PDF). dmbcwebstolive01.blob.core.windows.net. January 2007. p. 7. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  23. ↑ Firth 1997, p. 57.
  24. ↑ "Behind the gate". insidetime.org. 8 November 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  25. ↑ "Rare glimpse inside Doncaster Prison as jail celebrates 22nd anniversary". Sheffield Star. 20 June 2016. Gale   A455979593.
  26. ↑ Allen et al. 2005, p. 282.
  27. ↑ Reeve, Elizabeth (2015). River Don. Stroud: Amberley Publishing. p. 82. ISBN   1445638681.
  28. ↑ "Doncaster (Hansard, 18 July 1956)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  29. ↑ Smith, A. H. (1962). The place-names of the west riding of Yorkshire / Part VII, Introduction, bibliography, river-names, analyses. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 122. OCLC   912017133.
  30. ↑ Jackson, John Edward (1853). History of the ruined church of St. Mary Magdalene : discovered A.D. 1846 within the old town-hall of Doncaster. London: George Bell. p. 19. OCLC   1152933369.
  31. ↑ Smith, A. H. (1962). The place-names of the west riding of Yorkshire / Part VII, Introduction, bibliography, river-names, analyses. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 123. OCLC   912017133.

Sources


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.