Shire Brook
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Red_Lion%2C_Gleadless_Townend.jpg/275px-Red_Lion%2C_Gleadless_Townend.jpg)
Shire Brook is a small
Course
Shire Brook rises as an underground
At this point the brook receives its only sizeable tributary, an unnamed stream which rises at
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Carr_Forge_Dam.jpg/275px-Carr_Forge_Dam.jpg)
History
Ancient boundary
Shire Brook has been an important boundary line for over a thousand years. In Anglo-Saxon times the Brook formed the boundary between the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For 900 years the Brook marked the division between Yorkshire and Derbyshire,[1] which gave the Brook its name. It was also known informally as County Brook and Der Brook, Der being short for Derbyshire. Another alternative name for the brook was Ochre Dike, due to the run off from mines in the valley which made the water a yellow brown colour.[5]
In 1967 the City of Sheffield expanded its borders south to take in the suburbs of Hackenthorpe and Mosborough and the Brook no longer marked the frontier between the two counties. The Brook also marks the boundary between the Ecclesiastical provinces of York and Canterbury.[6]
Former industry
Up to the early 18th century the Shire Brook valley was mostly an agricultural area. However sustained industrial development came into the valley at the start of the 18th century and actually started in
Like many of Sheffield’s water courses, the Shire Brook’s water power was harnessed for turning water wheels for industry before the coming of steam and electricity. During the 19th century there were five wheels operating in the valley producing power to sharpen scythes and sickles. Several of the small mill ponds that once fed the water wheels still exist along the course of the river. The Upper and Lower Sickle wheels were in the Normanton Spring area, about 1 mile (1.5 km) from the Brook’s source. Further downstream were Carr Forge and Rainbow Forge while the Cliff Wheel was located just under 1,100 yards (1 km) from the Brooks confluence with the River Rother. Notable owners and users of these wheels were the Staniforth family that ran the Thomas Staniforth & Co sickleworks in Hackenthorpe. The dam at Rainbow Forge no longer holds water and its embankments and stonework are difficult to find amongst the undergrowth. Carr Forge Dam is the best preserved area of water in the valley although its wheel and cottages have now vanished. The site of the Lower Sickle Wheel (also known as Nether Wheel) was excavated in 1988 revealing the foundations of the mill buildings and the pits which held the grinding wheels.[7]
Small scale coal mining took place in the valley from the early 18th century, however it was not until the opening of the Birley Collieries that large amounts of coal were extracted. Birley West Colliery was located just to the south of Normanton Spring, production lasted from 1855 until 1908. Birley East, situated between Hackenthorpe and Woodhouse opened in 1888 and operated until 1948. Shire Brook was culverted under both locations which became landfill sites when the pits closed. Both landfill sites have been capped off and landscaped in recent years.[8]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/Shire_Brook.jpg/275px-Shire_Brook.jpg)
Shire Brook Valley Local Nature Reserve
The Shire Brook Valley
Pollution
The Shire Brook was heavily polluted for many years, as storm drain overflow took raw sewage into the brook and then into the River Rother which was known as one of the most polluted rivers in Europe in the early 1990s. In 2005/6 much work was done to control the overflow with several storm flow storage tanks built in the Shire Brook valley. Yorkshire Water were fined £5,000 plus costs when pumps failed at the Linley Bank Sewage Pumping Station, Hackenthorpe on 30 and 31 March 2006 allowing untreated sewage to affect an 870-yard (800 m) stretch of the brook.[12]
References
- ^ a b "History of Beighton". beighton4life. Archived from the original on 24 July 2009.
- ^ "Plans for railway 'hub' withdrawn". BBC South Yorkshire. 16 April 2008.
- ISBN 1-901587-65-7, Gives details of brook’s course, history and industry.
- ISBN 1-84348-299-1gives details of the brook's course.
- ISBN 0-9510362-0-3Gives alternative name of Ochre Dike.
- ^ "Walks in the Shire Brook Valley". Sheffield City Council. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Gives details of ancient boundary.
- ^ Information Board at Nether Wheel gives details of water wheels in valley
- ^ History in the Shire Brook Valley, Leaflet published by Sheffield City Council, Parks, Woodlands and Countryside Department. Gives history and industrial details
- ^ "Birley Spa reopens". BBC South Yorkshire. 24 September 2014.
- ^ "Shire Brook Visitor Centre". Sheffield City Council. Archived from the original on 3 January 2009.
- ^ Information Board at Carr Forge Dam gives details of Centenary Ponds in valley
- ^ "£5,000 fine for pollution of city river". The Sheffield Star. 6 December 2007. Retrieved 6 August 2018.