Ulverston Canal

The Ulverston Canal is a canal in the town of Ulverston, Cumbria, England. It is claimed to be the deepest, widest and straightest canal in the UK. It is entirely straight and on a single level.

An Act of Parliament for the canal received Royal Assent on May 8, 1793. The Act was entitled "An Act for making and maintaining a Cut or Canal from a Place called Hammerside Hill, in the parish of Ulverstone, in the county palatine of Lancaster, to a Place called Weint End, near the town of Ulverstone aforesaid."

The act empowered "The Company of Proprietors of the Ulverstone Canal Navigation" to raise amongst themselves, for the purposes of the Act, the sum of £4,000 in shares of £50 each. John Rennie was employed as engineer on the canal.

The canal was completed in 1796, in order to provide the town of Ulverston, two miles from the coast at Morecambe Bay, with a port. At convert|15|ft|m deep and convert|66|ft|m wide, it was intended to take very large ships. In the days before the construction of the Furness Railway, Furness was cut off by the mountainous Lake District on its only landward side; the region was accessed only by crossing the sands of Morecambe Bay. A passenger ferry to Liverpool thus commenced from Ulverston canal in 1835, which was later complemented by a service from Barrow-in-Furness to Fleetwood. A junction was formed with the Lancaster Canal. Coal, culm and cinders from the Lancaster Canal to the Ulverston Canal were not liable to sea duty.

The opening of the Furness Railway in 1846 seriously damaged the profitability of the canal, which was eventually bought by the railway company. It was used commercially until the First World War and was officially abandoned at the end of the Second World War. It has since been maintained by Ulverston town council, who run a walkway on its eastern side. Its western side is still industrialized, being the location of a large Glaxosmithkline factory. There is also a sheep and cattle auction, and some dilapidated buildings.

The canal began at Hammerside Hill at Morecambe Bay and terminated at a basin and wharfs at Ulverston. At its head there is a convert|112|ft|m|adj=on long sea lock, the only lock on the canal. A public swing bridge was built over the canal at Hammerside.

ee also

*Canals of Great Britain
*History of the British canal system

References

*cite book|last=Priestly|first=Joseph|authorlink=Joseph Priestly|title=Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, Throughout Great Britain|publisher=Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green|year=1831