North Walsham and Dilham Canal

The North Walsham and Dilham Canal, towards Tonnage Bridge

The North Walsham and Dilham Canal is a manmade waterway in Norfolk, amongst the Norfolk Broads.

The canal was authorised by Parliament in 1812, but work on the construction of a canal which ran parallel to a branch of the River Ant did not start until 1825. It included six locks, which were sized to accommodate Norfolk wherries, and was officially opened in August 1826. The canal when opened was eight and a half miles long and ran from two bone mills at Antingham to a junction with the River Ant at Smallburgh. It carried offal for the bone mills and agricultural products, as it proved cheaper to land coal on the beach at Mundesley and cart it overland than to use the canal.

The venture was not a commercial success, and it was sold to various millers, who owned watermills along its length. The section above Swafield locks was abandoned in 1893, and from 1922 it was owned by the North Walsham Canal Company, set up by Edward Cubitt and George Walker, who were mill owners. The last commercial use of the canal was in 1934, and it avoided nationalisation in 1948.

With the dawning of the leisure age, the canal was seen as an easy one to restore, but work to do so did not start until 2000, when the East Anglian Waterways Association started to run working parties for volunteers. In 2008 the North Walsham and Dilham Canal Trust was formed, and jointly run working parties with the Association. In 2009, part of the canal was sold to the Old Canal Company, who have worked to restore two locks and the pounds in between, in order to run Bacton Wood Mill as a watermill. Rewatering was interrupted by the Environment Agency issuing a stop notice in April 2012, but negotiations continue.

The canal served six mills, located along its banks, including the two bone mills at Antingham. There has been a mill at Bacton Wood since the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, and much of the present building dates from 1747. It was the home of Sir William Cubitt, who invented the self-regulating windmill sail and the prison treadmill. Since the millpond at Ebridge has been cleared and rewatered by volunteers, there has been a significant increase in the types of wildlife observed at the location. The area through which the canal flows is at risk of flooding, and this is mitigated by the actions of the Broads Internal Drainage Board, who manage drains and ditches in the upper regions, and have two pumping stations which pump water into the canal at its lower end.

Location

• Location map: 52°48’12"N, 1°25’26"E

History

Planning and construction

Share of the North Walsham and Dilham Canal company from 10 January 1825

In 1810 it was proposed that navigation on the River Ant could be extended north of its then limit, the village of Dilham. In 1811, plans were drawn up by William Youard and John Millington, and the latter's plans formed the basis of private Act of Parliament to authorise the work. .The Bill was opposed by the inhabitants of Worstead and Dilham, who feared that their businesses would collapse if boats could pass them by and reach the nearby town of North Walsham, but was passed n any case, in 1812, creating the Company of Proprietors of the North Walsham and Dilham Canal Navigation. The company had powers to raise £30,000 by the issuing of shares, and a further £10,000 if required, either from shares or by mortgage. Work on the construction of the canal did not start until 1825.

The canal was designed by John Millington and construction carried out by Thomas Hughes, who had previously worked on the Caledonian Canal, the Dingwall Canal and the Union Canal.

Although the line of the canal ran broadly parallel to a branch of the River Ant, it did not occupy the river bed, and so was technically a canal and not a river navigation. The route required six locks to raise the level by 58 feet along its 8¼-mile length. The locks were sized for Norfolk wherries, which were 50 feet by 12 feet 4 inches.

Operation

Vessels were able to reach Cubitt's Mill by 14 June 1826 and the canal was formally opened on 29 August 1826. The water supply for the canal came from the ponds at Antingham, but the link into the ponds could only be used by small lighters. It was not deep enough for wherries, which had to use a basin next to Antingham Mills. Tolls on all cargoes using the canal were collected at Tonnage Bridge, where there was once a wharf and a cottage.

The main use of the canal was to carry offal to the two Antingham Bone Mills, although other cargoes were carried such as manure, flour, grain, coal and farm produce. A profitable trade in coal did not develop, as the tolls were too high and it was cheaper for coal to be brought down the coast from Northumberland and landed on the beach near Bacton or Mundesley, from where it would reach North Walsham by cart. Later, the railways handled most of the coal traffic. Most of the vessels using the canal were wherries, which had a draught of 3 feet and were capable of carrying between 18 and 20 tons. Some wherries were of a slip-keel design, where the keel of a loaded boat could be unbolted from the bottom of the vessel while it was afloat, in order to negotiate the shallow waters of the canal. Once unloaded, the keel would be replaced, to allow more sail to be used. While detached, the keels were towed behind the boat, to prevent them from drying out and warping. A smaller 12-ton wherry regularly carried vegetables between Antingham and Great Yarmouth and was known as the cabbage wherry.

Decline

The disused canal at Briggate

The canal was not a financial success, and in 1885 the company sold the canal to Edward Press, the owner of Bacton Wood mill, and a trader with a fleet of wherries.

