![]() Text and photographs copyright of Jim Shead. |
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Description: A 14 mile 5 furlong canal that ran from the Erewash Canal at Langley Mill to Cromford with a branch to Pixton.
History: Authorised by an Act of 1789, opened in 1794. Butterley Tunnel was closed due to subsidence in 1900. The tunnel was 3,063 yards long but with the addition of a road extension it is now closer to 3,100 yards. The whole of the rest of the canal, except for half a mile, was abandoned in 1944 and the final stretch to Langley Mill in 1962.
See Priestley's Navigable Rivers and Canals for more information.
Cromford Canal
1786 | He and William Jessop are believed to have surveyed part of the Cromford Canal around this date. | |
July 1787 | With Benjamin Outram and others he met with the Erewash Canal company to propose an extention of the canal to Pixton but could get no agreement. This being the start of the events that led to the building of the Cromford Canal. | |
December 1788 | He presented his estimate of £42,697 for building the canal at a meeting in Alfreton. | |
1789 | Authorised by an Act. | |
1789 | He was appointed engineer at £350 a year plus expenses and was to give a third of his time to the works. | |
1789 | Was appointed full-time assistant engineer to William Jessop. | |
1790 | Around this date he was probably appointed as one of the two contractors building the canal. | |
1791 | He was now receiving a salary of £400 a year. | |
Early 1792 | The Amber Aqueduct partially failed and he voluntarily paid the £650 repair cost. He also offered to forgo his salary for the past six months and until the completion of the canal but this offer was not accepted. | |
Autumn 1793 | The Derwent Aqueduct cracked and he blames himself for the want of sufficient strngth in the front walls. | |
1794 | Opened. | |
1900 | The 3,063 yard Butterley Tunnel was closed due to subsidence. | |
1944 | The whole of the canal, except for half a mile, was abandoned. | |
1962 | The final stretch to Langley Mill was abandoned. | |
1995 | Nottingham's Lost Canal by Bernard W Chell, Published by Happy Walking (John Merrill) - Informative history and route description of the Cromford Canal. | |
Description: This 9 mile canal with 15 locks crosses the north end of the Kintyre Peninsula and runs from Ardrishaig to Crinan, a distance of about 132 miles by sea.
History: Authorised by an act of 1793 and opened in 1801 but not completely finished until 1809
See Priestley's Navigable Rivers and Canals for more information.
1792 | Having been commissioned by the Duke of Argyll and the Earl of Breadabane to make a survey he reported on two passages, one called the Daill and the other the Achnashelloch passage. The canal itself was to be 66 feet wide at the surface, 30 feet at the bottom and 12 feet deep. | |
December 1792 | He was asked by the committee to superintend the work, to provide iron tools, carts, wheel-barrows, and 'other wheel carriages', coal, meal, stone, sand, clay, timber, iron, lead and huts at 'different stations', and to treat with the landowners for their ground. | |
1793 | Authorised by an Act. | |
January 1793 | At a meeting of subscribers in London it was proposed that the canal be built with a depth of 15 feet so he revised his estimate for the canal to £107,512. | |
December 1793 | He told the company clerk that American oak was the 'worst of all oak' and 'would not last six years in the work'. | |
April 1794 | He was empowered to buy a steam engine for removing earth. Most of the commitee were in favour of reducing the depth of the canal to 12 feet but he and Captain Huddart favoured the 15 feet depth. | |
January 1795 | He changed his mind on the depth of the canal and a decision was made to build it 12 feet deep. It was also decided that the Daill route should be followed and the locks should be 96 by 24 feet. | |
February 1796 | He gave up his previous half-year's salary because he had not found it necessary to visit the works as often as he expected when he took the job. This 'liberal offer' was repaid with a piece of plate valued at 20 guineas. | |
1798 | He thought that the canalwould be used not only by busses and fishing boats but also, because of the war, by vessels returning from the Baltic to the ports of the English Channel. | |
Mid 1798 | He reported that bacause of lack of money he could not fix a completion date. The dimensions of the canal were to vary according to the ground conditions the width varying from 48 to 84 feet at the surface, 25 to 48 feet at the bottom and the depth from 13 to 14 feet. | |
1801 | Opened but not completely finished until 1809. | |
1805 | He recommended James Hollinsworth as resident engineer. | |
1809 | Completely finished. | |
Summer 1812 | He was asked by the Treasury to make a survey of the state of the canal and estimate the cost of completion. | |
January 1813 | He reported that the canal was in "a very imperfect condition". Navigation of the eastern entrance was dangeous due to a range of rocks about 500 feet long that were only visible at low water. Shallow waters outside the western end made navigation of deep draughted vessels impossible except at high tide. Other works were also required and he estimated the cost of repairs as £18,251. | |
December 1816 | Was made responsible for the direction of repairs to the canal and made a detailed inpection of the canal works. | |
January 1817 | He found a contractor to undertake the main repairs. | |
1978 | The Crinan Canal by A D Cameron , Published by Published by the author. | |
1994 | The Crinan Canal - Puffers & Paddle Steamers by Guthrie Hutton, Published by Richard Stenlake - Historic photographs of the canal. | |
Description: Ran 9.25 miles from Croydon, down 28 locks, to join the Grand Surrey Canal at New Cross.
