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Coordinates: 53°35′28″N 1°05′28″W / 53.591°N 1.091°W / 53.591; -1.091
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|publisher=Oxford University Press
|publisher=Oxford University Press
|isbn=
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*{{cite book
|url=https://yorkshirehumberdrainage.gov.uk/yhdb-wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/River-Ouse-Catchment-Board-Report-1939.pdf
|archive-url= |archive-date= |url-status=
|last=ROCB
|title=River Ouse Catchment Board Report for 1939
|date=November 1939
|publisher=Yorkshire & Humber Drainage Boards
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}}
*{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=A. H. |title=The place-names of the West Riding of Yorkshire - 2. Osgoldcross and Agbrigg Wapentakes |date=1986 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge|oclc=615109017}}
*{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=A. H. |title=The place-names of the West Riding of Yorkshire - 2. Osgoldcross and Agbrigg Wapentakes |date=1986 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge|oclc=615109017}}

Revision as of 17:52, 30 October 2024

Ea Beck
  • Frickley Beck
  • Hampole Dike
  • Old Ea Beck
  • Thorpe Marsh Drain
A narrow river with built up grassed banks
Thorpe Marsh Drain (Ea Beck) near its confluence with the Don
Relief map of South Yorkshire
Relief map of South Yorkshire
Location of the mouth into the River Don
Location
CountySouth Yorkshire
CountryEngland
Physical characteristics
Mouth 
 • location
Thorpe in Balne
 • coordinates
53°35′28″N 1°05′28″W / 53.591°N 1.091°W / 53.591; -1.091
Length20 miles (32 km)
Basin features
River systemRiver Don
Ea Beck
Legend
 Hague Hall Beck
Frickley Beck
Hemsworth Beck
Langthwaite Beck
(known as The Beck)
Goosehole pumping station
Frickley Beck + The Beck
(known as Hampole Dike)
disused railway bridge (Wath Branch)
Wakefield line
 A638  Stubbs Bridge
Leys Lane
 A1  Humber Head Bridge
(known as Old Ea Beck)
The Skell
Wakefield Line
Adwick Junction
Adwick Mill Dyke PS
freight line to Hatfield & Stainforth
Mill Dike
 B1220  White Cross Bridge
Goosepool pumping station
Bentley Moor Bridge
(known as Smallholme and Tilts Drain)
Duck Holt pumping station
 A19  Tilts Hill Bridge
Tilts Hill pumping station
Thornhurst pumping station
Tilts Bridge (Hall Villa Lane)
Tilts Bridge pumping station
Tilts pumping station
H&B and GCJR
East Coast Main Line
Thorpe Marsh nature reserve
Reedholme pumping station
Sandall Nooking pumping station
(known as Smallholme and Tilts Drain)
Norwood pumping station
(known as Thorpe Marsh Drain)
Flood Evacuation pumping station
freight line to Hatfield & Stainforth
Marsh Lane Bridge
Thorpe Bank Road
Pointing doors
River Don

The Ea Beck, also spelled Eaubeck[1] or Eau Beck,[2] is a small river in South Yorkshire, England, that flows eastwards into the River Don at Thorpe-in-Balne. The Environment Agency lists the beck as starting at South Elmsall, but mapping lists the beck with several names along its course. The beck has twice flooded areas and villages that it passes through in the 21st century.

Toponymy

The derivation of the name Ea for the beck has at least two possibilities: Oliver Rackham suggested that the name Ea indicates a drained or altered river-course, which was a common Anglo-Saxon term for drained fenland rivers in East Anglia, Hampshire and the peatlands of Yorkshire around the River Don.[3] Eilert Ekwall suggests the word ēa has the same route (Old Norse) and means just river, being used as a root for the rivers Eye, Ray, Rea and Yeo.[4]

Catchment area overview

The beck is recorded by the Environment Agency as being 20 miles (32 km) long, and draining a catchment area of 36 square miles (92 km2).[5][6][7][8][9] However, on Ordnance Survey mapping, it is labelled as Hague Hall Beck, The Beck, Old Ea Beck, Smallholme and Tilts Drain, and Thorpe Marsh Drain, with no mention of Ea Beck.[10][11]

