Holmfirth floods
The Holmfirth floods were a number of instances when severe flooding had occurred in the
1738
Rainstorms caused the River Holme to burst its banks and flood the valley.[1] Though there was damage to farmland there was no loss of life.
1777
Following a severe storm on Wednesday 21 July 1777 the River Holme burst its banks and flooded the valley. Three people were drowned and a stone church built in 1476 was swept away. It was rebuilt the following year with funding from local clothiers.
1821
The River Holme again flooded the valley around Holmfirth, following rainstorms on 21 September 1821, with no loss of life.
1852
The 1852 flood occurred when the embankment of the Bilberry reservoir collapsed, releasing 86 million gallons of water down the River Holme. It caused 81 deaths and a large amount of damage to property in the valley leaving many homeless and without work. The buildings and structures destroyed included four mills, ten dye houses, three drying stoves, 27 cottages, seven tradesmen's houses, seven shops, seven bridges crossing the River Holme, ten warehouses, eight barns and stables.
The collapse occurred at about 1.00 am on 5 February 1852 following a period of heavy rain. The story of the flood made the front page of the London Standard newspaper.[2]
An inquest after the disaster concluded that the reservoir was "defective in its original construction" and that "the Commissioners, in permitting the Bilberry reservoir to remain in a dangerous state with the full knowledge thereof, and not lowering the waste pit, have been guilty of great and culpable negligence".
1944
On
Geoffrey Riley (1929–2005), who was aged 14 at the time of the event, was awarded the
References
- ^ "Cricket Heritage of Holmfirth" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 August 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
- ^ "Holmfirth – Is there more to it than Last of the Summer Wine?". BBC.
- ^ "1944 weather". Archived from the original on 5 January 2007.
- ^ "Hitler's impact on the Great Flood of '44". Huddersfield Daily Examiner.
- ^ "Obituaries: Geoffrey Riley, GC". The Daily Telegraph. 20 January 2005.
Further reading
- Minter, Gordon & Enid (1996). On the trail of the Holmfirth Flood. H. Barden & Company. ISBN 0-9524747-4-3.
- Dickinson, Stanley (1910). "The Holmfirth flood of 1852". Archived from the original on 25 June 2007.