Wilts and Berks Canal
The Wilts & Berks Canal is, as its name suggests, a canal in Wiltshire and Berkshire. Its full course is 52 miles long linking the Kennet and Avon Canal at Semington, near Melksham, to the River Thames at Abingdon in Berkshire, though today most of that length is empty and unnavigable.
The North Wilts Canal merged with the Wilts & Berks to become a branch to the Thames and Severn Canal at Latton near Cricklade. Among professional trades boatmen, the canal was nicknamed the Ippey Cut, possibly short for Chippenham.
The canal was always named the ‘Wilts and Berks Canal’ not Wiltshire and Berkshire; the former name is cited in its private Acts of Parliament. Likewise its branch was always the ‘North Wilts Canal’, not North Wiltshire.
The canal was opened in 1810 but abandoned in 1914 – a fate hastened by the collapse of Stanley aqueduct in 1901. Much of the canal subsequently became unnavigable. Many of the structures were deliberately damaged by army demolition exercises, and parts of the route were filled in and in some cases built over in later years. In 1977 the Wilts & Berks Canal Amenity Group was formed with a view to full restoration of the canal. Several locks and bridges have since been restored, and over 8 miles of the canal have been rewatered.
Construction
A plan for the canal was published by Robert Whitworth Snr. along with William Whitworth (engineer)|William Whitworth, in 1793.[1] The Act empowering construction of the canal received Royal Assent in 1795. It allowed the company to raise £111,900 through 1,119 shares at a cost of £100 each for the construction of the canal. Another Act of Parliament was passed in 1801 that allowed the company to raise a further £200,000 to complete the canal.[2]
The canal was cut during the years 1796 to 1810. Robert Whitworth Snr. remained as an engineer on the canal from 1796 to 1799.[1] William Whitworth was resident engineer during this period and, upon Robert's departure, he became engineer until the canal's completion, for which he was paid £255,262.[1]
Following completion, a further two Acts were passed in 1810 and 1813 to alter toll rates on the canal, and another Act was passed in 1815 to allow the company to raise £100,000 to pay off debts collected during the construction of the canal, and to construct a reservoir.[2]
Route
The main canal was 52 miles long, with branches totalling 6 miles to Chippenham, Calne, Wantage and Longcot. It was cut to take narrowboats 72 feet long and 7 feet wide. There were 42 locks on the main line and three on the Calne branch. There were three short tunnels.
While the main canal was opened in 1810, some branches were operating before this and others added afterwards. The North Wilts Canal from Swindon to the Thames and Severn Canal at Cricklade was opened in 1819; it had 11 locks. It was originally a separate company, but merged with the Wilts & Berks following an Act of Parliament in 1821.[2]
Operation
Coal came from the Radstock and Paulton mines in the Somerset coalfield by way of the Somersetshire Coal Canal, which joined the Kennet and Avon Canal at Dundas. In 1837, 43,642 tons of coal were transported on the Wilts & Berks Canal from the Somerset coalfield, and 10,669 tons were handled at Abingdon wharf.[3] The Wilts and Berks thus became a link in the chain of canals providing a transportation route between the West Country and the Midlands. Water supply was always a problem and a reservoir was constructed near Swindon to supply the canal, now known as Coate Water.[4]
The Wilts & Berks Canal was never a great commercial success due to competition from the railways, especially the Great Western Railway from 1841. In addition, long stretches of the canal were through a type of clay that is unsuitable for lining a canal, and so there was a constant need for puddling, making maintenance costs prohibitive. Despite this, the Wilts & Berks Canal operated for more than a century, through traffic had pretty much ceased by 1901. In that year the Stanley Aqueduct over the River Marden collapsed; an event that proved to be the end the canal as a commercial waterway.
Abandonment
The canal was formally abandoned by an Act of Parliament in 1914.[5] The Act was sponsored by Swindon Corporation, which gained control of all the land within its boundary. In other areas ownership returned to the owners of adjacent land.
From the early 1930s much of the canal was filled in and generally used for dumping rubbish. Chippenham Wharf, once home to Brinkworth's Coal Depot, was used by residents as a refuse tip, and council minutes from 1926 show a decision to dump pig offal in the disused waterway. A bus station was built on the site, the buried wharf being uncovered briefly during redevelopment in 2006.[6]
During the Second World War many of the locks and other canal structures were used for army exercises and damaged by explosives.
Very little of the old canal survived in usable form, but long rural stretches are clearly delineated.
Restoration
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In 1977, the Wilts & Berks Canal Amenity Group was formed to protect what remained of the canal, and to restore short sections for their amenity value. Their first projects included the clearing of sections at Kingshill, Shrivenham, Dauntsey and Wootton Bassett.[7] Ten years later this became a major restoration project.
The Wilts & Berks Canal Trust was formed in 1997 as a partnership between the W & B Canal Amenity Group and various councils covering the route of the canal. The aims of the Trust were to protect, conserve and improve the canal and its branches, with the ultimate aim of restoring the whole canal to navigable status. However, the legal structure of the group was unsuitable for accessing some of the grants available for canal restoration, and so it was reformed into the Wilts & Berks Canal Partnership in 2001.[8]
Although development has taken place on some of the land of the canal, much of its route is intact, especially in rural areas. The "line" of the canal has been preserved in Local Development Plans, which means that no new building or development should now take place on the former canal.