The beck runs through a former coal mining area, though the river valley is known for its magnesian limestone deposits around the Doncaster area.[12]

Course

The name Ea Beck for the watercourse has different boundaries for different authorities. Near the headwaters tributaries, Wakefield Council refer to it as Ea Beck at South Kirkby, whereas on mapping it is shown as The Beck.[13] Some of the becks feeding the western end of the river are known also as the Ea Beck Catchment.[14] Doncaster Council state that the name Ea Beck is the watercourse formed by the confluence of the River Skell and Hampole Dike.[15] The course of the beck has been heavily altered, especially in its lower reaches, due to the coal seams found in that area which needed to be free from water ingress.[16] Mining subsidence has led to the beck being modified with raised banks and pumps to effectively drain the water away.[15] Colliery pumping programmes and raised banks along the river's course were implemented under the Doncaster Drainage Act of 1929.[17]

The Ea Beck system rises as a series of small streams. Furthest to the west is Hague Hall Beck, which rises just above the 70-metre (230 ft) contour near the A628 road to the south of Hemsworth. It flows to the east and then the north-east to reach the Wakefield Line railway track. Just before it passes under its embankment, it is joined by another small stream which flows south-eastwards from near Little Hemsworth school. It then runs along the northern edge of the railway track, making a small diversion to pass under the embankment of the Dearne Valley line. A third source, Langthwaite Beck, rises near South Kirkby common and flows eastwards along the southern edge of the town before turning to the north-east along the western edge of South Elmsall. It passes under the railway to join Hague Hall Beck, which then crosses beneath the Wakefield line again close to South Elmsall railway station. Immediately afterwards, it is labelled The Beck by the Ordnance Survey.[18]

Continuing eastwards, it passes South Elmsall sewage treatment works, and passes through a culvert under the former Hull, Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and another under the Wakefield line. It is crossed by the A638 road, and then by the railway twice on the northern edge of the village of Hampole. It is then labelled Hampole Dyke, and there is a straight section beside the railway, with the remains of a former loop on the south side of the tracks. Humber Head Bridge carries the A1 road over the railway and the river, after which the river channel is embanked on both sides. The next tributary is The Skell, which rises between Upton and North Elmsall, and passes through Wrangbrook, Skelbrooke and Skellow, as it heads south-eastwards. It is crossed by the B1220 road at Skellow Bridge on the southern edge of Skellow, and is embanked from there to its confluence with Ea Beck.[18] Both Skellow and Skelbrooke derive their names from the river.[19]

The course has been significantly altered below Humber Head Bridge. In 1914, it meandered across Humber Head Ings, and was known as the Holmeroyd or Humber Head Dike. The meanders have been removed, and the confluence with The Skell moved a little further downstream. The main flow of the river header to the south east, crossing under the railway. A weir on the left bank fed a small channel called Ings Drain, which linked to New Drain. On the south side of the railway, the main channel flowed through a boggy area called Size Ings to a point below Adwick railway junction. The river flowed over a sluice to enter Mill Dike, which continued along the southern side of the railway to power a corn mill at Adwick le Street. A smaller channel crossed under the south branch of the railway, where it was joined by New Drain, which had crossed under the north branch. The combined flow was then known as Old Ea Beck.[20]

The modern channel follows much of the course of Ings Drain, but then runs closer to the railway embankment, picking up the course of New Drain where it passed under the railway. The original channel along the south side of the railway still runs down to the mill, but that to the north of the railway has gone. Adwick Mill Dyke pumping station, part of the modern drainage system, uses the crossing under the south railway embankment to return water from the head of Mill Dike to the Old Ea Beck. Mill Dike continues to Adwick railway station, where a drainage channel heads to the north east across Adwick Common. Now known as Bowling Alley Drain, it feeds Goosepool pumping station, which returns water to the Old Ea Beck.[18][21]

