River Idle
The River Idle is a river in Nottinghamshire, England, formed by the confluence of the River Maun and the River Meden near Markham Moor. It flows north from its source through Retford and Bawtry before joining the River Trent at West Stockwith. Its main tributaries are the River Poulter and the River Ryton. The river is navigable as far as Bawtry, with a statutory right of navigation extending to Retford. Much of the land surrounding the Idle consists of broad flood plain, and the river is significant for conservation, with several Sites of Special Scientific Interest being designated along its course.
Etymology
The origin of the name is not known. River Idle is commonly taken to mean 'slow river' but this is unlikely as river names tend to be even older than settlement names, and the modern name is also at odds with the fact that it is known as a very fast flowing river.The Survey of English Placenames suggests that Idle can mean an empty or uncultivated place. This would fit with the finding that it runs through Bassetlaw which was previously known as Bernetseatte. Bede names the river 'Idla' in 617 with reference to the Battle. This preserves what might have been an earlier ending -ea In 1200 the river appears as Yddil.
More fancifully, the Jacobean antiquary Dr. Robert Thoroton suggested, before the advent of modern etymology, that the name derived instead from a supposed Roman place-name - Adelocum - claiming that "the river Idle had its name from corn, with which the neighbouring fields ever abounded, and Adelocum was intended by the Romans for the place upon Ydel, after the broad pronunciation of Ai for I, which is still frequent in this country...Ydle signifying a granary amongst the Britons". Unfortunately for his hypothesis, the Roman settlement at Littleborough is now known to have been named Segelocum rather than Adelocum, and so cannot have been the origin of the River Idle's name.
Hydrology
The River Idle is a significant tributary of the River Trent. The Rivers Maun, Meden and Poulter meet near Eaton, south of Retford to form the River Idle and are joined just above Bawtry by the River Ryton. The River Idle turns eastwards at Bawtry to its confluence with the River Trent at the village of West Stockwith.The catchment area for the River Idle covers some, which has an average annual rainfall of . About a third of this finds its way into the rivers.
There are sources of groundwater across the Idle catchment area, which is dominated by Lower Magnesian Limestone, Sherwood Sandstone and Mercia Mudstone. To the west of the catchment area the underlying geology is Lower Magnesian Limestone which contains quantities of the mineral Dolomite, and is rich in Magnesium. To the east there is the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone aquifer, which is the major geological component of the area. Continuing eastwards, both are these are covered by a layer of Mercia mudstone. Where these aquifers reach the surface, they often supply water to the river system, but can also take water from it.
Public water supply in the Idle catchment area is primarily sourced from the principal aquifer of the Sherwood Sandstone with multiple borehole sites. However, the catchment also receives imported water from Derbyshire. Three water companies cover the catchment area: Severn Trent Water, Anglian Water and Yorkshire Water.
This is affected by the extraction of groundwater, particularly for public water supply, and by fracturing of the aquifers as a result of subsidence caused by deep coal mining.
History
It is possible that Bawtry acted as a sea port from Roman times, but little is known of this early period. However, it was associated with the sea by the 12th century, when the parish church was dedicated to St Nicholas, the patron saint of seafarers, and the Hundred Rolls of 1276 listed it as a port. There are records of lead being shipped during the early 1300s, and wool was shipped to Dordrecht from Nottinghamshire via Hull in 1337. The prosperous trading community there suffered a downturn in the early 16th century, but subsequently recovered, with lead being shipped directly to London in 1596. In the same year, a ford constructed across the Bycarrsdyke was described as "a great hindrance to navigation."The Battle of the River Idle
records the Battle of the River Idle in 616 or 617 in the Historia Ecclesiastica as part of the story of how Edwin came to be king of Northumbria. Bede tells how Rædwald provided refuge for the exiled Edwin, before assembling an army to confront Edwin's dynastic enemy Æthelfrith. The two armies met on the western boundary of the kingdom of Lindsey, on the east bank of the River Idle. The battle was said to be so fierce that it was commemorated in the saying, 'The river Idle was foul with the blood of Englishmen'. During the fighting, both Æthelfrith and Rædwald's son Rægenhere were slain. Edwin then succeeded Æthelfrith as the king of Northumbria, and Æthelfrith's sons were subsequently forced into exile.A separate account of the battle, given by Henry of Huntingdon in the 12th century Historia Anglorum, stated that Rædwald's army was split into three formations, led by Rædwald, Rægenhere, and Edwin. With more experienced fighters, Æthelfrith attacked in loose formation. At the sight of Rægenhere, perhaps thinking he was Edwin, Æthelfrith's men cut their way through to him and slew him. After the death of his son, Rædwald furiously breached Æthelfrith's lines, killing him and resulting in a great slaughter of the Northumbrians.
