Stover Canal

Stover Canal
Stover Canal
	The north side of the bridge at Teignbridge
Specifications
Maximum boat length	56 ft 0 in (17.07 m)
Locks	5
Status	Restoration pending
History
Original owner	James Templer
Principal engineer	Thomas Gray
Date of first use	1792
Date closed	1937
Geography
Start point	Jetty Marsh, Newton Abbot
End point	Ventiford
Connects to	River Teign

Stover Canal

Legend

					Jewsbridge feeder
					Ventiford Basin
					Wharf

				5	Teigngrace lock

				4	Graving Dock lock
					Fishwick feeder
				3	Teignbridge lock
					Wharf
					Newton to Exeter road
				1-2	Jetty Marsh staircase
					Whitelake channel
					Teign Navigation

The Stover Canal is a canal located in Devon, England. It was opened in 1792 and served the ball clay industry until it closed in the early 1940s. Today it is derelict, but the Stover Canal Society is aiming to restore it and reopen it to navigation.

History

The canal was built at a time when the ball clay industry was expanding, but transport of the bulky product was difficult.

Act of Parliament which would allow him to raise more capital, but although the Act was passed on 11 June 1792, he did not invoke its powers, as the canal had already reached Ventiford, Teigngrace and he did not extend it further.^[1]

As built, the canal was 1.7 miles (2.7 km) long and included five locks. It was supplied with water from three feeders, one from

Grade 2 listed.^[4]

Having invested most of his capital in the project, James Templer was rewarded by the success of the canal. A major contract with Josiah Wedgwood and Sons was re-established in 1798. Wedgwood remained the major recipient of the ball clay until 1815, after which trade was established with other pottery manufacturers and other ports.^[5]

James' son,

12th Duke of Somerset, who by then had inherited the Stover estate, sought to sell both the canal and the trackbed of the derelict Granite Tramway to the fledgling railway company.^[8] It was duly sold for £8,000 on 4 June 1862, by which time the section above Teignbridge was effectively redundant, and so the railway company was not required to maintain it.^[9] However, the section up to Graving Dock lock was retained, so that users of the canal could still repair their barges, and it was at this point that the new dock was constructed which gave the Graving Dock lock its name. The canal was almost immediately leased to Watts, Blake and Co., a company who sank clay-pits.^[10]

The canal passed into the ownership of the Great Western Railway in 1877, but continued to be leased to Watts, Blake and Co., who paid a fixed price for its use, and were also required to maintain it. Traffic dwindled and finally ceased in 1937, but Watts, Blake and Company's latest 14-year lease did not end until 1942,^[11] and so it was not formally abandoned until March 1943.^[12] It remained in water until 1951, when one of the banks was breached, flooding a clay pit.^[13]

Restoration

In the late 1980s, parts of the towpath were incorporated into the Templer Way historical trail, created by Teignbridge District Council, who were by then owners of Jetty Marsh Lock and Ventiford Basin. The rest of the canal was owned by Railtrack.^[14] In early 1999, the West Country Branch of the Inland Waterways Association and the Newton Abbot Fishing Association approached Teignbridge District Council to suggest that they negotiate with Railtrack to obtain the rest of the canal. Plans for a local canal society came out of these talks, and the Stover Canal Society was formed in February 1999.^[15]

After negotiation, Railtrack agreed to hand over the canal to the District Council for leisure use. The Stover Canal Society worked with the District Council to formulate a strategy for its restoration, and this led to the creation of a Charitable Trust, on which the District Council, other local authorities and the Canal Society are all represented. Control of the remains passed to the Trust in February 2010, when a formal lease was signed.^[14] In 2013 the towpath was opened to public access; in 2014 the remains of a barge were excavated in Ventiford Basin and a new stretch of the granite tramway was discovered.^[14] Work was carried out on the Graving Dock Lock in 2015, aided by a grant from the Association for Industrial Archaeology. With labour provided by the Waterway Recovery Group, some of the stonework was dismantled, to allow tree roots to be removed, after which it was reinstated and the blockwork was repointed. Subsequently, a grant was received from the Tesco 'Bags of Help' scheme, and local craftsmen completed the work in 2016.^[16] Ventiford Basin was cleared of silt by staff from a local clay company in 2016, with the work uncovering the remains of two more barges and another section of the Haytor Granite Tramway. After the stonework had been repointed, a dam was built at the southern end of the basin, and it was relined with puddle clay, allowing it to refill with water during 2019.^[17]

