Thames and Severn Canal
Thames and Severn Canal | |
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North Wilts Canal, River Thames |
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The Thames and Severn Canal is a
At its eastern end, it connects to the top of the navigable
, which when built was the longest canal tunnel in Britain, and remains the second-longest complete tunnel. There were always problems with water supply, as no reservoirs were built, while the summit section near the tunnel ran through porous limestone, and there were constant difficulties with leakage. Competition from the railways took much of the canal's traffic by the end of the 19th century, and most of the canal was abandoned in 1927, the remainder in 1941.Since 1972, the
In 2010, British Waterways gave Inglesham Lock to the Trust, and the Inland Waterways Association mounted a national campaign to fund its restoration (and 420 yards (380 m) of canal above). To re-open the whole canal some major engineering obstacles will need to be overcome.
History
Since the 1730s, when the first
The estimated cost of the project was £127,916, most of which was promised within three weeks. The bill to authorise the canal passed through Parliament relatively easily, and became an Act on 17 April 1783. The company could raise an initial £130,000, with an additional £60,000 if required. The canal was to be suitable for boats 12 feet (3.7 m) wide, and so could accommodate
There was great debate about the gauge of the tunnel required at Sapperton. Commissioners from the River Thames thought that it would have to be built for narrow boats, since the cost of a larger tunnel would be prohibitive. It was also going to be longer than any tunnel yet built. However, a decision was made that it would be built as a broad tunnel, 15 feet (4.6 m) wide and high, and so the company advertised for tunnellers. The tunnel was expected to take four years to complete when work began at the start of 1784, but it was not completed until April 1789.
The canal opened in stages as it was completed. The first 4 miles (6.4 km) from Wallbridge to Chalford opened in January 1785, and by mid-1786, the navigable section had reached the western portal of the tunnel, 7+1⁄2 miles (12.1 km) and 28 locks from Wallbridge. A wharf was built at Daneway Bridge, equipped with a warehouse and coalyard.[4]
The tunnel was constructed from many workfaces, with 25 shafts sunk along its course to provide access. After completion there were problems, and the tunnel was shut for two and a half months during 1790 for further work to be carried out. The summit level and the branch to Cirencester were completed in 1787, and became operational as soon as the tunnel opened. The final section to the junction with the Thames at Inglesham, which descends through 16 locks, was finished in November 1789.[4] The canal was completed at a cost of £250,000.[5] With the Stroudwater Navigation, which had been completed in 1779, it completed a link between the River Severn in the west and the River Thames in the east.
As built, the main line was just under 28.7 miles (46.2 km) long and had 44 locks. The branch to Cirencester added a further 1.5 miles (2.4 km). The first 2.5 miles (4 km) from Wallbridge to Brimscombe, where there was a transhipment basin, was built with locks 69 by 16 feet (21.0 by 4.9 m), enabling Severn trows to use it. Beyond that, the locks were 90 by 12.7 feet (27.4 by 3.9 m) and the boats used were Thames barges. The canal's summit, which is 362 feet (110 m) above sea level and 8.1 miles (13.0 km) long, includes the 3,817-yard (3,490 m) Sapperton Tunnel, at the time, the longest in England. Its length has only been exceeded by two other canal tunnels, at Standedge in the Pennines and at Strood in Kent.[6][7]
Operation
Until the summit level was completed, little thought seems to have been given to water supply. It was assumed that the
Leakage was affected by
Neither of the river navigations to which the canal connected were satisfactory. In the west, the situation was remedied in 1827, on completion of the
