Editing Ellesmere Canal (section)

==History==

===Route planning===
[[File:Camlas ellesmere.png|right|375px|thumb|Map of the original proposed route of the Ellesmere canal published in 1795]]
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Ellesmere and Chester Canal Act 1793
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of Great Britain
| long_title            = An Act for making and maintaining a Navigable Canal from the River Severn, at Shrewsbury, in the County of Salop, to the River Mersey, at or near Netherpool in the County of Chester, and also for making and maintaining certain Collateral Cuts from the said intended Canal.
| year                  = 1793
| citation              = [[33 Geo. 3]]. c. 91
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 30 April 1793
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = [[Ellesmere and Chester Canal Act 1827]]
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
The formal proposal for the canal was launched at a meeting in [[Ellesmere, Shropshire|Ellesmere]] in 1791 for a canal from Netherpool (now [[Ellesmere Port]]) on the [[River Mersey]] to the [[River Dee, Wales|River Dee]] at [[Chester]]. It would then go in a south easterly direction via [[Overton-on-Dee|Overton]] (south of [[Wrexham]]) to the [[River Severn]] at [[Shrewsbury]]. Branches would then be cut to the iron making and coal mining areas at [[Bersham]] between [[Wrexham]] and [[Ruabon]] and to the [[copper mine]]s at [[Llanymynech]]. By 1793 an [[act of Parliament]], the '''{{visible anchor|Ellesmere and Chester Canal Act 1793}}''' ([[33 Geo. 3]]. c. 91), had been passed allowing the Ellesmere Canal company to build the canal.

However this route of the canal beyond Chester was not to the liking of all backers. They wanted the canal's course to follow a more westerly route from the Dee to the Severn passing directly through the Welsh mining areas. Eventually this proposal was the one that canal engineer John Duncombe followed when he eventually surveyed the route. Notable civil engineer [[William Jessop]] was called into advise; he too recommended the route surveyed by Duncombe. Jessop was eventually appointed the project's engineer while [[Thomas Telford]] was appointed as [[General Agent]]. The northernmost section, a [[contour canal]], from the Mersey to the Dee was completed in 1797. This allowed the company to generate revenue from tolls to help finance construction of the rest of the canal.

However the westerly route posed formidable engineering obstacles. Close to the [[Eglwyseg]] and Ruabon mountains, there were deep river valleys to be crossed and high ground to be tunnelled. Duncombe's survey involved a climb of {{convert|303|ft|0}} from Chester to Wrexham, a {{convert|4607|yd|0|adj=on}} tunnel at Ruabon, a high level crossing over the Dee at [[Pontcysyllte Aqueduct|Pontcysyllte]], a further tunnel and [[Navigable aqueduct|aqueduct]] near [[Chirk]], and a tunnel in Shropshire near [[Weston Lullingfields]].

A plan of the canal, published in 1795, showed the route between [[Ellesmere Port|Netherpool]] in the north to [[Shrewsbury]] to the south: 
:[[River Mersey]]; Great Stanney; [[Stoak]]; [[Wervin]]; Caughall; Chester; Saltneyside; Lache Hall;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=57342|title=Manors and estates in and near the City of Chester|website=www.british-history.ac.uk|publisher=British History Online|access-date=31 May 2012}}</ref> Rough Hill; Cuckoos Nest; [[Wrexham]]; [[Ruabon]]; [[Acrefair|Plas Madoc]]; [[Chirk]]; [[Hordley]]; Dandyford; Shade Oak; [[Weston Lullingfields]]; [[Eyton on Severn|Eyton]]; [[Walford, Shropshire|Walford]]; Hancott; [[Shrewsbury]]; [[River Severn]].
The canal plan would also have four branches:
*A {{convert|3|mi|0|adj=on}} branch would run to [[Holt, Wales|Holt]].
*A {{convert|5|mi|0|adj=on}} branch would run from near Wrexham to [[Brymbo]].
*A branch would run from near Hordley to [[Llanymynech]], via [[Maesbury]], Morton and Crickheath.
*A {{convert|17|mi|0|adj=on}} branch would run from near Tetchill to [[Prees, Shropshire|Prees Heath]], via [[Welshampton]], [[Fenn's, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses NNR|Fenn's Moss]] and [[Whitchurch, Shropshire|Whitchurch]].

Originally Jessop had suggested that the cheaper solution was to use [[Lock (water transport)|locks]] on both sides of Vale of Llangollen to take the canal down to a more manageable height for the second, upstream crossing of the River Dee at [[Froncysyllte]]. Rather than crossing at full height, the locks would reuse water by backpumping. But by 1795 Jessop and Telford had changed their decision. Instead they developed a proposal for a cast-iron [[Pontcysyllte Aqueduct|aqueduct]] to maintain the original level.

===Construction===
[[File:Llangollen Canal - Chirk Tunnel - geograph.org.uk - 130784.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Chirk Tunnel]] on the Ellesmere Canal was completed in 1802.]]
In 1796 the Llanymynech Branch was opened, linking the main line at [[Frankton Junction]] with Llanymynech. This joined the Montgomeryshire Canal at Carreghofa Locks when the Montgomeryshire opened in 1797.

