Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Gloucester and Sharpness Canal
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
==Canal planning and construction== [[File:Glocester and Berkeley Canal Company 1794.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Founder's share of the Glocester and Berkeley Canal Company, issued 29 September 1794, printed on vellum. The proprietors of this canal were authorised to raise the sum of £140,000 to be divided into shares of £100 each. If the former sum be insufficient, then they raise a further sum of £60,000.|Founder's share of the Glocester and Berkeley Canal Company, issued 29 September 1794, printed on vellum. The proprietors of this canal were authorised to raise the sum of £140,000 to be divided into shares of £100 each. If the former sum be insufficient, they could raise a further sum of £60,000.<ref>"The History of Cheltenham and its Environs", Cheltenham, Printed and published by H. Ruff, 1803. p. 318</ref>]] {{Infobox UK legislation | short_title = Gloucester and Berkeley 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 or near the City of Gloucester, into a Place called Berkeley Pill, in the Parish of Berkeley, and also a Cut to or near the Town of Berkeley, in the County of Gloucester. | year = 1793 | citation = [[33 Geo. 3]]. c. 97 | introduced_commons = | introduced_lords = | territorial_extent = | royal_assent = 28 March 1793 | 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 }} Conceived in the [[canal mania]] period of the late 18th century, the Gloucester and [[Berkeley, Gloucestershire|Berkeley]] Ship Canal scheme (as it was originally named) was started by [[architect]] and [[civil engineer]] [[Robert Mylne (architect)|Robert Mylne]]. In 1793 an act of Parliament, the '''{{visible anchor|Gloucester and Berkeley Canal Act 1793}}''' ([[33 Geo. 3]]. c. 97) was obtained authorising the raising of a total of [[Pound sterling|£]]200,000.<ref name=hadfield342>Hadfield (1969), p.342</ref> The project rapidly encountered financial difficulties, to such an extent that Mylne left the project in 1798. By mid-1799 costs had reached £112,000 but only {{convert|5+1/2|mi|0}} of the canal had been completed.<ref name=hadfield344>Hadfield (1969), p.344</ref> Mylne's role was taken over by [[James Dadford]], who had originally been engaged as resident engineer on the project in 1795.<ref name=hadfield343>Hadfield (1969), p.343</ref> Lack of funds resulted in the company ceasing to employ Dadford in 1800.<ref name=hadfield344/> ===Decade of capital raising=== Between 1800 and 1810 various unfruitful attempts were made to raise money to allow further building.<ref name=hadfield344/> Money from tolls and rents allowed for some improvements to be made to the basin at Gloucester in 1813.<ref name=hadfield345>Hadfield (1969), p.345</ref> ===Eventual completion=== Following the [[Public Works Loans Act 1817]] ([[57 Geo. 3]]. c. 34), it was possible for the company to borrow money from the [[Exchequer Bill Loan Commission]]. This, along with further share issues, provided enough money to bring the scheme to completion.<ref name=hadfield346>Hadfield (1969), p.346</ref> After these significant delays, the canal opened in April 1827. In the course of its construction the canal had cost £440,000 ({{Inflation|UK|440000|1827|fmt=eq|cursign=£|r=-6}}).<ref name=hadfield348 /> As opened, the canal was {{convert|86+1/2|ft}} wide, {{convert|18|ft|m}} deep and could take craft of up to {{convert|600|LT|t ST|abbr=off}}. The longer of the two locks onto the canal proper was {{convert|115|ft|m}} long.<ref name=hadfield348>Hadfield (1969), p.348</ref> ===Eventual dividends=== By the middle of the 19th century it proved possible to pay a small dividend, the debt to the Exchequer Bill Loan Commission having been repaid with the help of a loan of £60,000 from the [[Pelican Life Assurance Company]].<ref name=hadfield348/> In 1871 the last of the debts incurred in the course of funding the canal, including the Pelican loan, were paid off.