Great Sheffield Flood: memorial events held to mark 160th anniversary
This week marks 160 years since the Dale Dyke Dam burst - as it was being filled up for the first time
Last updated 5th Sep 2024
This weekend, people across Sheffield and South Yorkshire are marking the 160th anniversary of the Great Flood - an event which saw thousands of homes plunged under water - and hundreds who lost their lives.
That includes those at the Sheffield General Cemetery, with a special exhibition in the Samual Worth Chapel happening - to help people learn more about the disaster, and those who tragically died.
During the incident, around 700 million gallons of water flooded towards the city back in 1864 - when the Dale Dyke Dam collapsed as it was being filled for the first time.
At the Sheffield General Cemetery, there are 71 flood victims buried - with the Trust this weekend marking the approximate locations of their graves with blue ribbons with name tags tied to bamboo canes.
They highlighted that it's not just adults who lost their lives, with the group using shorter canes for children.
Markers in some places have been closely packed, to show how several of the victims were all in the same grave.
The Great Flood
The flood happened on 11 March 1984, when the embankment of the Dale Dyke Dam breached during a storm - as it was being filled for the very first time.
In total, nearly 700 million gallons of this water rushed eight miles down the Loxley Valley and right towards Sheffield, which at the time, was less of a city - and more of a town.
Hundreds of poeple died in the incident, as well as in the days following.
The dam was built by the Sheffield Waterworks Company as a result of the rapid population growth of Sheffield back in the mid 19th Century, with census data showing there were more than four times as many people in 1861 than there were just sixty years earlier.
The cause of the disaster was never fully determined - but it was at the time blamed on a crack in the embankment.
You can read more about the disaster on the Sheffield Flood Claims Archive.