Ultimately, most of the Bristol to London trade used the Kennet and Avon Canal after it opened in 1810, as it provided a much shorter route than the Thames and Severn Canal.[13] Similarly, the Midlands-London traffic that the proprietors had hoped to attract via the Severn found newer routes further east, such as the Grand Junction Canal, considerably more direct.[12] Thus, the compromise alignment of the Thames & Severn found itself bypassed, with income mainly generated by carriage of Forest of Dean coal to places along the canal rather than the balanced trade of long-distance traffic between Thames and Severn that had been anticipated.[12] Pleasure cruising, meanwhile, was firmly discouraged, with the proprietors setting a punitive toll of £1 per lock for such boats (equivalent to over £120 today).[12]
Decline
Railway competition began in 1836, when the Cheltenham and Great Western Railway proposed a line between Swindon and Cheltenham, via Gloucester. The canal company opposed the scheme, and received compensation of £7,500 from the railway company over the next four and a half years. The line opened to Kemble in 1841, and the tolls on the carriage of materials for the railway's construction improved the financial position of the canal for a short time.[14] The railway company was then taken over by the Great Western Railway, who built a new tunnel at Sapperton, and opened the railway to Gloucester in 1845. Canal tolls were cut in an attempt to retain traffic, but toll revenue fell from £11,000 to £2,874 between 1841 and 1855. The Thames Commissioners were also in financial difficulties, and the Thames was almost unnavigable from Oxford to Lechlade after 1855. In 1866, plans to convert the canal to a railway were rejected by Parliament, but the Thames Commissioners were replaced by the Thames Conservancy, and most of the river was soon returned to a navigable state.[15]
Thames and Severn Canal Order Confirmation Act 1901 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 2 July 1901 |
Text of statute as originally enacted |
The condition of the canal continued to decline. Complaints were made about its state in 1874 and 1885, which resulted in surveys being undertaken, but little was done to remedy the situation. In 1893, the Thames and Severn company announced that the canal between Chalford and Inglesham would close two days later. Negotiations with a number of interested parties took place, and having given an assurance to the Great Western Railway that it would not be converted into a railway, an Act of Parliament was obtained in 1895, which formed a trust with powers to raise £15,000. The trust included representatives from the
Although the canal was re-opened in March 1899, lack of water on the summit level soon closed it again, after which Gloucestershire County Council suggested that they take it over. They did so on 2 July 1901. In 1925 they began negotiations with interested parties which ultimately led to the abandonment of the canal from Chalford to Inglesham in 1927. The Stroudwater Navigation managed to keep the remaining section open until 1933, when it was abandoned,[16] and their own canal closed in 1941.[17]
Restoration
Following the publication of Ronald Russell's influential book Lost Canals of England and Wales in 1972, a number of canal restoration schemes sprang up. Among the organisations established that year was the Stroudwater Canal Society, which soon became the Stroudwater, Thames and Severn Canal Trust,
In 1991, the Trust commissioned the engineering consultancy Sir William Halcrow and Partners to conduct a feasibility study for restoration of the eastern end of the canal. Funding was provided by the National Rivers Authority, local authorities, and other interested parties. The report demonstrated that there was a good case for the provision of a navigable culvert beneath the proposed Latton Bypass. Despite initially saying that a culvert would not be built,[21] negotiation continued, and – helped by grants of £250,000 from Gloucestershire County Council and £125,000 from North Wilts District Council – the Department of the Environment decided in 1997 that a culvert would be provided under the road.[22] The completed underpass now lies buried, awaiting the arrival of restoration work on either side.[23]
Funding
In order to provide a suitable structure to drive the restoration forwards, the Cotswold Canals Partnership was established in 2001, drawing together people representing the Proprietors of the Stroudwater Navigation, the Cotswold Canals Trust, councils at district and county level, and a number of other interested parties.