The connection of the canal with the River Thames at Abingdon had been closed by development. On 30 August 2006 the Jubilee Junction was opened, providing a new connection with the River Thames further downstream near Culham Lock.[9] The cut initially runs for about 150 yards to a winding hole, but will eventually link to the historic route of the canal to the west of Abingdon.[10]
The Trust is progressing with re-watering many of the rural sections, and is working with local councils to construct new sections (possibly including new tunnels) where urban development has made the original route unavailable. Not all development has been urban, however. In Uffington, for instance, a farm has been built on the old wharf site, over the filled canal.
By 2006, a number of bridges and locks had been rebuilt and at least 8 miles of the canal were in water. On 26 May 2009, Double Bridge and a short section of rewatered canal to the south of Pewsham was officially opened by the Trust's patron, HRH The Duchess of Cornwall.[11] With the help of a grant from the Gannett Foundation and many hours of work by volunteers, this section was extended to the foot of Pewsham Locks in 2012.[12]
There are some significant engineering challenges lying ahead for the Trust, but they offer opportunities to improve the areas surrounding the canal. The M4 motorway at Swindon was built over the line of the canal. Swindon Council are supporting the restoration of the canal, and are actively planning to route it through the town centre, albeit not quite on the original route.
In Melksham, where much of the route has been lost to housing,[13] Melksham Town Council agreed in principle to support plans to route the canal through the River Avon in the centre of town, with a new weir to raise water levels and permit navigation.[14]
The route
| Key Locations on Route | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | OS Grid Ref | Coordinates | Notes |
| Jubilee Junction | SU496949 | 51°39’4"N, 1°16’55"W | junction with River Thames |
| Wantage | SU384887 | 51°35’46"N, 1°26’17"W | |
| Shrivenham | SU234880 | 51°35’24"N, 1°39’43"W | |
| Cricklade | SU104945 | 51°39’25"N, 1°52’34"W | junction with Thames and Severn Canal |
| approximate midpoint | SU135834 | 51°32’56"N, 1°48’18"W | junction with North Wilts Canal |
| Seven Locks | SU201808 | 51°31’34"N, 1°58’16"W | |
| STanley Junction | ST959726 | 51°27’7"N, 2°3’29"W | junction with Calne branch |
| Semington Junction | ST898610 | 51°20’53"N, 2°8’46"W | junction with Kennet & Avon Canal |
Outside links
- Wilts & Berks Canal Trust
- A Brief History of the Wilts & Berks Canal, (Peter Scatchard, W&BCT)
- Trading on the Wilts & Berks canal
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 A. W. Skempton (2002). A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland. Thomas Telford. ISBN 0-7277-2939-X.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Joseph Priestley (1831) Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, Throughout Great Britain, Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green
- ↑ Clew, Kenneth R. (1970). The Somersetshire Coal Canal and Railways. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN 0-7153-4792-6.
- ↑ Mark Child (2002). Swindon : An Illustrated History. United Kingdom: Breedon Books Publishing. ISBN 1-85983-322-5.
- ↑ London Gazette, (31 July 1914), Swindon Corporation (Wilts and Berks Canal Abandonment) Act, 1914, accessed 25 August 2009
- ↑ Parkes, Benjamin. "Last glimpse of canal". Swindon Advertiser. http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/search/1013335.Last_glimpse_of_canal/. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
- ↑ Squires, Dr. Roger (1983). The New Navvies. Chichester, Sussex: Phillimore. pp. 123–124. ISBN 0-85033-364-4.
- ↑ "About the Trust". www.wbct.org.uk. http://www.wbct.org.uk/about-the-trust. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
- ↑ CPRE Oxfordshire Campaign Briefing 5 September 2006
- ↑ Grand Opening of Jubilee Junction
- ↑ "The Duchess opens a new bridge as Patron of the Wilts and Berks Canal Trust". (Double Bridge, Lacock). The Prince of Wales website. 26 May 2009. http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/newsandgallery/news/the_duchess_opens_a_new_bridge_as_patron_of_the_wilts_and_be_371738611.html. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
- ↑ "Restoration reaches Pewsham Locks". Waterways World: 40. July 2012. SSN 0309-1422.
- ↑ "Plans to route canal through town". BBC News. 4 July 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wiltshire/6269104.stm. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
- ↑ Morgan, Charley (18 December 2007). "Council backs canal plan". Swindon Advertiser. http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/search/1910739.Council_backs_canal_plan/. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
Books
- Dalby, L.J. (2000) [1971]. The Wilts and Berks Canal (3rd ed.). Usk: Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-562-4.
- Small, Doug (1999). The Wilts & Berks Canal. Stroud: Tempus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7524-1619-9.
- Small, Doug (2010). Wilts and Berks Canal Revisited. Stroud: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-5146-6.
Restoration
- Wilts & Berks Canal Trust – overview of current projects
- W&BCT: Melksham, Calne and Chippenham Branch
- W&BCT: East Vale Branch – Jubilee Junction (River Thames) to Childrey
- W&BCT: Cricklade Branch – North Wilts Canal
- W&BCT: Swindon Branch – Illustrated description of the proposed route through Swindon.