The Great Sheffield Flood of 1864 We've Just Passed the Anniversary
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The Great Sheffield Flood of 1864 We’ve just passed the anniversary of the disaster of 11th/12th March 1864. If you would like to read more about the history of the flood, look for Mick Drewry’s book, ‘Inundation’. Mick lived in Hillsborough and is a volunteer member of the Hillsborough Community Development Trust. We usually see him at the Sheffield Heritage Fair where the Friends of Parkwood Springs have a stall. Although most of Parkwood Springs stood high and dry above the flood water, many tragedies played out that terrible night within its boundaries and the topography of the steep hillside was important in the course taken by flood water. The story - very briefly: During the 1830s and 40s cholera was rife in Sheffield. The poor were notably blamed for their over-crowded, unhygienic living conditions. It was only when the Master Cutler died from cholera that Sheffield’s sanitation system and water supply were finally improved. Some of the first municipal housing still stands at Hawley Street, built to replace the squalid courts and yards which epitomised Victorian tenement living in industrial cities. Four reservoirs were planned for the Upper Loxley valley and the Dale Dyke Dam was the first, built and owned by the Sheffield Waterworks Company. However, the dam wall had not settled before the reservoir was filled. On the night of 11th March 1864 workmen noticed a crack in the wall. The engineer was sent for from Sheffield, but although the sluice gates were eventually opened the dam wall gave way causing millions of tons of water to flood through the Loxley valley towards Parkwood Springs. After causing devastation through Malin Bridge and Hillsborough the flood reached Owlerton as a ‘wall of water’ thundering towards the Don, which owing to earlier bad weather was already high. The Don at Wardsend when running high on 21st January 2021. At Parkwood Springs: The wall of water dashed against the escarpment of Shirecliffe/ Parkwood Springs, swirling northwards to circle round at Herries Road depositing banks of debris and scattering bodies around before joining the Don. With the added force of the Don the flood swept away all before it. The Wardsend slitting mill and Owlerton Rolling Mill with three cottages were all severely damaged and out of action for months. Cemetery bridge was blocked with debris. At Old Park Corn Mill (or Club Mill) the wheelhouse and two cottages were damaged, and two privies washed away. Claims were also made for the loss of 30 fowls and 6 pigs. At the confluence of the Loxley and the Don stood Mr. Peace’s silver mill with a ‘row of miserable cottages’. Five workmen on night shift escaped up the hillside into Old Park Wood. John Slack raised the alarm with the Peace family where 7 people escaped. Fergus Saxton ran home to his cottage, broke the bedroom window; his wife threw their child out to him and jumped out herself before they too escaped up the hillside, ‘shivering in their nightclothes’. Joseph Herret smashed his way through the bedroom wall with a bedpost into the Saxton’s end cottage. He, his wife and two children escaped by breaking through the ceiling and roof and jumping onto the hillside to join the others. Mr. Peace claimed for the loss of two mills, an engine shed, privies, walls, a stable, joiner’s shop, kitchen, household contents, substantial damage to his house and gardens and for the loss of a large quantity of silver. Opposite the silver mill on the river Loxley stood two tilt forges powered by water, the Upper Slack and Nether Slack wheels. Both were severely damaged. At Hillfoot William Simpson was working with a young boy named Capper at Messrs. Marchington and Makin’s Sandbed wheel or Clifton steel works close to the Farfield Inn. Capper climbed onto a beam and William onto a boiler as the water rose to 15 ft. The boiler and the brick piers supporting it were washed away carrying William Simpson with it, but Capper survived by clinging to the beam for several hours. William Simpson’s body was recovered at Attercliffe Bridge. He left a wife and six children. At the Farfield Inn were a number of cottages where most residents survived by climbing into their attics when the water rose through their bedrooms. Thomas Allen had to break through to his neighbour’s house to save his family of six children. The landlady at the Farfield Inn claimed for loss and damage to property including the loss of a 20 stone pig, 50 gallons of ale, a bagatelle board and an outdoor skittle alley. Between the railway and the river from Hillfoot to Neepsend were the Farfield gardens where families lived in shacks on market gardens. The market gardens and their residents were completely washed away, Neepsend suffering some of the worst of the flood’s destruction of lives, homes and businesses. The death toll was exacerbated by bodies washed down in the flood and deposited amidst the litter of debris covering the streets. Beside the tragedies there were heroic stories, such as the man near Neepsend who rescued several babies from the waters – presumably floating in their wooden cots. He cared for them until their families could be found. Our family connection: We had some family folklore about ancestors who knelt to pray as the flood water surged through their house. A relative has finally found that they were the Reaneys who lived and worked at the tilt wheel and forge at Birley Meadows on Livesey Street, Owlerton. Mick Drewry mentions them in his book. From the claims they made to the water company afterwards, it was clear that water flooded through the ground floor of their cottage, but the family survived upstairs. Whilst many other homes were completely destroyed in Owlerton as they lay on the direct route of the flood water, I think one reason that the Reaneys survived may have been that the Mill at Birley Meadows was on the river Loxley as it turns sharply south. Because of the description of the water swirling north as it hit the hillside at Wardsend, I would suggest that as it came through the Loxley valley into the wider valley of the Don, the strength of the current must have taken it straight ahead to Wardsend. The full force of the water may not have been felt on the river Loxley itself at the point where it turns sharp right before joining the Don further downstream. Either that or divine intervention saved them! The Reaneys lost all their furniture, belongings and food and suffered loss of earnings as the Birley Meadows forge itself was badly damaged. The only personal injury suffered, however, was a fever claimed by the family’s daughter-in- law to have been caused by the flood water. She was described in their claim both as ‘middle sized and stout, aged 26 years’ but also ‘low of stature and thin, aged 28years’. She was paid £12 in compensation, although she had claimed £17. 10s. Very few of the claims were paid in full. People living at Parkwood Springs village must have experienced a great deal that night, probably hearing the noise of the water, perhaps helping survivors, then having to face the aftermath of the clearing up at Neepsend. The smell from the debris and the horror of finding scattered bodies must have been heart-breaking. Many who lost their lives that night were children, and many bodies were never found or positively identified. A small number were buried at Wardsend cemetery, but the majority were buried in church or chapel graveyards or in the General cemetery where bodies were taken to be identified. When tragedy of such proportions strikes a community, it leaves an indelible mark on our history. Perhaps it helped to strengthen community spirit, which was the hallmark of life at Parkwood Springs village. Perhaps we will appreciate our water supply a little more after reading about the hardship endured to bring clean water to our homes. Perhaps we need to ensure that clean water continues to be provided as a universal service whilst the privatisation of the utilities has in effect returned water to the status of a privately owned commodity - as it was in 1864. The natural flood of 2007 reminded us of the dangers of the force of high water in the river Don. As Friends of Parkwood Springs, we have been working with the City Council to ensure that the unpolluted surface water draining from Viridor’s restoration of the landfill site does not add to problems when wet weather causes the river level to rise. We have been requesting a water storage system which also acts as a pleasant public amenity at Parkwood Springs to attract water birds and wildlife and provide space for lakeside walks and picnics. Discussions are still ongoing. Carol Schofield – April 2021. .