Ceremony held to mark anniversary of Great Sheffield Flood which claimed hundreds of lives

Councillor Denise Fox, lord mayor of Sheffield, laid flowers at the Flood Memorial at Millsands on Saturday at 11.30am. This was followed by a talk on the disaster by historians Ron Clayton and Mick Drewry at the Harlequin pub in Nursery Street. The flood is regarded as the country’s biggest man-made disaster. Just before midnight on March 11, 1864, a wall of water smashed its way through Sheffield when the newly built Dale Dyke Dam in Bradfield failed. An estimated three million cubic metres of water swept down the Loxley Valley to Hillsborough, then through Sheffield and on to Rotherham. More than 290 people are said to have died as a result of the flood. The death toll from the flood night was 240 but historians say it probably exceeded 300 due to diseases caused by the water. 293 people are officially named on the Sheffield Flood Memorial.Malin Bridge was worst hit by the flood waters, with 102 deaths. In addition, more than 700 buildings and 20 bridges were also destroyed. A number of events were held around the city to mark the 150th year anniversary of the disaster in 2014.