Points of interest

Point	Coordinates (Links to map resources)	OS Grid Ref	Notes
Ventiford Basin	50°33′40″N 3°37′39″W / 50.5612°N 3.6275°W / 50.5612; -3.6275 (Ventiford Basin)	SX848747
Teigngrace Lock	50°33′21″N 3°37′30″W / 50.5557°N 3.6250°W / 50.5557; -3.6250 (Teigngrace Lock)	SX849741
Graving Dock Lock	50°33′10″N 3°37′15″W / 50.5529°N 3.6207°W / 50.5529; -3.6207 (Graving Dock Lock)	SX852738
Teignbridge Lock	50°32′55″N 3°36′55″W / 50.5485°N 3.6154°W / 50.5485; -3.6154 (Teignbridge Lock)	SX856733
Jn with WhiteLake Channel	50°32′16″N 3°36′29″W / 50.5379°N 3.6080°W / 50.5379; -3.6080 (Jn with WhiteLake Channel)	SX861721	Jetty Marsh Lock

Map all coordinates using OpenStreetMap

Download coordinates as:

Bibliography

Ewans, M.C. (1966). The Haytor Granite Tramway and Stover Canal. Newton Abbot: David & Charles.
Harris, Helen; Thurlow, George (1994). The Haytor Granite Tramway and Stover Canal. Peninsula Press.
ISBN 978-1-872640-28-0
.

Squires, Roger (2008). Britain's restored canals. Landmark Publishing.
ISBN 978-1-84306-331-5
.

References

^ Ewans 1966, pp. 14–15.
^ Ewans 1966, pp. 15–16.
^ Ewans 1966, p. 15.
^ The website of the Stover Canal Society
^ Ewans 1966, p. 16.
^ ^a ^b Ewans 1966, p. 23.
^ Ewans 1966, p. 29.
^ Ewans 1966, pp. 36–37.
^ Ewans 1966, pp. 39–41.
^ Ewans 1966, p. 41.
^ Ewans 1966, p. 44.
^ Ewans 1966, p. 50
^ "History of the Stover Canal". Stover Canal Society. Archived from the original on 13 February 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c "The Present and the Future". Stover Canal Society. Archived from the original on 7 December 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
^ Squires 2008, p. 144
^ "Restoration of the Graving Dock Lock". Stover Canal Trust. Archived from the original on 7 December 2016.
^ "Restoration of the Ventiford Basin". Stover Canal Trust. Archived from the original on 10 September 2019.

External links

Media related to Stover Canal at Wikimedia Commons

[FOOTNOTEEwans196614–15-1] Ewans 1966, pp. 14–15.

[FOOTNOTEEwans196615–16-2] Ewans 1966, pp. 15–16.

[FOOTNOTEEwans196615-3] Ewans 1966, p. 15.

[stover-4] The website of the Stover Canal Society

[FOOTNOTEEwans196616-5] Ewans 1966, p. 16.

[FOOTNOTEEwans196623-6] Ewans 1966, p. 23.

[FOOTNOTEEwans196629-7] Ewans 1966, p. 29.

[FOOTNOTEEwans196636–37-8] Ewans 1966, pp. 36–37.

[FOOTNOTEEwans196639–41-9] Ewans 1966, pp. 39–41.

[FOOTNOTEEwans196641-10] Ewans 1966, p. 41.

[FOOTNOTEEwans196644-11] Ewans 1966, p. 44.

[12] Ewans 1966, p. 50

[13] "History of the Stover Canal". Stover Canal Society. Archived from the original on 13 February 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2014.

[SCS-14] "The Present and the Future". Stover Canal Society. Archived from the original on 7 December 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2014.

[15] Squires 2008, p. 144

[16] "Restoration of the Graving Dock Lock". Stover Canal Trust. Archived from the original on 7 December 2016.

[17] "Restoration of the Ventiford Basin". Stover Canal Trust. Archived from the original on 10 September 2019.

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