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River Sheaf
The River Sheaf in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, flows northwards, past Dore, through Abbeydale and north of Heeley. It then passes into a culvert, through which it flows under the centre of Sheffield before joining the River Don. This lower section of the River Sheaf, together with the Don between the Blonk Street and Lady's Bridges, formed two sides of the boundary of Sheffield Castle.
The main tributaries of the Sheaf are the Porter Brook, which joins it beneath Sheffield Midland station, and the Meers Brook. The river has been polluted upstream through centuries of industrial activity, including iron and steel working, and is only slowly recovering. The river used to provide the power for metal works such as the Grade I-listed Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet.
A River Sheaf Walk has been developed which follows the river from Granville Square out to Millhouses Park and beyond to the Peak District.
Until the 17th century the name Sheaf was written as Scheth or Sheath. Sidney Oldall Addy equates the origins of this word with the Old English shed (as in water-shed) or sheth, which mean to divide, or separate. Historically, the Sheaf—along with its tributaries the Meers Brook and the Limb Brook—formed part of the border separating the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria; it remained on the border between Yorkshire and Derbyshire into the 20th century. The city of Sheffield derives its name from the Sheaf.
The waters which form the River Sheaf rise as a series of streams on a ridge of gritstone between 6 and 7 miles (9.7 and 11.3 km) to the south west of the main city centre. The Blacka Dike, Needhams Dike and Redcar Brook combine to form Oldhay Brook, while Totley Brook is joined by Rodmoor Brook, and itself joins Oldhay Brook between Totley and Dore, after which the combined flow forms the Sheaf. Immediately below the junction, the river is crossed by the Hope Valley railway line, which then joins the Midland Main Line, and both cross back over to reach Dore & Totley railway station, which was built on the site of Walk Mill in 1872. The river shares its valley with the railway, and there are a further five crossings before both reach Sheffield station.
From the junction of the Redcar Brook and the Oldhay Brook to the city centre, the river descends by around 400 feet (120 m), and this fall has resulted in it being harnessed to provide water power for a number of industries from at least the 16th century.
The river valley is broad, cutting through the underlying coal measures with its sandstones and clays, and the location of harder rock has been a major factor in where weirs and dams (a local word for the ponds used to hold water rather than the structure that creates the pond) have been located. There are some 28 sites which have well-documented and long standing mills associated with them, and a further seven were located on some of the smaller tributaries, or were more transitory in nature. The Sheaf supplied a greater variety of industry than the other Sheffield rivers, partly because of its close proximity to Derbyshire, with its mineral reserves of lead. The lead ore was brought to the area around Dore, Totley and Norton, which was then in Derbyshire. There were at least ten mills where the ore was smelted in ore hearths, which used kiln-dried wood as the heat producing agent, and water-powered bellows to produce the temperatures required. As well as the lead smelting mills, there were a variety of corn and paper mills along the river, some of which were adapted in the 18th century to service the metal trades as they grew and expanded.
Walk Mill was one of the earliest known mills on the Sheaf, having been built around 1280 by the Canons of Beauchief Abbey as a fulling mill. After the abbey was dissolved in the reign of Henry VIII, it was used as a cutlers wheel. By 1746, John Tyzack was using it for grinding scythes, in 1797 Thomas Biggin was making knives for cutting hay and straw, and it was being used as a sickle mill in 1805. After a brief spell as a paper mill around 1826, it was occupied by Thomas Tyzack and Sons, who made saws. The site was sold to the Midland Railway by the Duke of Devonshire in 1871 to enable the construction of Dore and Totley station, and the last mill buildings were taken down in 1890.
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River Sheaf AI simulator
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River Sheaf
The River Sheaf in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, flows northwards, past Dore, through Abbeydale and north of Heeley. It then passes into a culvert, through which it flows under the centre of Sheffield before joining the River Don. This lower section of the River Sheaf, together with the Don between the Blonk Street and Lady's Bridges, formed two sides of the boundary of Sheffield Castle.
The main tributaries of the Sheaf are the Porter Brook, which joins it beneath Sheffield Midland station, and the Meers Brook. The river has been polluted upstream through centuries of industrial activity, including iron and steel working, and is only slowly recovering. The river used to provide the power for metal works such as the Grade I-listed Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet.
A River Sheaf Walk has been developed which follows the river from Granville Square out to Millhouses Park and beyond to the Peak District.
Until the 17th century the name Sheaf was written as Scheth or Sheath. Sidney Oldall Addy equates the origins of this word with the Old English shed (as in water-shed) or sheth, which mean to divide, or separate. Historically, the Sheaf—along with its tributaries the Meers Brook and the Limb Brook—formed part of the border separating the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria; it remained on the border between Yorkshire and Derbyshire into the 20th century. The city of Sheffield derives its name from the Sheaf.
The waters which form the River Sheaf rise as a series of streams on a ridge of gritstone between 6 and 7 miles (9.7 and 11.3 km) to the south west of the main city centre. The Blacka Dike, Needhams Dike and Redcar Brook combine to form Oldhay Brook, while Totley Brook is joined by Rodmoor Brook, and itself joins Oldhay Brook between Totley and Dore, after which the combined flow forms the Sheaf. Immediately below the junction, the river is crossed by the Hope Valley railway line, which then joins the Midland Main Line, and both cross back over to reach Dore & Totley railway station, which was built on the site of Walk Mill in 1872. The river shares its valley with the railway, and there are a further five crossings before both reach Sheffield station.
From the junction of the Redcar Brook and the Oldhay Brook to the city centre, the river descends by around 400 feet (120 m), and this fall has resulted in it being harnessed to provide water power for a number of industries from at least the 16th century.
The river valley is broad, cutting through the underlying coal measures with its sandstones and clays, and the location of harder rock has been a major factor in where weirs and dams (a local word for the ponds used to hold water rather than the structure that creates the pond) have been located. There are some 28 sites which have well-documented and long standing mills associated with them, and a further seven were located on some of the smaller tributaries, or were more transitory in nature. The Sheaf supplied a greater variety of industry than the other Sheffield rivers, partly because of its close proximity to Derbyshire, with its mineral reserves of lead. The lead ore was brought to the area around Dore, Totley and Norton, which was then in Derbyshire. There were at least ten mills where the ore was smelted in ore hearths, which used kiln-dried wood as the heat producing agent, and water-powered bellows to produce the temperatures required. As well as the lead smelting mills, there were a variety of corn and paper mills along the river, some of which were adapted in the 18th century to service the metal trades as they grew and expanded.
Walk Mill was one of the earliest known mills on the Sheaf, having been built around 1280 by the Canons of Beauchief Abbey as a fulling mill. After the abbey was dissolved in the reign of Henry VIII, it was used as a cutlers wheel. By 1746, John Tyzack was using it for grinding scythes, in 1797 Thomas Biggin was making knives for cutting hay and straw, and it was being used as a sickle mill in 1805. After a brief spell as a paper mill around 1826, it was occupied by Thomas Tyzack and Sons, who made saws. The site was sold to the Midland Railway by the Duke of Devonshire in 1871 to enable the construction of Dore and Totley station, and the last mill buildings were taken down in 1890.