By the time the bid was ready for submission, the HLF were under pressure for the funds they had, and asked British Waterways, who were managing the application, to split the bid and the project into smaller phases. At the end of 2003, a provisional grant of £11.3 million was awarded by the HLF, to enable the restoration of the Stroudwater Navigation between
With the restoration underway, British Waterways pulled out of the partnership in 2008 because of financial difficulties. The role of project leader was taken over by Stroud District Council, and a new body, the Stroud Valleys Canal Company,[29] was created in March 2009 to act as a holding company for the assets of the waterway, with a responsibility to manage and maintain it once it is reopened. They now own most of the canal bed between Wallbridge and Brimscombe.[30] The cost of the restoration exceeded estimates, and as a result, the Heritage Lottery Fund agreed to supply an additional £800,000 in December 2012, to allow full restoration between Stonehouse and Bowbridge, and the upgrading of the towpath onwards to Brimscombe Port. Work on the canal beyond Bowbridge would be handled by volunteers.[31]
Progress
The Restoration Programme is divided into several key phases. Phase 1a covers 6 miles (10 km) of the most difficult section to restore, centred on Stroud, comprising the lengths of the Stroudwater Navigation between
Phase 1a
Phase 1a of the Restoration Programme covered the length of canal from The Ocean at Stonehouse, on the Stroudwater Navigation, to Brimscombe Port, east of Stroud, on the Thames and Severn Canal – a length of about 6 miles (10 km). The work included restoration of 10 locks, reconstruction of 10 bridges, and reinstatement of about 2,300 yards (2,100 m) of in-filled canal; plus the major reconstruction of Brimscombe Port.[34] Funding was in place for all of the scheduled work, but increasing costs curtailed the programme. A revised plan – with increased support from volunteer labour – aimed to have restoration completed to Bowbridge by the end of 2015, with all major work eastwards put on hold.[34] Phase 1a also included the provision of a multi-user trail between Stonehouse and Saul, but this was held over to Phase 1b.[34]
The final section of the canal before it joins the Stroudwater Navigation presented particular problems for restoration, as the channel had been used as part of a flood relief scheme by the Environment Agency. Water from the Slad Brook, which is culverted beneath Stroud, joins the canal a short distance above Lower Wallbridge Lock. The Painswick Stream and Ruscombe Brook join the channel below the junction and flow through the Dudbridge locks, after which the water is discharged into the River Frome below the A419 Dudbridge Road bridge. As a consequence of its flood relief function, the channel here is classified as a "main river".[35] Designs for reinstatement of the canal had to accommodate large flows on this section, and include underground bywash culverts, capable of carrying the full flood flow of the streams.[36]
At Capels Mill, the bed of the canal was used as the route for the Stroud Bypass in the 1980s, and so a diversion had to be built at this point. It passes through an area that was used as a landfill site in the 1960s and 1970s. Some 355 yards (325 m) of new channel was constructed, some of it edged with sheet piling. After passing through a railway viaduct, the bank is supported by a series of contiguous concrete piles, which were drilled to a depth of between 30 feet (9 m) and 49 feet (15 m) and provide a retaining wall which is 35 feet (11 m) tall at its highest point. As the project neared completion, open days to allow the public to walk along the bottom of the new canal section were held on 10 and 11 May 2013, and were attended by over 1,800 people. Where domestic rubbish had to be removed, it was relocated on the site, covered with 2 feet (60 cm) of crushed recycled concrete and a layer of Bentomat geotextile, which was topped by subsoil and topsoil obtained from elsewhere on the site. Tubular vents allow any methane produced by the disturbed rubbish to escape safely. The new section was filled with water and officially completed on 2 June 2013.[37]
An evaluation cruise was held on 10 November 2017, when the maintenance boat Wookey Hole carried three assessors from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the chief executive from Stroud District Council and their canal project manager, the Mayor of Stroud, and the Cotswold Canal Trust chief executive and vice-chair. It travelled from The Ocean at Stonebridge eastwards to Bowbridge Lock, with a stop for lunch at Upper Wallbridge Lock. The cruise enabled the HLF assessors to view the work done and to sign off the Phase 1a project, bringing it to a conclusion.