Below the outfall from Adwick Mill Dyke pumping station, the river is crossed by a railway chord linking the two lines to the east of Adwick Junction. The B1220 road crosses at White Cross Bridge, after which Goosepool pumping station is situated on the right bank. The next bridge is Bentley Moor Bridge, which carries Bentley Moor Lane over the river. There is a sharp bend with a bridge which formerly carried a railway from Bullcroft Main Colliery, with Duck Holt pumping station immediately downstream. The Old Ea Beck becomes the Smallholme and Tilts Drain on Ordnance Survey maps, and the river is crossed by Tilts Hill Bridge, carrying the A19 road. Tilts Hill pumping station is on the right bank, with Thornhurst pumping station on the right. Tilts Bridge carries Hall Villa Lane, a minor road to Tilts,[18] where there is a moated site consisting of two islands with a water-filled moat. A 17th century house stands on one of the islands, and the site is a scheduled monument.[22] Another disused railway bridge and a bridge carrying the East Coast main line cross in quick succession, beyond which Thorpe Marsh Nature Reserve occupies the left bank. Sandall Nooking and Norwood pumping stations are on the right bank, before the river makes a sharp turn to the north-east and becomes Thorpe Marsh Drain. Flood Evacuation pumping station is on the right bank just after the bend.[18]

The river passes the site of Thorpe Marsh Power Station, which lies to the east. Just before a railway bridge carrying the freight line to Hatfield and Stainforth, the river becomes the Engine Drain, but soon reverts to the Thorpe Marsh Drain. Marsh Lane Bridge carries a track and another bridge carries Thorpe Bank Road, which runs along the left bank of the River Don. The river enters the Don through a flood gate.[18]

The river has four monitoring stations at (from west to east) South Elmsall, Adwick-le-Street, Norwood, and Norwood (downstream). Norwood (downstream) recorded a high of 24.4 feet (7.45 m) on 10 November 2019.[23][24] The mouth of the river is at Thorpe-in-Balne, where the exit into the River Don is tide-locked with gates.[25] The beck, along with the River Went, are the two main tributaries of the River Don, before it flows into the Ouse at Goole.[26]

History

The beck is designated as a major river from Hague Hall Beck and Frickley Beck, to its outfall into the River Don at Thorpe in Balne.[27][28] There a pointing doors at the junction, which are designed to shut when levels in the Don exceed those in the EA Beck, to prevent water flowing back up the river and causing flooding. On the upstream side of the sluice structure is a vertical penstock, which can be lowered if debris prevents the pointing doors from closing properly.[29] A long watercourse was taken from Ea Beck in the 1780s to power a corn mill at Adwick-le-Street.[30]

Subsidence caused by coal mines was sufficiently serious through the mining regions of Britain that a Royal Commission on Mining Subsidence was convened in 1926, and its first report identified the Doncaster area as a location where the problem was particularly severe. A second commission looked at the Doncaster area specifically, and reported in 1928. The Doncaster Area Drainage Act 1929 (19 & 20 Geo.5, c.xvii) was passed, creating the Doncaster Central Board, with responsibility to address the issues.[31] As a result, the banks of the Ea Beck from the A1 road Humber Head Bridge for 6 miles (9.7 km) to its mouth were raised and strengthened using waste from Bullcroft Colliery and some fill that was dug up locally. Conditions in the Bentley area were addressed by a scheme developed by Brundell and Farran between 1939 and 1940. A major part of that scheme involved raising the banks of the Ea Beck for about 2.5 miles (4 km). A new method of achieving the work was tried out, involving cable-operated scrapers, pulled by tractors. Additional material was obtained locally from borrow pits. Further work was carried out in the later 1940s to deal with subsidence from Bentley Colliery. As well as raising the banks, a pumping station was built at Goosepool, and four bridges were rebuilt. Most of the drainage enters Ea Beck via Goosepool pumping station and Tilts pumping station. Smaller isolated areas are pumped into the Ea Beck by Adwick Mill Dyke pumping station and Tilts Hills pumping station. The pumping stations at Toll Bar Rugby Club and Hall Villa are booster stations, raising water that eventually feeds Tilts pumping station.[32]

