1875 October 23, Sheffield Telegraph
The Terrible Floods
Exciting scenes at Doncaster, Mexborough, Swinton, Conisbrough, and Kilnhurst
Conisbrough is peculiarly situated. Half of it lies almost on the summit of a hill, and the rest at the base of a valley. The river intersects the two portions, and the land of either side is flat. About 30 houses in the lower part you can see before you visit them have suffered severely, for the water, even as you see it from the top of the hill, nearly half a mile away, reaches up to the house doors.
A closer inspection reveals a much more serious state of affairs, the road “dips” very considerably. just after the venerable old Castle has been passed, and a turn in the path reveals to you a curious scene – a scene almost idyllic in its surroundings. There is an old Mill, there is a row of cottages, and on the left a quaint old farmhouse rears its head up amongst the trees. On the pathway about 100 people had assembled, and most of them are engaged in clearing out the cottages, where the flood has left a rich deposit of mud. Others are idling about because their work has been stopped by the water; and altogether the aspect of affairs is most desolate.
If we had space we would give many personal narratives, even with this limit of 20 houses – for we are taking one row as an example – which should show the distress which has been caused in the locality. The first alarm of the flood was given about two o’clock on Wednesday, and as it began to rise very rapidly. The people in the houses – which are close to the Flour mills of Messrs Hudson – at once commenced to remove their furniture.
In some instances they were successful in getting their “household goods” upstairs, but in others the inhabitants of the houses had to fly precipitately to the upper rooms, and to leave their furniture to take care of itself. Those who were fortunate enough to get upstairs with their furniture and belongings, such as wives, children, etc, were imprisoned there for more than 24 hours; and for some time they were in considerable danger.
Even yesterday the water rose almost to the doorstep of the houses, and the marks of the rising were quite visible to the top panes of the lower windows. What anybody could have seen on a visit to this low-lying part of Conisbrough yesterday was simply this – at the mill, a few yards from their houses, we have described, a team of horses standing up to their necks were vainly trying to drag away a heavy cart laden with sacks of grain. The gasworks, hard by had been stopped for the day before, by the water getting in and putting out the fires, and altogether the entire community in this lower part of Conisbrough were idle and disconsolate. In most cases the distress caused by the calamity will be very marked. Household furniture was damaged and destroyed; husbands were thrown out of work, when they could ill afford to be idle; and wives,
`Bone weary, many childed, troubled tried´
had to wonder about from shelter themselves and their children in a district where people as a rule, have quite sufficient to do to provide accommodation for themselves. Those who were compelled to remain in the upper rooms of the houses were rescued by means of boats and ladders. The lock house, a little further up the river, was flooded from floor to cellar, and from this point nothing can be seen but an unbroken waste of waters. Messrs Booth’s Sickle works were in the very forefront of the flood, and had to be stopped; and Messrs Kilner’s Glassworks also suffered considerable damage, although the men had not to stop work. The melting shops were those most injured. From this point the drive passes through a district where you can phone some idea of the real magnitude of the flood
The District around Conisbrough Station
The area around Conisbrough Station can scarcely in the limits of a newspaper report be adequately described. If you look behind you, you can see so far as the eye can reach a desert of water, which is broken here and there by a solitary plantation or building, only to take up the line of the floods as they cover all the low lying ground. The course of the river can only be traced by the current running more quickly in some parts than in others; and where the landmarks are only dimly outlined in the distance the vast field of water can be only seen. A few 100 yards from the station can be seen the shadow of a bridge which once crossed the river; but now the bridge is scarcely visible and the trees and hedges are only able to show their heads. In fact it would be difficult to imagine a scene of more utter devastation and desolation that can be seen from this viewpoint.