Vermuyden and the Participants
Until the 17th century, the Idle flowed northwards across Hatfield Chase. To the west of Wroot, the River Torne formed two channels, both of which joined the Idle to the east of Wroot, and the Idle continued to join the River Don to the north west of Sandtoft. From Dirtness, the Don flowed to the north east, to Adlingfleet, where it joined the River Trent near to its confluence with the River Ouse. At some point, a navigable channel was cut from the Idle, running eastwards to the River Trent. Dates for this are uncertain, but it is known to have existed prior to the Domesday survey of 1086, and the villages of East Stockwith and West Stockwith developed at the junction with the Trent. Bykers Dyke was some long, and diverted the majority of the flow of the Idle to Stockwith.In 1626, the Dutch drainage engineer Cornelius Vermuyden was appointed by King Charles I to drain Hatfield Chase. Vermuyden brought over a number of Walloon partners, known as 'The Participants', who took shares and performed the drainage work, which was completed two years later. The Idle's northern course was blocked by a dam constructed at a place which subsequently became known as 'Idle Stop', its waters diverted along the Bycarrs Dyke. The ancient channel was straightened, made deeper, and embanked.
In order to isolate the river from Hatfield Chase, a barrier bank was constructed along the northern edge of this channel, for from the dam to West Stockwith. A navigable sluice was built about from the river mouth at Misterton Soss by Vermuyden's nephew, John Liens, between 1629 and 1630, to prevent water from the Trent flooding the land to the south of Bycarrs Dike. The construction was of timber, with high banks running to the Trent on both sides of the channel. Lifting gates gave access to a lock chamber, which could be used when the Trent was not in flood. Liens was compelled to carry out the work by the Court of Sewers, to prevent the flooding of Misterton and Haxey Commons.
A drainage channel called the New Idle River was constructed in a straight line from Idle Stop to Dirtness, crossing the Torne by a tunnel at Tunnel Pits, about halfway along its course. From Dirtness, it was routed to the east to Hirst, where it was joined by the new course of the Torne, and the two channels ran parallel to an outfall at Althorpe on the Trent.
There was a great deal of dissatisfaction with the drainage scheme, which resulted in claims and counter-claims in the courts. A petition alleging that the Participants had caused damage was brought to the Privy Council by several local authorities from Nottinghamshire, and was judged in their favour. The Commission of Sewers decided that a new cut was needed, to carry water from Misterton, Gringley and Everton to the Trent, and so relieve the Idle, but only about was constructed before landowners objected and the work was not completed.
The English Civil War
During the English Civil War much of the drainage scheme was damaged. The Dutch engineers or 'Participants' supported the King, while ordinary people on the Isle of Axholme supported the Parliamentarians. Alleging that the Royalists would invade Axholme from the south, villagers broke down Misterton sluice and the Snow Sewer flood gates in 1642 or 1643, causing widespread flooding and damage estimated at £20,000. The Sheriff of Lincoln repaired both structures, but a band of 400 villagers destroyed them again. Legal action and rioting continued for some years. Nathaniel Reading, acting for the Participants, raised an 'army' in 1656, and fought a total of 31 pitched battles, including several against the men of Misterton and Gringley. It was not until 1719 that the issues were finally settled and peace returned to the area.Navigation and the 1720 act of Parliament
The Idle was only navigable to Bawtry using shallow-drafted boats that were capable of carrying between 12 and 24 tons. Following the construction of the lock at Misterton Soss, which had guillotine gates, any sailing vessels using the river had to lower their masts, and although trade increased during the 17th century, the size of boats on the river tended to be smaller, with their cargoes being transhipped into larger vessels once they reached the Trent. The destruction of the drainage works and the lock during riots in 1643 meant that ships could again reach Bawtry, and lead was shipped directly to Amsterdam in 1645. A new sluice was built in 1645, on the instruction of the Court of Sewers, but by 1720 it was hindering navigation, and the Court of Sewers ruled that the gates should be kept open, unless there was a danger of flooding. Soon afterwards, the single guillotine gate was replaced by a pound lock, which had mitred gates at its upper end and a guillotine gate at its lower end. The new lock was completed by 1724, and was long by wide. By 1833, the guillotine gate had been replaced by a second pair of mitred gates.In 1720, the merchants of East Retford obtained an act of Parliament, the , to allow them to make the river navigable to Retford and to charge tolls. Although no work was carried out, the plans were still being considered in 1757, by which time much of the river's trade had been lost - the Derbyshire lead trade using an improved River Derwent and the Sheffield trade using the River Don Navigation. Of the 4,415 tons of goods handled by Bawtry wharf in 1767, over 25 percent was lead, but trade had been declining for some years.
The opening of the Chesterfield Canal in 1777 and the Great Northern Railway in 1849 severely affected traffic, with Piercy, a local historian from Retford reporting in 1828 that the river was "idle, as far as navigation goes, and in all probability will remain so." Misterton Soss was rebuilt in 1883 as a three-arched bridge, with gates and boards to control the river level. The upper gates of the lock faced upstream, but it appears that by 1910 the lower gates of the lock and those on the arches used as sluices all faced downstream, so that they closed as the tide rose. Thus vessels could only pass through when the Idle and Trent made a level.