History: Authorised by an Act of 1801, opened in 1809 and closed in 1836, although part of it now forms a boating lake in Croydon.
See Priestley's Navigable Rivers and Canals for more information.
1799 | He produced a plan for a 12 mile canal from Croydon to Rotherhithe. It was to be a small canal taking boats of 10 to 20 tons, 24 feet wide and 3 feet 6 inches deep with two inclined planes and he estimated it would cost £25,000. | |
8 October 1800 | He reported on the canal line that Ralph Dodd had surveyed wirh inclided plans and on one with locks which was to use a different route through Penge Common, Sydenham, Brockley, New Cross and Deptford to Rotherhithe. The former, estimated to cost £46,516 would take boats of 5 to 7 tons while the locked canal, costing £64,100, would take narrowboats. He was not expecting much trade on the canal and pointed out problems with water supply. | |
1801 | Authorised by an Act. | |
1801 | While the canal Bill was going through parliament the Grand Surrey Canal Act was passed so the Croydon Canal was shortened to join it at New Cross. His estimate for inclined plane canal set out in the Bill was £50,847. £4,500 of this was for inclined planes at New Cross and Deptford and £6,200 for two steam engines for hauling boats up the planes. | |
1801 | Started builing the 9.25 mile barge canal about this date. | |
1809 | Opened. | |
1823 | Was paid 300 pounds by the company, presumably as arrears of fees for several previous years. | |
1834 | Surveyed the line of the London & Croydon Railway which proposed making use of the bed of the canal. | |
1836 | Closed. | |
Description: A 0.75 mile cut, with one lock, from the River Thames below Eynsham to the road to Cassington.
History: The Duke of Marlborough's private cut started in 1800 and completed in 1814, both dates approximate. Disused about 1870.
1800 | This private cut of the Duke of Marlborough's started around 1800. | |
1814 | Opened about this date. | |
October 1842 | He was approached by the Duke of Marlborough's agent over the lack of repairs to the wharf following the Oxford Canal company's decision not to renew their lease on the canal and wharf. | |
1870 | Disused about this date. | |
Description: Ran 4 miles, with 5 locks, from the River Ancholme (4 miles south of Brigg) towards, but not reaching, Caistor.
History: Authorised by an Act of 1793, opened about 1800 and abandoned in 1936.
See Priestley's Navigable Rivers and Canals for more information.
3 July 1792 | It was decided to ask him to carry out a survey and prepare a plan. | |
3 October 1792 | His report was considered at a meeting of the Ancholme Navigation Commissioners who were concerned about the effect the proposed navigation would have on drainage. | |
1793 | Authorised by an Act. | |
1795 | Was engineer for the canal when it was built. | |
1800 | Closed. | |
1936 | Abandoned. | |
Description: A proposal for a canal from the Worcester & Birmingham Canal near Worcester Bar to the Warwick & Birmingham Canal near Bordesley and from the Warwick & Birmingham Canal near Solihull to the Oxford Canal at Ansty.
History: Proposed in 1832 but never authorised or built.
