29947
The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal south of Lapworth in Warwickshire.
The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal was conceived as part of a network of canals which would allow coal from the Dudley Canal and the Stourbridge Canal to reach Oxford and London, without having to use the Birmingham canals, the management of which was seen as high-handed. An Act was passed on 28 March 1793 for the construction of a canal from a junction with the Worcester and Birmingham Canal in Kings Norton to Stratford-upon-Avon. The Canal Company was empowered to raise £120,000 by issuing shares and an additional £60,000 if required. The route would take it close to Warwick and Birmingham Canal at Lapworth, but the act did not include any provision for a direct connection with it, or with the River Avon at Stratford. Negotiations started with the Warwick and Birmingham, and to second act was obtained on 19 May 1795, to allow a connecting link to be built, despite rather unfavourable terms imposed on through traffic by the other company.
Josiah Clowes was employed as the engineer, and construction began in November 1793, starting at the Kings Norton end. He was also working on the Dudley Canal's extension, and another four canal schemes at the same time, and was the first great tunnel engineer. He died in December of the following year, but work continued until the main line reached Hockley Heath in May 1796, one mile (1.6 km) short of the first lock at Lapworth. At this point, cutting ceased through lack of money, as the capital raised had all been spent. The Dudley Canal extension through the Lappal tunnel was opened in early 1798, and with progress being made on the Warwick and Birmingham Canal, the Company obtained a third act of Parliament on 21 June 1799, which allowed it to raise more money, and included a diversion of the route further to the east near Lapworth, so that the length of the connecting link to the Warwick and Birmingham was only about 200 yards (180 m). Work restarted in 1799 under a new engineer called Samuel Porter, a former assistant of Clowes. He continued as far as Kingswood Junction, which was formally opened on 24 May 1802, after which cutting again ceased.
Construction only recommenced in 1812, under the leadership of William James of Stratford. James, who had owned shares in the Company since 1793, had a wide interest in turnpike roads and railways, and following a tour of the north of England between 1802 and 1804, on which he investigated railways and canals, he expanded his business interests to include coal mining. He rose to become chairman of the Canal Company, and personally bought the Upper Avon Navigation in 1813. He wanted to create a through route between the River Severn and the Midlands, and so the Canal Company obtained a further act of Parliament on 12 May 1815, which authorised a connection between the canal and the Avon at Stratford, as well as enabling them to build reservoirs at Earlswood. The canal reached Stratford in June 1816 and a connection with the River Avon was made. The total cost of the canal had been around £297,000.
The southern section of the canal never realised James' ambitions, as the Upper Avon was too tortuous and prone to floods to be a reliable through route. He spent some £6,000 on improvements to the Upper Avon locks in 1822, but over-reached himself, and was declared bankrupt shortly afterwards. For a while the upper river was managed by a syndicate of seven people, all connected with the canal, and the Canal Company took out a lease of it from 1842 for five years. Trade was mainly coal, which was conveyed from Stratford to Evesham.
Traffic steadily built up, although tolls were low, to offset the costs imposed on goods passing through Kingswood Junction to the Warwick and Birmingham Canal. On the southern section, coal was taken to Stratford, from where it was sold, or passed along the Upper Avon or the Stratford and Moreton Tramway. Modest dividends were paid to shareholders from 1824, and the total traffic carried in 1838 was 181,708 tons, on which profits of £6,835 were made. In 1845, the company agreed to sell the canal to the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway, who were also keen to purchase the Stratford and Moreton Tramway. It was not until January 1856 that the transaction was finally completed, and another year before the railway company took over day-to-day running. Another change of ownership occurred in 1863, when the railway company was absorbed by the Great Western Railway. Traffic gradually decreased, but the fall in receipts was faster than the fall in tonnage, as the railway took the long-distance loads.
29947
The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal south of Lapworth in Warwickshire.
The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal was conceived as part of a network of canals which would allow coal from the Dudley Canal and the Stourbridge Canal to reach Oxford and London, without having to use the Birmingham canals, the management of which was seen as high-handed. An Act was passed on 28 March 1793 for the construction of a canal from a junction with the Worcester and Birmingham Canal in Kings Norton to Stratford-upon-Avon. The Canal Company was empowered to raise £120,000 by issuing shares and an additional £60,000 if required. The route would take it close to Warwick and Birmingham Canal at Lapworth, but the act did not include any provision for a direct connection with it, or with the River Avon at Stratford. Negotiations started with the Warwick and Birmingham, and to second act was obtained on 19 May 1795, to allow a connecting link to be built, despite rather unfavourable terms imposed on through traffic by the other company.
Josiah Clowes was employed as the engineer, and construction began in November 1793, starting at the Kings Norton end. He was also working on the Dudley Canal's extension, and another four canal schemes at the same time, and was the first great tunnel engineer. He died in December of the following year, but work continued until the main line reached Hockley Heath in May 1796, one mile (1.6 km) short of the first lock at Lapworth. At this point, cutting ceased through lack of money, as the capital raised had all been spent. The Dudley Canal extension through the Lappal tunnel was opened in early 1798, and with progress being made on the Warwick and Birmingham Canal, the Company obtained a third act of Parliament on 21 June 1799, which allowed it to raise more money, and included a diversion of the route further to the east near Lapworth, so that the length of the connecting link to the Warwick and Birmingham was only about 200 yards (180 m). Work restarted in 1799 under a new engineer called Samuel Porter, a former assistant of Clowes. He continued as far as Kingswood Junction, which was formally opened on 24 May 1802, after which cutting again ceased.
Construction only recommenced in 1812, under the leadership of William James of Stratford. James, who had owned shares in the Company since 1793, had a wide interest in turnpike roads and railways, and following a tour of the north of England between 1802 and 1804, on which he investigated railways and canals, he expanded his business interests to include coal mining. He rose to become chairman of the Canal Company, and personally bought the Upper Avon Navigation in 1813. He wanted to create a through route between the River Severn and the Midlands, and so the Canal Company obtained a further act of Parliament on 12 May 1815, which authorised a connection between the canal and the Avon at Stratford, as well as enabling them to build reservoirs at Earlswood. The canal reached Stratford in June 1816 and a connection with the River Avon was made. The total cost of the canal had been around £297,000.
The southern section of the canal never realised James' ambitions, as the Upper Avon was too tortuous and prone to floods to be a reliable through route. He spent some £6,000 on improvements to the Upper Avon locks in 1822, but over-reached himself, and was declared bankrupt shortly afterwards. For a while the upper river was managed by a syndicate of seven people, all connected with the canal, and the Canal Company took out a lease of it from 1842 for five years. Trade was mainly coal, which was conveyed from Stratford to Evesham.
Traffic steadily built up, although tolls were low, to offset the costs imposed on goods passing through Kingswood Junction to the Warwick and Birmingham Canal. On the southern section, coal was taken to Stratford, from where it was sold, or passed along the Upper Avon or the Stratford and Moreton Tramway. Modest dividends were paid to shareholders from 1824, and the total traffic carried in 1838 was 181,708 tons, on which profits of £6,835 were made. In 1845, the company agreed to sell the canal to the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway, who were also keen to purchase the Stratford and Moreton Tramway. It was not until January 1856 that the transaction was finally completed, and another year before the railway company took over day-to-day running. Another change of ownership occurred in 1863, when the railway company was absorbed by the Great Western Railway. Traffic gradually decreased, but the fall in receipts was faster than the fall in tonnage, as the railway took the long-distance loads.