In 1887, Walter Rye was appointed as the clerk and noticed a number of irregularities in the way the company ran. Edward Press was the general manager, although he was disqualified from the post as he profited from the canal, and there was no treasurer, despite the fact that the North Walsham and Dilham Canal Navigation Act 1812 required one to be appointed. There was also no way to wind up the company. Rye's concerns were ignored, as nothing changed, and Press continued to run the canal. In 1893, the upper mile and a half from Swafield lock to Antingham were abandoned, but traffic figures for 1898 show that 6,386 tons arrived at wharves on the canal, 5,000 tons were loaded for shipping, and 400 tons were carried within the confines of the canal. Trade declined steadily but Press was an early advocate of canal tourism. He published an advert in the 1888 volume, Handbook of the Rivers and Broads of Norfolk and Suffolk, which described the various wherries which could be hired. The boats came with two crew members, and contained a ladies cabin and a gentlemen's cabin, which could also be used as a day saloon. Press died on 2 July 1906, and a director of the General Estates Company called Mr Percy bought the canal at an auction held on 11 September 1907, for £2,550.

Heavy flooding in August 1912 washed away several staithes, and resulted in a breach of the canal bank above Bacton Wood Lock. The canal was bought by the mill owners Edward Cubitt and George Walker in 1921, who expected that a new drainage board was to be created, which would take over the running of the canal. This did not occur, however, and so the two millers set up the North Walsham Canal Co Ltd, which bought the canal in January 1922 for the £1,500 they had paid. Cubitt and Walker dredged the canal from Wayford Bridge up to Bacton Wood in 1927, but at the same time dewatered the upper section above Swafield Lock. Decline continued and the wherry "Ella" made the final trading journey on the canal from Bacton Staithe in 1934. Because the canal was moribund, it was not nationalized in 1948 when most other British canals were, and continued to belong to the North Walsham Canal Company. The company sold around 1,200 yards of the dry canal bed above Swafield Locks in 1948, and it reverted to farmland. In order to protect the water supply to Ebridge mill, which was still water powered, the Ebridge to Bacton Wood section was dredged in 1957. Three years later, a culvert near Royston bridge became blocked. Rather than repair it, the culvert was demolished, and the water from the canal was diverted, to rejoin the waterway below Bacton Wood lock.

Restoration

Tonnage Bridge

File:Tyler's Cut, Dilham - geograph.org.uk - 45011.jpg

Tyler's Cut at Dilham

File:Honing Lock.jpg

The lock at Honing

Robert Aickman and Teddy Edwards from the newly formed Inland Waterways Association visited the canal in 1953. In 1972, David Hutchings, who led the restoration of the Stratford Canal, stated that the North Walsham and Dilham should be one of the easiest to restore, since none of the locks had been demolished, and none of the bridges had been lowered. However, no immediate action was taken, and the channel gradually silted up. Tonnage Bridge collapsed in 1980, and a local landowner wanted to rebuild it. The newly formed Broads Authority was supportive, and in order to allow the work to proceed, the landowner bought the two and a quarter miles of canal below Honing Lock in October 1981. The purchase price was £2,050, and the bridge was rebuilt in traditional style, partly funded by a grant from the Broads Authority.

In 1993, the East Anglian Waterways Association decided to step up its efforts to get the waterway restored, and an engineering study of the locks and channel restoration was carried out, which found the concept to be feasible. They then commissioned and paid for a full environmental study, and North Norfolk District Council voiced their support in October 1999, although they did not envisage powered boats using the waterway. The Association organised working parties for volunteers from December 2000, and worked on clearing vegetation and repairs at Briggate, Bacton Wood and Honing. In 2008 the North Walsham and Dilham Canal Trust was formed. The aims of the Trust are to "protect, conserve and improve the route of the canal and its branches for the benefit of the community and the environment." It does this by working with the owners of the canal, local land owners, the East Anglian Waterways Association, local authorities and other interested parties. Since its formation, working parties have been joint ventures between the Trust and the EAWA.

Some 2¼ miles of the route, consisting of the pound above Bacton Wood lock, the lock itself, the pound below it and Ebridge Lock, were sold to the Old Canal Company in 2009, following lengthy negotiations lasting some nine years. The aim of the owner, Laurence Ashton, was to rewater the section, which would in turn allow him to run Bacton Wood mill as a water mill. Having carried out extensive repair work at Ebridge Lock, a stop notice was issued by the Environment Agency in April 2012, and in November a public enquiry upheld the position. Ashton and his Old Canal Company have since restored Bacton Wood lock, with help from volunteers, and the top gates have been fitted, complete with metal balance beams salvaged from the old gates, and refurbished paddle gear. Bacton Mill quay has also been restored. At Royston Bridge, another quay has been restored. This bridge is the only one that has been lowered, and the canal has been culverted. This was done when heavy vehicles needed to reach Bacton Gas Terminal, but the gas is now piped and works traffic is reduced, so reinstatement of the bridge is possible. There is water in the channel up to the first of the Swafield locks, and Michael Starling, who owns this section, is also carrying out restoration work with a view to boats reaching Swafield.

