Exeter Ship Canal
The Exeter Ship Canal, also known as the Exeter Canal, runs from the city of Exeter in Devon, its course parallel to the River Exe downstream to the open water of the estuary. It was built in the 1560s[1][2] which means it pre-dates the "canal mania" period by some two hundred years, and is one of the oldest artificial waterways in the United Kingdom.
History
From the very first days of Exeter's history the River Exe was tidal and navigable up to the city walls, enabling it to be a busy port, thriving as such for twelve centuries. In the 1270s or 80s however, the Countess of Devon, Isabella de Fortibus, built a weir across the river to power her mills, which weir is remembered in the name of the nearby suburb, Countess Wear).[3] This at once cut Exeter's port of from the sea and also damaging its salmon fisheries. In 1290 trade with Exeter's port was restored, only to be blocked by a new weir built in 1317 by Hugh de Courtenay, 9th Earl of Devon (Isabella's cousin), who also built a quay at Topsham;[3] all ships henceforth had to unloaded their cargoes at the Earl's quay at Topsham to be carried by cart or river boat up to the city, at rates set by the earl.[4] For the next 250 years the city petitioned the King to have the waterway reopened, to no avail, until 1550 when Edward VI finally granted permission. However it was by then too late because the river channel had silted up from the effect of the weir.[3]
In 1563, Exeter traders employed John Trew of Glamorgan to build a canal to bypass the weirs and rejoin the River Exe in the centre of the city where a quay would be built. Work began in February 1564, and was completed in Autumn 1566[5] or early 1567.[6] The canal had three locks with vertical gates – the first pound locks to be built in Britain. They accommodated boats up to 16 tons.[7]
The original cut was 3 feet deep and 16 feet wide. It ran one and three quarter miles from just below the Countess Weir to the centre of Exeter. This navigation was not very effective; it could not be entered at all states of the tide, and the double transfer of cargo over such a short distance made it uncompetitive with road transport.[8] The weir that maintains the water level in the quay is still named "Trew's Weir" after the canal's builder.
In 1677 the canal was extended and the entrance was moved downstream to Topsham. In 1701 the canal was deepened and widened to allow the passage of ocean-going ships. At the same time the number of locks on the canal was reduced to one. Floodgates were also fitted to the canal entrance. These improvements lead to the canal being highly successful until demand for access declined with the end of the wool trade in the early nineteenth century and later with the rise of the railways.
There were many notable failures to connect Exeter and the South West to the national canal and rail networks: The Grand Western Canal intended to link Exeter to Bristol (1796) was never completed; The Bristol & Exeter Railway link to the canal basin was postponed in 1832 and 1844; The South Devon Railway ran services to the canal from 1867, but by this time the canal was too small to attract the sizeable ocean-going vessels and the canal was taken over by its creditors for sixteen years. Use of the canal has declined gradually ever since.
20th century
In 1939 the canal was still carrying some 63,000 tons of material annually, and after the war it was still seen as a useful means of transporting goods to and from its basin at Haven Banks, opposite Exeter Quay. Planning for the city after The Blitz recommended that Turf Lock, the canal's junction with the estuary, should be deepened and enlarged to allow ships of 600 tons to pass.[9]
The last commercial use of the canal was in 1972 when the Esso Jersey (now known as the "Kieler") left the canal basin, carrying oil to its terminal in New Jersey. However, the water board and its successor company continued to run a sludge tanker, the Countess Weir, until 1997.
The fall of commercial traffic in the 1960s coincided with the rise of leisure use of the canal. After some recent issues with the dumping of used marine-related equipment, the future of the canal looks bright with the city basin being included in part of a £24 million redevelopment. The quay area has been subject to redevelopment over recent years and is continuing to be converted to wider recreational use. The canal basin itself is popular for a range of water sports.
Throughout the year a small hand powered passenger ferry (a pull ferry) operates across the river by Exeter quay and canal basin during the day, though there is a footbridge close at hand. A ferry has been operating here since at least 1641.[10]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Exeter Ship Canal) |
- Location map: 50°39’55"N, 3°28’4"W
References
- ↑ Exeter Canal and Quayside - a short history by David Cornforth]
- ↑ Exeter history by www.exeter.gov.uk, .pdf file Exeter Ship Canal, The First Four Hundred Years, accessdate=13 September 2013
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Exeter Memories - Countess Wear". www.exetermemories.co.uk. http://www.exetermemories.co.uk/EM/_areas/countesswear.php. Retrieved 2008-03-12.
- ↑ "Exeter Memories - Topsham, a short history". www.exetermemories.co.uk. http://www.exetermemories.co.uk/EM/topsham.html. Retrieved 2008-03-12.
- ↑ Clew, Kenneth R. (1984). The Exeter Canal. Chichester: Phillimore. ISBN 0-85033-544-2.
- ↑ The city of Exeter, Letters and other papers
- ↑ Blair, John (2007), Waterways and Canal-Building in Mediæval England, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-921715-1, http://books.google.ca/books?id=9Pth8SwiIxsC&printsec=frontcover#PPA153,M1
- ↑ Jackman, W. T. (1916), The Development of Transportation in Modern England, Cambridge University Press, http://books.google.ca/books?id=EuuAg3G-cYwC&pg=PA165
- ↑ Sharp, Thomas (1946). Exeter Phoenix - A Plan for Rebuilding. Exeter City Council. p. 81.
- ↑ Exeter Memories, Butts Ferry, accessed 2010-11-10
