Thorne and Hatfield Moors Peat Canals facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Thorne and Hatfield Moors Peat Canals |
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Boating Dike near Jaques Bank, Dirtness. Its name comes from its use as a canal before the 1830s.
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| Specifications | |
| Status | parts now act as drains |
| History | |
| Date of act | Privately built |
| Date of first use | 1630s and 1890s |
| Date closed | 1830s and 1922 |
| Geography | |
| Start point | Thorne Moors |
The Thorne and Hatfield Moors Peat Canals were a system of waterways in South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, England. These canals were built to transport cut peat from the Thorne and Hatfield Moors to places where it could be processed or sent out. The canals were used in two main periods. The first period was from the 1630s until the 1830s. During this time, people used peat as a fuel. However, when coal started arriving by the Stainforth and Keadby Canal, there was less need for peat.
The second period of use began in the 1890s. Peat became popular again, this time as bedding for horses. This phase lasted until 1922, when the Moorends Mill, which processed the peat, was destroyed by a fire.
Contents
How the Peat Canals Began
The canals were located in an area called Hatfield Chase. This land was very wet and often flooded before the 1630s. In 1626, a Dutch engineer named Cornelius Vermuyden was hired by King Charles I. His job was to drain this wet land.
Vermuyden changed the paths of the River Don and the River Idle. He made the River Don flow along the western edge of the Chase. The River Idle was moved to the southern edge. The River Torne then needed a new path, so a channel was dug across the Chase to join the River Trent.
There were some problems with these new river paths. Local people were also unhappy, which led to protests and even deliberate re-flooding of the land. These issues were finally fixed in 1719. Over time, much of the Chase became good for farming. However, the drainage work did not affect the two large peat bogs, known as Thorne and Hatfield Moors.
Early Peat Transport Canals
People used peat from the moors as fuel for their homes. It was also sent to other places. We don't know the exact dates for the very first peat canals. But soon after the River Don was moved, a canal was dug. This canal crossed the Chase to reach the River Trent.
A map from 1752 shows "The Cutt by Thorne into Trent." Even today, parts of this area are still called "Boating Dike" on maps. Another canal on the western side of the moors was also called "Boating Dike." It ran past Thorne to join the River Don. This canal even had a pound lock along its path.
In the 1790s, about 30 to 40 boats used this canal. They carried peat, but the peat was then moved to bigger boats for the journey along the Don. These canals were shown on a map of Yorkshire made by Thomas Jefferys between 1767 and 1770.
Changes and Decline of Peat Use
In 1802, the Stainforth and Keadby Canal opened. This new canal changed the water flow in the region. It cut across Hatfield Chase from east to west. Thorne Moors was to the north of it, and Hatfield Moors to the south. Much of the old Thorne boating dike was destroyed. New drains were dug next to the canal.
A new navigable drain, about 2 miles (3 km) long, was approved. It ran along the southern part of Thorne Moors. There were then about 6 miles (10 km) of navigable drains. Special clinker-built boats used these drains. These boats were about 28 feet (8.5 m) long and 6 feet (1.8 m) wide. They were shaped the same at both ends, so they didn't need to be turned around.
Coal brought in by the Stainforth and Keadby Canal made peat less popular as a fuel. By the 1820s, only 8 or 9 boats were using the peat canals. All peat traffic stopped around 1830. After that, peat for export was taken to the Stainforth and Keadby Canal by carts.
The Second Life of the Canals
After the first canals stopped being used, people focused on improving the moors for farming. This was done by a process called "warping." Warping involved spreading silt (fine mud) over the peat. This created soil that could be used for growing crops.
The Thorne Moor (Waste) Improvement Act was passed in 1848. This law created the Thorne Moor Improvement Company. Their job was to drain, warp, or improve the southern part of the moors. Plans were also made for a railway line. However, the railway company did not build the line, so little improvement happened.
Other projects also took place. The Swinefleet Warping Drain opened in 1821 to the east of the moors. It was built to flood the land with silt-rich water. This gradually improved the land over 40 years. Makin Durham built the Durham Warping Drain on the western side of the moors. It opened in 1856, but not much land was reclaimed.
Durham died in 1882. Around this time, new ideas for using peat, instead of just farming the land, began to appear. There was a farming downturn, and a need for new bedding for the many working horses in the country. Straw was often used, but peat became a good alternative.
New Companies and Dutch Influence
Parts of both Hatfield Moors and Thorne Moors were rented out to companies that cut peat. The Hatfield Chase Moss Litter Company started cutting peat on Hatfield Moors in 1888. The Dutch Griendtsveen Moss Litter Company was formed in 1893. They began buying different peat businesses.
They took over the works at Moorends, north of Thorne. They brought workers from the Netherlands. These Dutch workers brought their own tools and ways of working. By 1899, about 300 Dutch people lived in Moorends. About 120 of them were men working on the moors.
The Dutch company rebuilt the Moorends mill. They also built about 14 miles (23 km) of new canals to carry peat from the moors to the mill. Records in the offices were kept in both Dutch and English. There was some tension with local people. They worried that so many foreign workers might take their jobs.
Boats and Infrastructure
The boats used on this new canal system were about 40 feet (12 m) long. They had flat bottoms and, like the older wooden boats, were pointed at both ends. This design meant they did not need to be turned around. These boats were made of iron in the Netherlands and then brought to Thorne.
There were twelve boats on the system. Workers moved them by hand in the smaller side channels where peat was cut. On the longer sections back to the mill, two horses pulled the boats. The paths next to the canals, called towpaths, were made from limestone.
From the peat cutting areas, the main canal went north-west. Then it turned west to reach Moorends Works. It crossed Durham's Warping Drain using a large iron aqueduct. This aqueduct needed a lot of brickwork to support it. It was finished in 1895 at a high cost. It also carried a 3-foot (91 cm) wide tramway that served the northern part of the moors.
Fires and the End of an Era
In 1896, the British Peat Moss Litter company was formed. This happened when the Hatfield Chase Peat Moss Litter Company and most of the companies on Thorne Moors joined together. They paid £58,000 for Griendtsveen's Moorends Works.
The mill, which had made paraffin before being rebuilt in the 1880s, was damaged by a fire in 1898. The wooden machines for pressing peat into bales were destroyed. But they were replaced with stronger steel presses. These new presses were powered by a 40 horsepower (30 kW) steam engine that burned peat as fuel.
Maps from 1906 show two swing bridges on the canals. One was on the northern section, and another where a line crossed the Cottage Dike. There was also a wind pump between the Cottage Dike and the southern canals. Towpaths ran along the northern edge of both canal sections.
The canals sometimes had problems with water supply. They also suffered from silting, which means mud built up in them. At times, the only way to get peat to the mill was by the tramways. The canals remained in use until 1922. That year, another fire destroyed the main mill building.
The boats were cut up for scrap metal. With no use, the canals slowly turned back into boggy land. The mill's chimney was taken down in 1930. The remaining buildings became a workshop for repairs. Tramway wagons were fixed there until 1956, after which the site was completely taken down.
Images for kids
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Boating Dike near Jaques Bank, Dirtness. Its name comes from its use as a canal before the 1830s.
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A map of the Peat Canals around 1907. They supplied peat to Moorends Works. Blackwater Dike, Mill Drain, and Cottage Dike still exist today.
