The main line to Greasbrough closed in 1840 with the coming of the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway, and the canal ceased to carry commercial traffic during the First World War.

[1] His survey, which is in the Sheffield Archives Office, was judged to be good by the engineer John Smeaton, but he thought that the scheme lacked an adequate water supply.

[1] The canal, when opened in 1780, left the River Don Navigation above Eastwood lock, and passed under the road to Rawmarsh, to reach a terminal from where the coal was loaded, on the eastern side of the village of Greasbrough.

A short branch, around 500 yards (460 m) in length, left this canal and, travelling in a north-easterly direction, terminated by Taylors Lane at Parkgate, near to its junction with School Road.

Traffic figures for 1834 included 10,452 tons of coal, which originated from Earl Fitzwilliam's colliery at Park Gate, and passed on to the Sheffield Canal.

[5] The branch was completed and opened on 7 August 1839, linking the Sheffield and Rotherham main line at Holmes to the tramways serving the canal.

The Newbiggin Colliery branch closed in the late nineteenth century, whilst the lower portion, which still exists, was not used by commercial traffic after the end of the First World War.

[3] There is no evidence of the original main line on the 1892 map, although it ran broadly parallel to the stream which runs from the bottom of Mill Dam at Greasbrough.