During the execution of the phase 1a project, it became obvious that there would be a shortfall in funding, caused in part by the development of Brimscombe Port being deferred. Thus the Heritage Lottery funded works ended at Bowbridge Lock, and work up to Hope Mill Lock has been undertaken largely by volunteers. Some work to prepare the Brimscombe Port site for development was funded by a £2 million grant from the Homes & Communities Agency given in October 2015.[34] Volunteers completed restoration of Griffin's Mill Lock in 2017, but dredging of the intervening channel took rather longer, and the lock was opened on 9 July 2018. Work had already begun on the restoration of Ham Mill Lock, the next one upstream. In a separate development, water supply to the restored section was improved by building a feeder siphon at Gough's Orchard Lock, which takes water from a millpond supplied by the River Frome and feeds it into the lock. The pipeline runs over the top of the canal bank, and a solar-powered pump creates a vacuum within the pipe to allow the siphoning to begin. The volume of water taken is regulated by a gate valve, and is governed by an abstraction licence issued by the Environment Agency.[40]
Phase 1b
The second phase of the Restoration Programme covers the length of the Stroudwater Navigation between the Ocean Railway Bridge, Stonehouse, and Saul Junction on the
Bids for Heritage Lottery funding were rejected in May 2012 and November 2015. A revised bid was submitted in November 2017, and following criticism of the lack of investment by partners in the project, was backed by a promise of £3 million from
Stroud District Council decided that the infrastructure costs for the development of Brimscombe Port were too high to entice developers to the scheme, and made a bid to Homes England in 2015 for public funding. They received £2 million from this source, to which they added another £2 million as match funding. They also received £776,000 from the One Public Estate Land Release Fund, which is given for the development of brownfield sites. Planning permission was obtained on 24 March 2021 for the development of the port, including reinstatement of the canal, basin and various bridge works. The initial work includes demolition of modern additions to Port Mill,[45] so that a new canal channel and river bed can be constructed further to the south than formerly, with the new river channel replacing the previous culvert under the modern parts of Port Mill.[46] In July 2022, the council selected St. Modwen Homes as the developer to work on the project.[47]
Phase 2
Restoration Programme Phase 2 covers work at the eastern end of the canal, between Gateway Bridge in the Cotswold Water Park (Cerney Wick), and the junction with the Thames at Inglesham Lock, a distance of about 10 miles (16 km). The section does not pose the major engineering challenges faced elsewhere, but land ownership is an issue, and there are several miles of infilled canal around Kempsford.[32] Funding is only in place for minor projects, but several locks have been substantially restored, lengths of towpath reconstructed, and dredging completed.[32]
In 2002
Phase 3
The completion of the project is outlined in Phase 3, to connect Brimscombe Port in the west with Gateway Bridge in the east, a distance of about 16 miles (26 km).[33] Restoring this central section poses several major engineering difficulties: firstly to overcome the water supply that was always inadequate, and secondly because the 2.2-mile-long (3.5 km) Sapperton Tunnel is blocked by two rock falls. In addition, there are two missing railway bridges, an aqueduct, and 31 locks to rebuild. As of May 2015, there was no significant funding in place for any restoration projects on this section of the canal.[33]
Parts of the tunnel are in good condition, where it has been cut through stable rock, either Great Oolite limestone at the Coates end, or Inferior Oolite towards the Daneway end. However, a length of 0.63 miles (1.01 km) near the middle of the tunnel and 0.28 miles (0.45 km) at the Daneway end are cut through fuller's earth, and although lined with brick, the fuller's earth expands when wet, and this has resulted in heave of the bottom of the tunnel, causing wall and roof falls from above.[51]
Structures
A number of the buildings associated with the canal have survived and appear on the
Literary connections
In 1953,
Points of interest
See also
- Canals of Great Britain
- History of the British canal system
- List of canal tunnels in the United Kingdom
- The Golden Valley line which runs alongside the canal between Stroud and Kemble.
Bibliography
- Cumberlidge, Jane (2009). Inland Waterways of Great Britain (8th Ed.). Imray Laurie Norie and Wilson. ISBN 978-1-84623-010-3.
- Denny, Andrew (January 2021). The lottery-winning waterway. )
- Forester, C. S. (2006). Hornblower and the Atropos. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-102504-9.
- Hadfield, Charles (1969). The Canals of South and South East England. David and Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-4693-8.
- Household, Humphrey (2009). The Thames and Severn Canal. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84868-035-7.
- Jackson, W Turrentine; Chaloner, W H (1962). The Development of Transport in Modern England. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-7146-1326-0.
- McKnight, Hugh (1981). The Shell Book of Inland Waterways. ISBN 978-0-7153-8239-4.
- Skempton, A. W.; et al. (2002). A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland. Thomas Telford. ISBN 978-0-7277-2939-2.
- Squires, Roger (2008). Britain's restored canals. Landmark Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84306-331-5.
References
- ^ Hadfield 1969, pp. 315–316.
- ^ Hadfield 1969, p. 316.
- ^ Skempton 2002.
- ^ a b Hadfield 1969, pp. 316–319
- ^ Jackson & Chaloner 1962.
- ^ Hadfield 1969, p. 319.
- ^ a b Cumberlidge 2009, pp. 309–310
- ^ Hadfield 1969, pp. 323–324.
- ^ Household 2009, p. 178.
- ^ Household 2009, p. 182.
- ^ Household 2009, p. 233.
- ^ OCLC 1037949345.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ^ Hadfield 1969, pp. 322–324.