1832 | He produced a survey for this proposed canal. |
Description: Runs from Fazeley Junction to Whittington Brook
History: Due to lack of money the Coventry Canal Co. was not able to complete all of its planned canal to Fradley. This part was built by the Trent & Mersey Co, who later transfered it, but the next section by the Birmingham & Fazeley Co, who retained owership.
Late 1787 | He completed the building of this section for the Trent & Mersey Canal Company. Soon afterwards the Coventry Canal exercised its right to buy this section for £10,541. | |
1788 | This part was built by the Trent & Mersey Co, who reported if fully completed. | |
Description: Runs from Coventry to the Trent and Mersey Canal at Fradley Junction, except for a 5.5-mile stretch from Fazeley Junction to Huddlesford Junction which is connected by the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal
History: Promoted by Acts of 1768, 1786 and 1819 and opened in 1790.
See Priestley's Navigable Rivers and Canals for more information.
1766 | Surveyed a line for a canal from Coventry to Tamworth with a river extension from there to Fazeley. | |
1767 | Surveyed the route for the canal. | |
1768 | Promoted by Act. | |
Early 1768 | He was appointed Clerk of Works and sent to Hugh Henshall for a months training. | |
After January 1768 | Appointed engineer and surveyor at £150 a year and undertook to give at least two months attendance in each whole year. | |
1769 | Was appointed assistant to Edmund Lingard working on the construction of the canal. | |
Late 1769 | He was called in to advise the company for a few months. | |
Late 1769 | He was appointed engineer. | |
September 1769 | Dissmissed as engineer by the company. | |
Before 1770 | He left his post of Clerk of Works. | |
Late 1771 | He was called in to advise on the route from Atherstone to Fradley and recommended a new route to Polesworth and replacing the Tame aqueduct by a level crossing of the river. | |
1784 | He and Robert Whitworth advised on the proposed Tame Aqueduct. | |
After June 1785 | He was appointed engineer to build the canal extension from Atherstone to Fazeley. | |
1786 | Promoted by Acts. | |
1790 | Opened. | |
1819 | Promoted by Act. | |
1957 | IWA National Rally at Coventry. | |
1984 | IWA National Festival at Hawkesbury. | |
1987 | IWA National Festival at Hawkesbury. | |
Description: Was a two mile tub boat canal with no locks.
History: Built by Anthony Bacon to connect his iron works to the coal pits and opened in the late 1770s. Abandoned about 1836 No traces remain.
1770 | Built by Anthony Bacon to connect his iron works to the coal pits and opened in the late 1770s. | |
1836 | Abandoned about 1836 No traces remain. | |
Description: Two and three-quarter navigable miles of the Kentish rivers Darenth and Cray. Tidal below Dartford Lock.
History: Promoted by Act of 1840, completed in 1844.
November 1835 | He proposed a ship canal from the entrance to Dartford Creek to the town of Dartford. This was to take vessels of 300 - 400 tons. | |
1840 | Promoted by an Act. | |
1844 | Completed. | |
Description: Runs from Swinton Junction to Barnsley Junction. Now disused.
History: Authorised by an Act of 1793 and completed in 1804.
See Priestley's Navigable Rivers and Canals for more information.
Summer 1792 | He was asked to survey the line for the canal but was too busy. | |
Summer 1792 | He made a survey for canal under William Jessop's supervision. | |
Summer 1792 | Together with John Thompson he surveyed a route for the navigation. | |
Summer 1792 | Together with William Fairbank he surveyed a route for the navigation. | |
October 1792 | He as engineer for the company and William Jessop for the Barnsley Canal jointly planned a level junction lock to ensure that neither canal lost water. | |
22 December 1792 | He started a two day survey for a canal from the river to Barnsley. | |
1793 | Authorised by an Act. | |
Spring 1793 | He gave evidence on the Bill for the navigation around this time. | |
Summer 1793 | He took charge of the construction of the canal and in July offered contracts for the cutting and preparation of stone. | |
Spring 1795 | He surveyed the unfinished canal. | |
1804 | Completed. | |
12 November 1804 | He, or his brother Robert, probably took over and completed the canal following their father's death in 1799. | |
12 November 1804 | He, or his brother William, probably took over and completed the canal following their father's death in 1799. | |
After July 1823 | He recommended raising Worsbrough reservoir by 4 foot 6 inches thus increasing it from 42 to 62 acres at a cost of £3,150 plus the cost of the land. The work was finished in 1826. He also said that the canal locks were too lightly built and it was agreed to reconstruct 2 or 3 each year. | |
Late 1864 | Increased the capaicity of Cold Hiendley reservoir by 1,000 lockfulls. | |
Description: Work was started, but never finished, on an 8-mile branch of this canal, which was authorised to run from Blandford to the Kennet & Avon at Widbrooke near Bradford on Avon.