In 1796, [[Thomas Telford]] constructed a feeder reservoir lake in [[Moss Valley, Wrexham]] to provide water to the length of canal between [[Trevor Basin]] and [[Chester]]. However, as the plan to build this section was cancelled in 1798, the isolated feeder and a stretch of navigation between Ffrwd and a basin in [[Summerhill, Wrexham|Summerhill]] was abandoned. Remnants of the feeder channel are visible in [[Gwersyllt]]. A street in the village is still named Heol Camlas (Canal Way).<ref name="coedpoeth.minerahistory.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.coedpoeth.minerahistory.com/timeline.html|title=Local Timeline|publisher=Coedpoeth Minerahistory.com|access-date=4 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714095706/http://www.coedpoeth.minerahistory.com/timeline.html|archive-date=14 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[contour canal|contour section]] from the [[River Mersey]] to the [[River Dee, Wales|River Dee]] at Chester was joined to the [[Chester Canal]] in 1797.

On the main line section, the [[Chirk Aqueduct]] was opened in 1801, and [[Pontcysyllte Aqueduct]] in 1805. However, by this time the proposed line from the Dee at Chester to Ruabon had been abandoned as uneconomic. The canal was therefore terminated at [[Trevor Basin]], {{convert|2|mi|0}} southwest of [[Ruabon]].

Also abandoned was the plan to reach the Severn, as the [[Shrewsbury Canal]] was already serving the town, and the poor navigational state of the Severn meant that additional traffic would not justify the cost of the building works.

As the canal would now not reach its proposed main source of water [[Moss Valley, Wrexham|northwest of Wrexham]], a feeder was constructed along the side of the Dee valley to [[Horseshoe Falls (Wales)|Horseshoe Falls]] at [[Llantysilio]]. This narrow feeder branch was made navigable, allowing boats to reach [[Llangollen]].

In the end the only parts of the main line of the canal to be built was the extreme northern line from the Mersey to Chester and the {{convert|29|km|mi|0|order=flip|adj=on}} central section from Trevor Basin to Weston Lullingfields. As this left the middle part isolated from the rest of the UK waterways network, the planned [[Whitchurch, Shropshire|Whitchurch]] branch was re-routed. A {{convert|47|km|mi|0|order=flip|adj=on}} link was built from Frankton via Ellesmere to the Chester Canal at [[Hurleston Junction]] in sections between 1797 and 1806. Despite the circuitous route, it was considered to be the main line. The extension also included an arm to Whitchurch because the town had been by-passed by the new route.
A branch was also originally intended to reach [[Prees]] in Shropshire; however the line was only constructed as far as [[Quina Brook]], {{convert|1.5|km|frac=4|order=flip|adj=on}} from the village.

The section of waterway from Frankton Junction to Weston Lullingfields, which was originally intended to be the main line to Shrewsbury, became the Weston Branch. The uncompleted part between Weston Lullingfields and the River Severn would have been {{convert|9+1/2|mi|km|0}} long, with {{convert|107|ft|m|0}} of lockage and a {{convert|487|yd|m|adj=on}} tunnel at Weston Lullingfileds.<ref>{{cite book
  | last = Priestly
  | first = Joseph
  | title = Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, of Great Britain
  | publisher = Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown & Green
  | year = 1831
  | pages = 244}}</ref>

===Working canal===
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Ellesmere and Chester Canal Company Act 1845
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for uniting the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal Navigation Company with the Ellesmere and Chester Canal Company.
| year                  = 1845
| citation              = [[8 & 9 Vict.]] c. ii
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 8 May 1845
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = 
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
Due to the constraints placed on the canal by its incomplete design, the Ellesmere Canal struggled financially throughout its operating life as an industrial waterway. In 1813, the Ellesmere Canal company merged with the [[Chester Canal]] to form the Ellesmere and Chester Canal Company under the [[Ellesmere and Chester Canals Unification Act 1813]] ([[53 Geo. 3]]. c. lxxx). This business was then merged with the [[Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal]] by the '''{{visible anchor|Ellesmere and Chester Canal Company Act 1845}}''' ([[8 & 9 Vict.]] c. ii). A year later the canal was taken over again by the formation of the [[Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company]].

By 1917 the Weston Branch had closed following a breach near Hordley Wharf. In 1939 traffic on the line from Hurleston to Llangollen had all but ceased. All remaining parts of the Ellesmere Canal network, other than the northern line from Ellesmere Port to Chester, were closed to navigation by the [[London Midland and Scottish Railway (Canals) Act 1944]] ([[8 & 9 Geo. 6]]. c. ii). However, the canal from Hurleston to Llangollen was retained as a water feeder for the Shropshire Union Canal main line and for drinking water. In 1955 an agreement with the Mid & South East Cheshire Water Board secured the canal's future.

===Present day===
Despite the formal closure, increasing popularity of the canal with pleasure boats led to its acceptance as an important amenity and rebranding as the Llangollen Canal. As the canal was never intended to go to Llangollen, this renaming is an ironic twist symbolic of the canal's convoluted development.

The Ellesmere Canal south of Frankton Junction (the Llanymynech Branch), together with the Montgomeryshire Canal, today form the [[Montgomery Canal]].

The isolated section from Chester to Ellesmere Port is considered part of the [[Shropshire Union Canal]] main line.

The Weston Branch is now infilled save for a very short section which has a [[Canal & River Trust]] amenity block.