As the beck is slow moving, the lower reaches nearer to the River Don are colonised by pond water-starwort (callitriche stagnalis).[27] Flooding on the beck is quite common, though in June 2007, water overtopped the banks and inundated the villages of Toll Bar and Bentley.[33][34] The tidal flood gates at the mouth of the River, were installed to prevent a backflow upriver from the Don. However, as that was already flooded with water from upstream in Sheffield, the gates remained closed and caused flooding along the Beck, causing problems in villages such as Toll Bar.[35] South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service deployed firefighters to help pump water away from affected properties, in what was described as "the largest-ever peacetime fire service operation seen in Britain."[36] This prompted the Environment Agency to invest over £3 million in flood defences along the river, which were completed in 2010.[37] The beck was subject to flooding again in November 2019.[38] The history of flooding on the beck has meant Doncaster Council rate the beck as one of its major rivers and as such is monitored closely for any weather events.[39]

Water quality

The Environment Agency measure water quality of the river systems in England. Each is given an overall ecological status, which may be one of five levels: high, good, moderate, poor and bad. There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at the quantity and varieties of invertebrates, angiosperms and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail.[40]

The water quality of the Ea Beck system was as follows in 2019.

Section Ecological Status Chemical Status Length Catchment Channel
Ea Beck from Source to Frickley Beck[41] Moderate Fail 7.6 miles (12.2 km) 7.58 square miles (19.6 km2) heavily modified
Frickley Beck from Source to Ea Beck[42] Poor Fail 4.0 miles (6.4 km) 5.94 square miles (15.4 km2)
Ea Beck from Frickley Beck to the Skell[43] Moderate Fail 3.5 miles (5.6 km) 5.86 square miles (15.2 km2) heavily modified
The Skell from Source to Ea Beck[44] Moderate Fail 5.1 miles (8.2 km) 5.57 square miles (14.4 km2) heavily modified
Ea Beck from the Skell to River Don[45] Moderate Fail 8.7 miles (14.0 km) 10.81 square miles (28.0 km2) heavily modified

Reasons for the quality being less than good include discharges from sewage treatment works, physical modification of the channel, and runoff from urban areas and agricultural land. Like most rivers in the UK, the chemical status changed from good to fail in 2019, due to the presence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), perfluorooctane sulphonate (PFOS) and mercury compounds, none of which had previously been included in the assessment.[46]

