The Chesterfield Canal opened in 1777 and ran from West Stockwith in Nottinghamshire to Chesterfield in Derbyshire - a distance of 46 miles. The line was surveyed by James Brindley and John Varley and the cost estimated at just under £100,000. The canal had 65 locks but the major engineering feature was the Norwood Tunnel.
At 2,884 yards, Norwood Tunnel is virtually the same length as the Harecastle Tunnel, also surveyed by Brindley and which opened by coincidence just 10 days later than Norwood. The tunnel was excavated using a number of shafts and around three million bricks were used to line it. At least two fatalities were recorded during construction.
The tunnel faced triple challenges - water shortage, subsidence due to nearby coal extraction and, in later years, competition from the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway which eventually purchased the Chesterfield Canal in 1847. The tunnel finally became impassable after a collapse in 1907. The tunnel portals were sealed in 1962. The western portal is visible but the eastern (in South Yorkshire) is buried beneath colliery waste.
Today the Chesterfield Canal Trust is working to restore navigation on the canal and has plans to reuse the eastern part of the tunnel and replace the western section with cuttings, possibly with additional locks.