The dam's failure led to reforms in engineering practice, setting standards on specifics that needed to be met when constructing such large-scale structures.

His uncle, George Leather, had been responsible for reservoirs around Leeds and Bradford, and one of these was the scene of a dramatic collapse, in 1852, when 81 people died.

Gunson convinced himself that the crack was not harmful but still took the precaution of opening up the valves on the middle of the embankment to allow more water through.

The company denied any problems relating to their structure and design of the dam, and believed that the cause of the crack and the collapse involved a landslide or landslip.

Public perception, informed by the Coroner's court and the press, saw the collapse as due to a failure in the mode of construction of the dam.

[clarification needed][3] They thought that on the basis of landslipping they would pardon the Sheffield Waterworks Company from any carelessness and that the collapse of the Dale Dyke Dam was an unpredictable accident.

They continued: We are moreover of the opinion that all the arrangements made by your engineers were such as might have been reasonably expected to have proved sufficient for the purposes for which they were intended and that, if the ground beneath the bank had not moved, this work would have been as safe and as perfect as the other five or six large reservoirs of the company which have so long supplied the town of Sheffield and the rivers Rivelin, Loxley and Don with water.

[3] This then set standards on specifics that needed to be met when constructing such large-scale structures as the Dale Dyke Dam.

[3] The Government started a Board of Inundation Commissioners to pass judgement for compensation claims against the Waterworks Company.

They provide a unique insight into mid-Victorian Sheffield's trade and industry with claims listed for stock, tools and premises damaged and lost.

The claims for furniture, clothes, books, toys and household utensils and goods help build up a picture of workers' lives at the time.

Events took place to commemorate the occasion, including an illustrated talk and exhibition at Low Bradfield Village Hall, guided walks to the dam, memorial services at St Nicholas, High Bradfield and St Polycarps, Malin Bridge, and a public talk at the University of Sheffield by the Institution of Civil Engineers and the British Dam Society.