Editing Ellesmere Canal (section)

{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
[[File:Pontcysyllte aqueduct arp.jpg|thumb|300px|The [[Pontcysyllte Aqueduct]] opened to traffic on the Ellesmere Canal in 1805.]]
The '''Ellesmere Canal''' was a waterway in England and [[Wales]] that was planned to carry boat traffic between the rivers [[River Mersey|Mersey]] and [[River Severn|Severn]]. The proposal would create a link between the [[Port of Liverpool]] and the [[North Wales Coalfield|mineral industries]] in north east Wales and the manufacturing centres in the [[West Midlands (region)|West Midlands]]. However, the canal was never completed as intended because of its rising costs and failure to generate the expected commercial traffic.

The Ellesmere Canal, which was first proposed in 1791, would have created a waterway between [[Ellesmere Port|Netherpool]], Cheshire, and [[Shrewsbury]]. However, only certain sections were completed; these were eventually incorporated into the [[Chester Canal]], [[Montgomery Canal]] and [[Shropshire Union Canal]]. Although several major civil engineering feats were accomplished, major building work ceased following the completion of the [[Pontcysyllte Aqueduct]] in 1805. The northern end of the navigation's mainline ended {{convert|25|km|mi|0|order=flip}} from [[Chester]] at [[Trevor Basin]] near [[Ruabon]] and its southern end was at [[Weston Lullingfields]] about {{convert|15|km|mi|0|order=flip}} from [[Shrewsbury]].

As part of the rebranding of Britain's industrial waterways as leisure destinations, the surviving central section is now called the [[Llangollen Canal]]; even though historically its builders had no intention of sending boat traffic to [[Llangollen]]. The branch, from which the waterway now takes its name, was primarily a water feeder from the [[River Dee, Wales|River Dee]] above the town. Therefore it was not built as a broad-gauge canal, hence its inherently narrow design.