Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
700
600
500
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100
0
1800
1850
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Year
Figure 16.1.
Population of Sheffield from 1801 to 2001. Pre-1961 data are from census
parish tables, whereas 1961 2001 data are compiled by the Office of National Statistics
(data from: A vision of Britain (through time),
http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/index.jsp
)
.
of crucible steel and Sheffield plate in the eighteenth century and the Bessemer
process and stainless steel in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, all
contributed to the development of the metal industry in Sheffield (Tweedale
1995
). The metal trades established themselves along the Sheaf, Don, Rivelin,
Loxley and Porter, the five major rivers of Sheffield, and by the late eighteenth
century there was an average of between three (River Don) and six (River
Rivelin) water-powered metal-working sites per mile of river (Wray et al.
2001
). The steel industry peaked in the nineteenth century when the Lower
Don Valley became the city's major industrial heartland, although there were
also steelworks in the Upper Don.
The history of the River Don has been documented in the Environment
Agency publication 'Domesday to the dawn of the new millennium: 900 years of the
Don Fishery' (Firth
1997
) and the following provides a brief overview based
primarily on this source. Industrial development in the Don catchment was
associated with major changes to the region's rivers including altering the
natural course of the rivers, constructing weirs to harness the flow and reser-
voirs to supply the industrial and drinking water needs of Sheffield. These
physical modifications and impoundments changed the character of the river,
which was reduced to a series of pools when the compensation flows from
reservoirs were stopped at the end of the working day. The population of
Sheffield grew rapidly to provide the labour force needed to sustain the
developing industries, increasing from 60 100 in 1801 to 451 200 in 1901
(
Fig. 16.1
). Most of the workers lived in poor-quality housing with inadequate
sewage systems. Untreated sewage was washed into rivers and in 1860 the River
Don was little more than an open sewer and was described as being black and