The canal is only navigable by powered boats for the first two miles from the Smallburgh end, up to Honing lock. However, the dredger Weasel, which was formerly owned by British Waterways, was bought by the Old Canal Company in 2010 and has dredged large sections of their canal.

The residents of North Walsham made ten mosaics for the Millennium celebrations, one of which shows a Norfolk wherry.

Most canal restoration schemes work by restoring the canal to navigation stage by stage, repairing the locks and bridges as they go. In 2023 however, the North Walsham and Dilham Canal Trust produced a new light craft vision to outline their proposals for further restoration. This involves returning the entire canal to unpowered craft status, with facilities to allow porterage where locks or other obstacles have yet to be restored. North Norfolk Council were sufficiently impressed by the vision that they agreed to fund three-quarters of the cost, and made a grant of £43,500, with the rest of the cost provided by the Trust. They obtained pontoons to help with weed clearance and to provide platforms for porterage in late 2023, and are initially concentrating on the section from the start of the navigation to Honing Lock, together with the section from Ebridge Lock to Bacton Wood Mill.

Watermills

The canal served six watermills during its working life. At its northern end were two bone mills at Antingham. Antingham Upper Mill was situated at the southern end of Antingham Ponds, and was a small mill attached to a cottage. There was a small channel connecting it to the Lower Mill, and several boats were used to carry goods between the mills.

Route

File:Dilham Staithe, The Norfolk Broads. - geograph.org.uk - 386826.jpg

Boats moored at the end of Tylers Cut

At its southern end, the canal starts at Wayford Bridge, which carries the A149 road. It heads north-westwards, and soon reaches the junction with Dilham Dyke, which heads west. On the southern bank is the tower of Dilham Dyke drainage mill and the modern pumping station. Private dykes continue to the west, and Tylers Cut turns to the north west to reach moorings at Dilham Staithe and the Broadlands Arts Centre. Public navigation stops at Brickworks Bridge, but there is a short private dyke beyond. Returning to the junction, the canal heads north to reach Tonnage Bridge. There has been no towpath thus far, but a public footpath follows the left bank as the canal sweeps round to the west, passing the former branch to East Ruston, and then turns north west to reach the derelict Honing Lock.

From the head of the lock, a footpath leads to the Weavers' Way, a long-distance footpath which follows the course of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway at this point. Continuing to the west and then the north-west, the canal reaches Briggate Lock, which can be viewed from Briggate Bridge. The mill is to the south of the bridge, while the mill pond and lock are to the north. A little further north, the railway crossed the canal. The brick piers are still there, but the bridge has been replaced by a wooden footbridge, which carries the Weavers Way.

The canal continues broadly northwards to reach Ebridge lock and mill, passing the former dyke to the hamlet of Meeting House Hill on its western bank.

Continuing to the north-west, the canal reaches Spa Common, to the east of North Walsham, where a narrow, humpbacked, grade II listed bridge carries Anchor Road over the waterway. The mill lies to the north of the bridge, awaiting a water supply. There is a footpath along the left bank of the channel most of the way to Royston Bridge, the only bridge to be culverted. A footpath runs along the route of the canal from the culvert to Pigneys Wood. The canal was then crossed by the railway from North Walsham Town to Sheringham. The piers remain, and a bowstring bridge carries pipes across the gap, but the footpath which follows the trackbed descends to the level of the canal and crosses it on a wooden footbridge. The route continues westwards, past the two Swafield locks, the lower one of which is still watered, and is crossed by another grade II listed bridge at Bradfield, before reaching the terminus, just below Antingham ponds.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about North Walsham and Dilham Canal)

• Images and map of mile markers seen along the North Walsham and Dilham Canal

References

• Boyes, John; Russell, Ronald (1977). The Canals of Eastern England. David and Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-7415-3. 
• Cane, Ivan (February 2010). "North Walsham and Dilham Progress". Waterways World. SSN 0309-1422. 
• Cumberlidge, Jane (2009). Inland Waterways of Great Britain (8th Ed.). Imray Laurie Norie and Wilson. ISBN 978-1-84623-010-3. 
• Cumberlidge, Jane (October 2014). "Norfolk's Secret Canal". Waterways World. SSN 0309-1422. 
• Faulkner, Alan (October 2004). "The North Walsham and Dilham Canal". Waterways World. SSN 0309-1422. 
• Fisher, Stuart (2013). British River Navigations. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4729-0084-5. 
• Paget-Tomlinson, Edward (2006). The Illustrated History of Canal and River Navigations. Landmark Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84306-207-3. 
• Potter, Hugh (January 2012). "The North Walsham and Dilham Canal". Waterways World. SSN 0309-1422. 
• Priestley, Joseph (1831). "Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, of Great Britain". http://www.jim-shead.com/waterways/sdoc.php?wpage=PNRC0481#PNRC477.