Bishop Dike |
| Hob Uid: 974012 | |
Location :
North Yorkshire
Selby
Cawood, Sherburn in Elmet, Ryther cum Ossendyke, Biggin, Barkston Ash
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| Grid Ref : SE5329335605 |
| Summary : Artificial water channel and feeder - probably built as a canal for transportation of stone from Huddleston Quarry in the C15th. Now used solely as a drainage ditch |
More information : SE 492365 - SE 573378. Bishop Dike (NAT) (1)
Bishop Dyke is an artificial channel which runs from the banks of the Ouse at Cawood to Sherburn-in-Elmet. It is generally very straight and has a uniform width of about 16ft and a depth of water (measured in May 1980 at the end of a dry season) of about 3ft in the centre shelving to 1ft 6ins. at the edges. The surface water appears to have a uniform gradient from Cawood to Sherburn, deriving from the lake at Barkston. The adjacent Bishop Dyke Road which is for the greater part of its length a raised causeway seems to have been constructed at the same time as the formation of Bishop Dyke. One purpose of the dyke may have been to bring the spring water from the hills around Sherburn to Cawood to feed the mill there, or to supply the moats (SE 53 NE 2) but it also has all the appearance of having been built as a transport canal. Land drainage and the reclamation of the fen must be excluded as a good part of the Bishop Dyke lies above the level of the surrounding ground and the earlier pre-existing drainage systems which lead to Selby Dam have been carefully maintained. It can only be assumed that an engineering project on this scale must have been planned in connection with the transportation of stone from the quarry at Huddleston (SE 43 SE 15). There are indications on the ground that a branch canal probably ran across the marshy area just to the north of Sherburn and for a considerable distance up the narrow valley below the quarry. (2-3)
Bishop Dike was in use as a canal in the 15th century. (4) |