Stroudwater Navigation

The Stroudwater Navigation is a canal linking Stroud to the Severn Estuary in England and Wales.cite web
title =Stroudwater Navigation
publisher =waterscape.com
url =http://www.waterscape.com/Stroudwater_Navigation
accessdate = 2007-07-15 ] At Wallbridge near Stroud it connected to the Thames and Severn Canal to form a link between the River Thames and River Severn. It is eight miles in length and has a rise of 102 feet and 5 inches.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]

History

Construction

The first plans for making the small River Frome, also known as the Stroudwater, [ [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=19058 "Stroud" in "Victoria County History of Gloucestershire"] ] navigable date back to the last years of the 17th century; however nothing came of them.cite book|author=Charles Hadfield|title=The Canals of South and South East England|pages=295|isbn=0-7153-4693-8] The idea was looked at again in 1728 and an Act of Parliament for the canal was passed in 1730, but opposition from the mill owners who feared that they would lose water as a result of the construction prevented work from going forwards. A second Act was passed 29 years later in 1759 which authorized John Kemmett, Arthur Wynde, James Pynock and Thomas Bridge tocarry into effect the provisions of the 1728 Act. The 1759 Act gave Kemmett and the others all the powers to construct the canal without any locks to avoid loss of water to the mills.

From the 1759 Act, the first attempt to go beyond the planning stage began in 1761 and a mixture of navigable cuts and cranes to move goods over the weirs were assembled.cite book|author=Charles Hadfield|title=The Canals of South and South East England|pages=296|isbn=0-7153-4693-8] While about five miles of the river was made navigable, difficulties of transshipment prevented further work.cite book|author=Charles Hadfield|title=The Canals of South and South East England|pages=297|isbn=0-7153-4693-8]

In 1774 a new attempt was made. This time, the route was largely made up of canal rather than river improvements to avoid the mills. Over the next three years, those who aspired to build the canal and the local landowners and mill owners who opposed building the canal engaged in legal battles and commissioned the writing of poems to support their cause.cite book|author=Charles Hadfield|title=The Canals of South and South East England|pages=299|isbn=0-7153-4693-8] In the end, the canal opened in 1777 at a cost of £40,930.cite book|author=Charles Hadfield|title=The Canals of South and South East England|pages=301|isbn=0-7153-4693-8] The canal company had run up various debts to cover the £40,930 cost, but these debts were paid by 1786 when a dividend of £7.50 (5%) was paid to share holders.

Operation

Once the canal company had paid its debts dividends were paid regularly occasionally breaking 20%cite book|author=Charles Hadfield|title=The Canals of South and South East England|pages=312|isbn=0-7153-4693-8] the main cargo being coal.Boats that worked the canal included the Severn Trow.cite book|author=Hugh McKnight|title=The Shell book of Inland Waterways|isbn=0-7153-6884-2] In 1859 in order to allow the passage of a coal barge called the Queen Esther two of the locks were widened.cite book|author=Charles Hadfield|title=The Canals of South and South East England|pages=311|isbn=0-7153-4693-8]

Decline

While at first the canal company was able to prevent competing railways in 1863 the Stonehouse & Nailsworth Railway act was passed allowing the construction of a railway that directly competed with the canal.cite book|author=Charles Hadfield|title=The Canals of South and South East England|pages=311|isbn=0-7153-4693-8] Dividends fell below 5% after 1880 although they did not cease entirely until 1922.cite book|author=Charles Hadfield|title=The Canals of South and South East England|pages=313|isbn=0-7153-4693-8] Around the same time the connection to the Severn at Framilode became blocked leaving the connection to the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal as the only link between the canal and the River Severn. The last toll was paid in 1941 and most of the canal formally abandoned in 1954.cite book|author=Charles Hadfield|title=The Canals of South and South East England|pages=314|isbn=0-7153-4693-8] Despite the closure of the canal the canal company continued to generate income for many years through the sale of water and some monies produced by property holdings.cite book |title=Severn Traders |last=Green |first=Colin |year=1999 |publisher=Black Dwarf Publications |isbn=0953302822|pages = pp.29-31 ]

Restoration

The canal is now undergoing restoration through the Cotswold Canals Partnership.cite web
title =Cotswold Canals Partnership
publisher =
url =http://community.stroud.gov.uk/general.asp?pid=2&pgid=171
accessdate = 2007-07-15 ] Work already undertaken by the Cotswold Canals Trust and GCC includes the construction of a new bridge at Eastington. In November 2007 work started to clear the canal between Ryeford double lock and Oils Mills Bridge.cite news|title=Cotswold Canals Progress |work= waterways |publisher=IWA |date=spring 2008 |page=12]

Links to other canals

The canal had links to both the Thames and Severn Canal (at Wallbridge) and the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal (at Saul).

References