Editing Grantham Canal (section)

==History==
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Grantham Canal Act 1793
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of Great Britain
| long_title            = An Act for making and maintaining a Navigable Canal from or nearly from the Town of Grantham, in the County of Lincoln, to the River Trent, near Nottingham Trent Bridge, and also a Collateral Cut from the said intended Canal, at or near Cropwell Butler, to the Town of Bingham, both in the County of Nottingham.
| year                  = 1793
| citation              = [[33 Geo. 3]]. c. 94
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 30 April 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
}}
The concept of a canal from the River Trent to Grantham was first raised on 27 August 1791, as a way of supplying the district with cheaper coal. The intent was for the navigation to join the Trent below Nottingham at [[Radcliffe-on-Trent]]. As [[William Jessop]] was surveying the [[Nottingham Canal]] at the time, he was asked to survey the Grantham route as well, and a bill was put before Parliament in 1792. It was defeated, as there was opposition from coal suppliers, who delivered coal by road to Grantham, and from those who thought that the [[River Witham]] would be damaged by the project. A revised route was developed, with the junction now at [[West Bridgford]], and an additional {{convert|3.6|mi|km|adj=on}} branch to [[Bingham, Nottinghamshire|Bingham]]. A second bill was put forward and the [[act of Parliament]], the '''{{visible anchor|Grantham Canal Act 1793}}''' ([[33 Geo. 3]]. c. 94), received royal assent on 30 April 1793. Building work on the canal started in 1793, with Jessop in overall charge, but with James Green and William King as resident engineers: Green, who was from [[Wollaton]], was appointed engineer for the section of canal from the Trent to the Leicestershire border, while King, who was the agent for the [[John Manners, 5th Duke of Rutland|Duke of Rutland]], was responsible for the rest of the canal, including two reservoirs, one at [[Denton, Lincolnshire|Denton]] and the other at [[Knipton]] on the [[River Devon, Nottinghamshire|River Devon]].<ref>{{harvnb |Hadfield |1970 |pp=61–62}}</ref>

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Grantham Canal Act 1797
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of Great Britain
| long_title            = An act for enabling the company of proprietors of the Grantham canal navigation to finish and complete the same, and the collateral cut to communicate therewith; and for amending the act of parliament, passed in the thirty-third year of the reign of his present Majesty, for making and maintaining the said canal and collateral cut.
| year                  = 1797
| citation              = [[37 Geo. 3]]. c. 30
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 3 March 1797
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = [[Statute Law Revision Act 1871]]
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
The act authorised an initial £75,000 to be raised to pay for construction, together with an option to raise a further £30,000, of which £20,000 should be raised by shares of £100 each among the initial subscribers, and £10,000 by mortgaging the future income of the canal. However, this amount proved insufficient, and there was also disagreement between the shareholders as to their liability to raise the additional £20,000. As a result, a second act of Parliament was sought. This received royal assent as the '''{{visible anchor|Grantham Canal Act 1797}}''' ([[37 Geo. 3]]. c. 30) on 3 March 1797, and made clear the obligations of existing shareholders to pay the extra subscription, and also authorised an additional £24,000 to be raised. The second act also removed restrictions in the first act, and allowed the company to set whatever rates it chose for using the canal.<ref name=priestley>{{harvnb |Priestley |1831 |pp=322–323}}</ref>

The eastern section from the Leicestershire border was opened on 1 February 1797, with the rest of the canal later that year. The canal was built with locks {{convert|75|by|14|ft|m}}, the same size as those on the [[Nottingham Canal]] to allow boats to use both. The branch to Bingham authorised by the first act of Parliament was not built. The 18 locks raised the level of the canal by {{convert|140|ft|m}} from the Trent to Grantham. Eleven of them were in the first {{convert|4|mi|km}} above the Trent, after which there was a level pound of around {{convert|20|mi|km}} before a flight of seven locks at Woolsthorpe, and a much shorter upper pound to Grantham. At [[Harlaxton]], the canal passed through a deep cutting (effectively crossing the watershed between the [[River Witham]] and the [[River Trent]]), which was only wide enough for a single boat, but this situation was partially rectified in 1801 when the cutting was widened in two places to allow boats travelling on opposite directions to cross. At [[Cropwell Bishop]] and [[Cropwell Butler]], the route passed through gypsum beds, which resulted in problems with leakage.<ref name=hadfield63>{{harvnb |Hadfield |1970 |p=63}}</ref>