<ref name=hadfield351>Hadfield (1969), p.351</ref> === Sharpness New Docks === A new, larger entrance and tidal basin at Sharpness was completed in 1874;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Canal and River Trust Archive BW120 - Records of the Sharpness New Docks and Gloucester and Birmingham Navigation Company |url=https://collections.canalrivertrust.org.uk/bw120 |access-date=2024-11-13 |website=collections.canalrivertrust.org.uk}}</ref> during this year the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal Company acquired the [[Worcester and Birmingham Canal]] Company. At this point, the canal company was renamed the Sharpness New Docks and Gloucester and Birmingham Navigation Company. Where the [[Severn Railway Bridge]] (completed in 1879) passed over the canal, a [[swing bridge|swing section]] was constructed<ref name="EPT124" /> to avoid restricting headroom. ===Purton hulks=== {{Main|Purton Hulks}} In 1909, following a collapse in the bank of the river, the canal company's chief engineer A. J. Cullis called for old vessels to be run aground along the bank of the Severn, near [[Purton, Berkeley|Purton]], to create a makeshift tidal erosion barrier to reinforce the narrow strip of land between the river and canal.<ref>{{cite web | title=The Purton Hulks | work=morturn.com – Legacy from the past | url=http://www.morturn.com/locations/Sites/Purton/Purton_Site_Page.htm | access-date=2008-10-19 | archive-date=3 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303182408/http://www.morturn.com/locations/Sites/Purton/Purton_Site_Page.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Barge]]s, [[trow]]s and [[schooner]]s were "hulked" at high tide, and have since filled with [[silt]]. More boats have been added, including the schooner ''Katherine Ellen'' which was impounded in 1921 for running guns to the [[Irish Republican Army (1922–69)|IRA]], the [[Kennet_and_Avon_Canal#River_navigations|Kennet barge]] ''Harriett'', and [[Concrete ship|ferrocement barges]] built in World War II.<ref>{{cite news | title=Purton Hulks – maritime history sunk by neglect | work=telegraph.co.uk | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/10/18/eaboatwreck118.xml | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081020064309/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/10/18/eaboatwreck118.xml | url-status=dead | archive-date=2008-10-20 | access-date=2008-10-19 | location=London | date=2008-10-18}}</ref> In 1999, Paul Barnett started a privately funded research project to record the 81 vessels at the site, recognised as the largest ships' graveyard in mainland Britain.<ref>{{cite web | title=The Friends of Purton |url=http://www.friendsofpurton.org.uk }}</ref> In 2010 [[British Waterways]] took control of the site in an attempt to protect it.<ref name=bbcpurton>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-11384382 |title=Purton Hulks taken over by British Waterways |access-date=2010-10-06 |work= BBC News| date=2010-09-22 }}</ref> ===Bridge-houses=== {{Unreferenced section|date=December 2023}} Eight of the bridges have Neo-classical bridge-men's houses in the near vicinity. These were built in the early 19th century when the volume of traffic on the canal made it important that all the bridges could open at night so that vessels could meet the tides at Sharpness. At that time, the other bridge-men lived in existing houses that were close enough to their bridges. The classical-style bridge-men's houses were originally symmetrical in plan with gables on each elevation. Each had a living room, one bedroom, a scullery at the back and a porch with Doric columns at the front. In later years, the houses have been extended to provide more accommodation and modern facilities. Today, the houses are in private ownership, and most of them are [[Grade II listed]]. <gallery> File:Rea Bridge Bridgehouse.jpg|Rea Bridge Bridge-house File:Sellars Bridge Bridgehouse.jpg|Sellars Bridge Bridge-house File:Hardwicke Bridge Bridgehouse.jpg|Hardwicke Bridge (now removed) Bridge-house File:Parkend Bridge Bridgehouse.jpg|Parkend Bridge Bridge-house File:Fretherne Bridge Bridgehouse.jpg|Fretherne Bridge Bridge-house File:Splatt Bridge Bridgehouse.jpg|Splatt Bridge Bridge-house File:Cambridge_Arms_Bridge_Bridgehouse.jpg| Cambridge Arms Bridge Bridge-house File:Purton Upper Bridge Bridgehouse.jpg| Purton Upper Bridge Bridge-house </gallery>
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)