Page:Rivers, Canals, Railways of Great Britain.djvu/75

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BARNSLEY CANAL
53

from the canal into the reservoir, when the long level is full, being the principal means of supplying the reservoir with water; and in droughty seasons it is readmitted by means of sluices. From Haw Park Wood, the canal continues its course, on a level, by Roystone, Carlton, and Burton, near which latter place, it crosses the River Dearne by an aqueduct of stone, of five arches, of 30 feet span each; at the south side of which, and at a distance of ten miles from its commencement at the Calder, it forms a junction with the Dearne and Dove Canal. From the aqueduct, the canal takes a westwardly course, on the same level, parallel with the Dearne, crossing the London Road within half-a-mile of the town of Barnsley; from thence, by Gawber Hall Collieries, to near Barugh Mill, where the long level of the canal terminates, having extended eleven miles. From this place, to the end of the canal at Barnby Basin, there is a rise of 40 feet, by five locks; the water, for the supply of which lockage, is, in a time of scarcity, lifted by a steam engine, from the long level, to which place there is a drift, nearly a quarter of a mile in length, but this is only used when the stream supplying Barugh Mill is very low. The length of the canal is fiteen miles and an eighth, and the act for making it was passed in the 33rd George III, and entitled, 'An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Canal, from the River Calder, in the township of Warmfield-cum-Heath, to or near the town of Barnsley; and from thence to Barnby Bridge, in the township of Cawthorne, in the West Riding of the county of York; and certain Railways and other Roads to communicate therewith.'

The subscribers to this work were incorporated by the name of "The Company of Proprietors of the Barnsley Canal Navigation," and consisted of one hundred and thirteen persons, among whom were the Duke of Leeds, Lord Hawke, the Countess Dowager of Bute, the Earl of Wigtoun, seven baronets, and almost all the landholders in its immediate vicinity.

They were empowered to raise among themselves £72,000, in seven hundred and twenty shares of £100 each, with power to raise a further sum, not exceeding £20,000, either among themselves or by mortgage of the rates.

In this act, permission is given to the Calder and Hebble Navigation Company, and Thomas Richard Beaumont, Esq. to make a