Settlements

References

  1. ^ Howes, Colin Anthony. "Changes in the status and distribution of mammals of the order Carnivora in Yorkshire from 1600. County history of the fox, badger, otter, pine marten, stoat, weasel, polecat, American mink, wildcat and domestic cat". Bradford Scholars. University of Bradford. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  2. ^ "Thorpe Marsh CCGT Power Station" (PDF). Thorpe Marsh Power. Sinclair Knight Merz. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  3. ^ Rackham, Oliver (2000). The history of the countryside : the classic history of Britain's landscape, flora and fauna. London: Phoenix Press. p. 386. ISBN 1842124404.
  4. ^ Ekwall, Eilert (1960). The concise Oxford dictionary of English place-names (4 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 155. ISBN 0-19-869103-3.
  5. ^ "Frickley Beck from Source to Ea Beck | Catchment Data Explorer | Catchment Data Explorer". environment.data.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  6. ^ "Ea Beck from Source to Frickley Beck | Catchment Data Explorer | Catchment Data Explorer". environment.data.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  7. ^ "Ea Beck from Frickley Beck to the Skell | Catchment Data Explorer | Catchment Data Explorer". environment.data.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  8. ^ "The Skell from Source to Ea Beck | Catchment Data Explorer | Catchment Data Explorer". environment.data.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Ea Beck from the Skell to River Don | Catchment Data Explorer | Catchment Data Explorer". environment.data.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  10. ^ "278" (Map). Sheffield and Barnsley. 1:25,000. Explorer. Ordnance Survey. 2019. ISBN 978-0-319-24475-3.
  11. ^ "279" (Map). Doncaster. 1:25,000. Explorer. Ordnance Survey. 2015. ISBN 978-0-319-24476-0.
  12. ^ Cheng, Hsiao-Yun (2012). The 'Landscape Character Turn': an Examination of Experience in the UK and Taiwan (Thesis). Sheffield: University of Sheffield. p. 153. OCLC 926906674.
  13. ^ "[Withdrawn] Ea Beck, South Kirkby: decision of factual change". GOV.UK. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  14. ^ a b c "Wakefield still on high alert as more rain is forecast". Wakefield Express. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  15. ^ a b RCOMS 2007, p. 4.
  16. ^ "December 1937 report. Includes: Brodsworth - Parkgate Seam, Mill Stream - Old Ea Beck..." discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  17. ^ "Domesday to the dawn of the New Millennium" (PDF). dcrt.org.uk. p. 21. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  18. ^ a b c d e f Ordnance Survey, 1:25000 map
  19. ^ Smith 1986, p. 34.
  20. ^ Ordnance Survey, 25-inch map, 1892-1914
  21. ^ Canham, Boasman & Brady 2017, p. 28.
  22. ^ Historic England. "Tilts Moated Site (1012303)". National Heritage List for England.
  23. ^ "Ea Beck - River and sea levels in England - GOV.UK". check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  24. ^ "Ea Beck level downstream at Norwood - GOV.UK". check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  25. ^ "Don Lower Operational Catchment | Catchment Data Explorer". environment.data.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  26. ^ Reeve, Elizabeth (2015). River Don. Stroud: Amberley Publishing. p. 6. ISBN 978-1445638683.
  27. ^ a b RCOMS 2007, p. 2.
  28. ^ Wellhead, Andrew (January 2008). "Settlement Technical paper" (PDF). wakefield.gov.uk. p. 24. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  29. ^ Canham, Boasman & Brady 2017, p. 43.
  30. ^ Bayliss, Derek, ed. (1995). Industrial archaeology of South Yorkshire. Telford: Association for Industrial Archaeology. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-9508448-9-3.
  31. ^ Dobson & Hull 1931, p. 88.
  32. ^ Canham, Boasman & Brady 2017, pp. 28–29.
  33. ^ "£3m scheme aims to save area from repeat of devastating flood". The Yorkshire Post. 2 September 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  34. ^ a b c "Toll Bar and Bentley flood defence projects under way". BBC News. 3 August 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  35. ^ Wainwright, Martyn (2 July 2007). "Tide begins to turn for flooded villages". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  36. ^ "£3m scheme aims to save area from repeat of devastating flood". The Yorkshire Post. 2 August 2010. Archived from the original on 24 October 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  37. ^ "Toll Bar and Bentley flood defence projects under way". BBC News. 3 August 2010. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  38. ^ "South Yorkshire flooding: Defences 'reduce impact'". BBC News. 8 November 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  39. ^ "Flood Risk Management - Doncaster Council". www.doncaster.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 25 May 2024. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  40. ^ "Catchment Data Explorer Glossary (see Biological quality element; Chemical status; and Ecological status)". Environment Agency. 17 February 2016.
  41. ^ "Ea Beck from Source to Frickley Beck". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  42. ^ "Frickley Beck from Source to Ea Beck". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  43. ^ "Ea Beck from Frickley Beck to the Skell". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  44. ^ "The Skell from Source to Ea Beck". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  45. ^ "Ea Beck from the Skell to River Don". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  46. ^ "Chemical Status". Environment Agency. 2023. Archived from the original on 14 March 2024.
  47. ^ "Firefighters tackle tyre dump blaze". BBC News. 19 February 2003. Archived from the original on 7 March 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  48. ^ Smith 1986, p. 35.
  49. ^ a b Lewis, Claire (11 November 2019). "Doncaster remains on flood alert with five 'severe' warnings issued for town". Doncaster Star. Archived from the original on 24 October 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2022.

Sources

Media related to Ea Beck at Wikimedia Commons

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