===Operation===
The canal made sufficient money to repay substantial debts in 1804 and 1805, after which dividends were paid to the shareholders, beginning at 2 per cent in 1806, rising to 5 per cent in 1815, and reaching their highest level of 8.6 per cent in 1839. The tolls brought in an income which remained below £9,000 until 1823, but then rose steadily to reach £13,079 in 1841. Traffic towards Grantham included coal and coke, lime, groceries and building materials. Some of it supplied villages along the line of the canal, and some of that which travelled the full distance was distributed by land to villages beyond Grantham. Downward traffic was largely agricultural produce, including corn, beans, malt and wool. Such produce was normally loaded at Grantham or Harby.<ref name=hadfield63/>

Initially, some of the coal carried on the canal had been transported in boats owned by the canal company, but they had given up this practice in 1812. They resumed carrying coal in 1827, because they felt that coal stocks at Grantham were not adequate, but were accused of price-fixing. Although the penalty imposed by Lincoln Assizes was small, they ceased this trade, and the coal merchants agreed to maintain stocks of 2,660 tons at Grantham. In 1833, J. Rofe and his son made a proposal for a canal to connect Grantham and [[Sleaford]], but this was not pursued.<ref>{{harvnb |Hadfield |1970 |pp=63–64}}</ref>

===Decline===
In common with most canals, competition from railways posed a major threat, and in 1845 the canal owners agreed to sell it to the [[Ambergate, Nottingham, Boston and Eastern Junction Railway]] when their line from Ambergate to Grantham was opened. Although the railway was completed in 1850, the railway company did not honour the agreement. The canal company brought a large number of cases against the railway company, and successfully opposed several bills which the railway were trying to get passed in Parliament. Eventually the railway company agreed to pay, and shareholders received £45 per share in cash, with the balance being in railway mortgages. The agreement was reached on 1 June 1854, and the transfer of ownership took place on 20 December. Railway mergers meant that the canal came under the control of the [[Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)|Great Northern Railway]] in 1861,{{sfn |Hadfield |1970 |pp=195–196}} and later the [[London and North Eastern Railway]].{{sfn |Cumberlidge |2009 |p=145}}

Traffic declined as the railway companies neglected the canal, and were down to 18,802 tons in 1905, on which the tolls amounted to £242 and the [[London and North Eastern Railway (General Powers) Act 1936]] ([[26 Geo. 5 & 1 Edw. 8]]. c. cxxvii) formally closed the canal,{{sfn |Hadfield |1970 |p=196}} though there had been no boat traffic since 1929.{{sfn |Shill |2011 |p=179}} The closure act stipulated that water levels should be maintained at {{convert|2|ft|cm|sigfig=1}} to support agricultural needs. This effectively guaranteed the continued existence of the canal channel, but structures such as locks and bridges deteriorated, and in the 1950s 46 of the 69 bridges over the canal were lowered as part of road improvement schemes.{{sfn |Potter |2006 |p=96}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.granthamcanal.org/history/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001030939/http://www.granthamcanal.org/history/ |archive-date=1 October 2020 |url-status=live |title=History |publisher=Grantham Canal Society |access-date=1 January 2013}}</ref> Although the low bridges act as barriers to navigation, large parts of the canal are still in water.<ref name=jane2009/>

In 1948 Britain's railways, and hence the canal, were nationalised,<ref name=jane2009/> and became the responsibility of the [[British Transport Commission]]. In 1963 control of the canal passed to [[British Waterways]].{{sfn |Hadfield |1970 |p=207}} Under the terms of the [[Transport Act 1968]], all waterways within the jurisdiction of British Waterways were classified as [[British Waterways#Transport Act 1968|commercial, cruising or remainder]] waterways. Remainder waterways were those that were deemed to have no economic future, and maintenance would only be carried out where failure to do so would create health or safety issues.{{sfn |Cumberlidge |2009 |p=37}} The Grantham Canal was listed in this latter category.{{sfn |Cumberlidge |2009 |p=40}}