History: Authorised by an Act of 1796 but never opened.
See Priestley's Navigable Rivers and Canals for more information.
September 1793 | He reported on his survey and suggested a 37 mile route from the proposed Kennet & Avon Canal at Freshford to Stalbridge this would cost £100,000 and had good water supplies. From Stalbridge the line south could either go past Blandford at an estimated cost of £83,000 for 33 miles of canal, or by Wareham, which was £91,000 for 30 miles and had difficulties with water supply. | |
1794 | On Robert Whitworth's recommendation he was employed in conducting a detailed suryey of the route for main line and branches of the canal. | |
Mid 1795 | Completed his survey and estimated the cost as £200,000. Later changes were made and he estimated the shorter route as £146,018. | |
1796 | Authorised by an Act of 1796 but never opened. | |
1800 | Tests on his vertical boat lift were made and proved successful. | |
March 1802 | He was perhaps the "Underhill" who reported to the shareholder's meeting on the cost of completing the Frome branch and on the present and future supplies from local collieries. | |
1803 | Abandoned around 1803. | |
1971 | The Dorset and Somerset Canal by Kenneth R Clew , Published by David & Charles. | |
Description: Ran three-quarters of a mile from the Severn, 3 miles below Stourport, to Andrew Yarraton's Blast furnace at Astley. It probably had 2 flash locks.
History: Was made navigable after 1653 and was probably only used for a short time.
1653 | Made navigable by Andrew Yarranton about this date. | |
After 1653 | He made the brook navigable with two flash locks in the first yards from the Severn. These were built to take iron-ore to a forge about half a mile above the upper lock. | |
Description: A one mile level canal that ran from the Glamorganshire Canal at Denia to Treforest.
History: Dr Richard Griffiths built this canal to serve coal mines on his land. It was opened in 1813 and was derelict by 1918.
1813 | Opened. | |
1918 | Was derelict by 1918. | |
Description: A short backwater and cut linking the Oxford Canal with the Thames
History: Built by the Duke of Marlborough and when opened in 1789 formed the first link between the Thames and the Oxford Canal. The alternative link at Isis Lock was opened in 1796.
1789 | Built by the Duke of Marlborough opened, and formed the first link between the Thames and the Oxford Canal. | |
Description: Runs from Almere Ferry to Point of Air, 33 miles in total. Tidal below Chester weir.
History: Promoted by Acts of 1734, 1744 and 1791.
See Priestley's Navigable Rivers and Canals for more information.
1734 | Promoted by Act. | |
1744 | Promoted by Act. | |
1791 | Promoted by Act. | |
1934 | The Wizard Dee. A June Voyage from Bala to the Sea by T W Cubbon, Published by Witherby - Illustrated. | |
Description: Was a 17.5 mile river navigation with 13 locks from the Ribble up to Wigan.
History: Authorised by an Act of 1720 but not opened until around 1742. All of the traffic was lost to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal by 1801.
See Priestley's Navigable Rivers and Canals for more information.
1712 | He surveyed the river and recommended a navigation for carrying coal from Wigan to the Ribble. | |
1720 | Authorised by an Act. | |
7 April 1721 | Under an Act of Parliament he and William Squire were given powers to make the river navigable from the Ribble estuary to Miry Lane End, Wigan. | |
June 1721 | He was taken to court by some shareholders who alleged that his scheme to make the river navigable was impractical and only designed to raise money from unwary persons. | |
1742 | Opened around 1742. | |
1801 | All of the traffic was lost to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal by 1801. | |