- ISBN 0-902907-65-4.
- ^ Hadfield 1969, pp. 333–335.
- ^ Hadfield 1969, pp. 335–340.
- ^ Hadfield 1969, p. 314.
- ^ Squires 2008, p. 78.
- ^ Cumberlidge 2009, p. 285.
- ^ Squires 2008, pp. 104, 110.
- ^ Squires 2008, pp. 128, 130.
- ^ Squires 2008, p. 140.
- ^ "A419 Underpass at Latton". www.cotswoldcanals.net. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
- ^ a b "Cotswold Canals Partnership". Cotswold Canals Partnership. Archived from the original on 6 May 2012.
- ^ Squires 2008, p. 154.
- ^ Squires 2008, p. 156.
- ^ Squires 2008, p. 158.
- ^ Squires 2008, p. 164.
- ^ "Heritage". Stroudwater Canal Proprietors. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019.
- ^ "Stroud Valleys Canal Company". Cotswold Canals Partnership. Archived from the original on 26 May 2012.
- ^ "Project Update" (PDF). Stround District Council. December 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 May 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
- ^ a b c "Cotswold Canals – Phase 2 Restoration". Cotswold Canals in Pictures. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
- ^ a b c "Cotswold Canals – Phase 3 Restoration". Cotswold Canals in Pictures. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Cotswold Canals Restoration – Phase 1A". Cotswold Canals in Pictures. Archived from the original on 16 February 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
- ^ "Ebley to Wallbridge". Proprietors of the Stroudwater Navigation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017.
- ^ "Plan 11a Dudbridge Locks" (PDF). Cotswold Canals Partnership. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 March 2012.
- ^ "Capels Mill - Conclusion". Cotswold Canals Trust. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
- ^ "Heritage Lottery Fund – Evaluation Cruise". Cotswold Canals Trust. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- ^ "Royal Recognition of Restoration". Cotswold Canals Trust. Archived from the original on 11 June 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
- ISSN 0309-1422.
- ^ a b c d "Cotswold Canals Restoration – Phase 1B". Cotswold Canals in Pictures. Archived from the original on 16 February 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
- ^ "Occupation Bridge to Westfield Lock" (PDF). Cotswold Canals Partnership. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 March 2012.
- ^ "'Missing mile' of canal can be restored thanks to £4million Highways England grant". Stroud District Council. 8 May 2019. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021.
- ^ Newton, John (Spring 2022). "Cotswold Canals Connected - Phase 1b". The Trow. Cotswold Canals. pp. 6–8. Archived from the original on 28 November 2022.
- ^ "Brimscombe Port redevelopment plans". Stroud District Council. 2021. Archived from the original on 3 November 2021.
- ^ "Infrastructure General Arrangement Drawing" (PDF). Stroud District Council. 10 June 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 June 2021.
- ^ "Our Vision for Brimscombe Port". Stroud District Council. 2022. Archived from the original on 29 July 2022.
- ^ "British Waterways transfers ownership" (PDF). Cotswold Canals Trust. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 March 2012.
- ^ "Inglesham Lock – IWA National Restoration Appeal ('We want to extend the Thames!')". Inland Waterways Association. Archived from the original on 4 April 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
- ^ "Inglesham Lock 2019". Kescrg Canal Restoration Group. 2019. Archived from the original on 4 March 2021.
- ^ "Tunnel Cross Section". Cotswold Canals. Archived from the original on 31 December 2021.
- ^ a b McKnight 1981, p. 88
- ^ Historic England. "Lechlade round house (1089423)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ Historic England. "Marston Meysey round house (1198062)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ Historic England. "Latton round house (1023127)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ "Map" (PDF). Cotswold Canals. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2017.
- ^ Historic England. "Chalford round house (1171394)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ McKnight 1981, p. 145.
- ^ Excerpt from "Hornblower and the Atropos"
External links
Thames and Severn Canal.
- Cotswold Canals Trust
- Cotswold Canals in Pictures
- OS Bench Marks to be seen along the Cotswold Canals
- images & map of mile markers seen along the Thames & Severn canal
- Stroud Voices (Stroudwater & Thames & Severn selection) - oral history site
- List of YouTube videos of Stroudwater & Thames & Severn canals restoration