Editing Leeds and Liverpool Canal (section)

==History==

===Background===
In the mid-18th century the growing towns of [[Yorkshire]], including Leeds, [[Wakefield]] and [[Bradford]], were trading increasingly. While the [[Aire and Calder Navigation]] improved links to the east for Leeds, links to the west were limited. Bradford merchants wanted to increase the supply of limestone to make lime for mortar and agriculture using coal from Bradford's collieries and to transport textiles to the [[Port of Liverpool]].<ref name="Bradford">{{cite news |title=Origin & Historic Development |url=http://www.bradford.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/1F7D2D6B-8298-4893-AA99-2CE7C2EA2D00/0/Leeds_Liverpool_2_Historic_Development.pdf |publisher=Bradford Council |access-date=27 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320020407/http://www.bradford.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/1F7D2D6B-8298-4893-AA99-2CE7C2EA2D00/0/Leeds_Liverpool_2_Historic_Development.pdf |archive-date=20 March 2012 }}</ref> On the west coast, traders in the busy port of Liverpool wanted a cheap supply of coal for their shipping and manufacturing businesses and to tap the output from the industrial regions of [[Lancashire]]. Inspired by the effectiveness of the wholly artificial navigation, the [[Bridgewater Canal]] opened in 1759–60. A canal across the Pennines linking Liverpool and [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]] (by means of the Aire and Calder Navigation) would have obvious trade benefits.

A public meeting took place at the Sun Inn in Bradford on 2 July 1766 to promote the building of such a canal.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Leeds & Liverpool Canal|last=Clarke|first=Mike|year=1994|publisher=Carnegie Publishing|isbn=1-85936-013-0}}</ref> John Longbotham was engaged to survey a route. Two groups were set up to promote the scheme, one in Liverpool and one in Bradford. The Liverpool committee was unhappy with the route originally proposed, following the [[River Ribble|Ribble]] valley through [[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]], considering that it ran too far to the north, missing key towns and the [[Wigan]] coalfield. A counter-proposal was produced by John Eyes and Richard Melling, improved by [[Peter Perez Burdett|P.P. Burdett]], which was rejected by the Bradford committee as too expensive, mainly because of the valley crossing at [[Burnley]]. [[James Brindley]] was called in to arbitrate, and ruled in favour of Longbotham's more northerly route, though with a branch towards Wigan, a decision which caused some of the Lancashire backers to withdraw their support, and which was subsequently amended over the course of development. In 1768 Brindley gave a detailed estimate of a distance just less than {{convert|109|miles|km}} built at a cost of £259,777 (equivalent to about £32.67 million as of 2014).<ref>{{harvnb |Priestley |1831 |p=386}}</ref>

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Leeds and Liverpool Canal Act 1770
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of Great Britain
| long_title            = An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Cut or Canal from Leeds Bridge, in the County of York, to The North Lady's Walk in Liverpool, in the County Palatine of Lancaster; and from thence to the River Mersey.
| year                  = 1770
| citation              = [[10 Geo. 3]]. c. 114
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 19 May 1770
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = 
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| millbankhansard       = 
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}}
The '''{{visible anchor|Leeds and Liverpool Canal Act 1770}}''' ([[10 Geo. 3]]. c. 114) was passed in May 1770 authorising construction, and Brindley was appointed chief engineer and John Longbotham [[clerk of works]]; following Brindley's death in 1772, Longbotham carried out both roles.

===Construction===

====First phase====
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = {{visible anchor|Leeds and Liverpool Canal Act 1783}}
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of Great Britain
| long_title            = An Act for altering and varying the Powers of an Act, passed in the Sixth Year of the Reign of King George the First,[q] for making the River Douglas, alias Asland, navigable from the River Ribble to Wigan, in the County Palatine of Lancaster; and for enabling the Company of Proprietors of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, incorporated by an Act passed in the Tenth Year of His present Majesty's Reign, to purchase the said River Navigation; for amending the said last mentioned Act; for incorporating and consolidating the said Two Navigations; and for other Purposes.
| year                  = 1783
| citation              = [[23 Geo. 3]]. c. 47
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 24 June 1783
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
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| replaces              = 
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| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = {{ubli|Leeds and Liverpool Canal Act 1770}}
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[[File:BingleyFiveRiseLocks1.JPG|thumb|upright|left|[[Bingley Five Rise Locks]]]]
A commencement ceremony was held at [[Halsall]], north of Liverpool on 5 November 1770, with the first sod being dug by the Hon. Charles Mordaunt of Halsall Hall. The first section of the canal opened from [[Bingley]] to [[Skipton]] in 1773.<ref name = "llcs">{{Cite web| year = 2006 | url = http://www.llcs.org.uk/html/chronology.html | title = The Leeds & Liverpool Canal Society Chronology| work = Northern Heritage| access-date = 14 June 2008}}</ref> By 1774 the canal had been completed from [[Skipton]] to [[Shipley, West Yorkshire|Shipley]], including significant engineering features such as the [[Bingley Five Rise Locks]], [[Bingley Three Rise Locks]] and the seven-arch aqueduct over the [[River Aire]], at Dowley Gap. Also completed was the [[Bradford Canal|branch to Bradford]]. On the western side, the section from Liverpool to [[Newburgh, Lancashire|Newburgh]] was dug. By the following year the Yorkshire end had been extended to [[Gargrave]], and by 1777 the canal had joined the Aire and Calder Navigation in Leeds.<ref name = "llcs"/> From Liverpool it had reached [[Wigan]] by 1781, replacing the earlier and unsatisfactory [[Douglas Navigation]]. By now, the subscribed funds and further borrowing had all been spent, and work stopped in 1781 with the completion of the [[Rufford, Lancashire|Rufford Branch]] from [[Burscough]] to the [[River Douglas, Lancashire|River Douglas]] at [[Tarleton]]. The [[American Revolutionary War|war in the American colonies]] and its aftermath made it impossible to continue for more than a decade.<ref name="Cotton"/>

====Second phase====
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Leeds and Liverpool Canal Act 1790
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of Great Britain
| long_title            = An Act to enable the Company of Proprietors of the Canal Navigation from Leeds to Liverpool, to vary the Line of the said Canal Navigation, and to raise a further Sum of Money for the Purpose of completing the said Canal Navigation, and for other Purposes.
| year                  = 1790
| citation              = [[30 Geo. 3]]. c. 65
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 9 June 1790
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
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| related_legislation   = 
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In 1789 [[Robert Whitworth (canal engineer)|Robert Whitworth]] developed fresh proposals to vary the line of the remaining part of the canal, including a tunnel at [[Foulridge]], lowering the proposed summit level by {{convert|40|ft}}, using a more southerly route in Lancashire. These proposals were authorised by a fresh act of Parliament, the '''{{visible anchor|Leeds and Liverpool Canal Act 1790}}''' ([[30 Geo. 3]]. c. 65), together with further fund-raising, and in 1791, construction of the canal finally recommenced south-westward from Gargrave,<ref name="llcs"/> heading toward [[Barrowford]] in Lancashire. By this time planning for the competing [[Rochdale Canal]] was under way and it was likely to offer a more direct journey to Liverpool via Manchester and the Bridgewater Canal. The same year [[John Rennie the Elder|John Rennie]] surveyed a branch of the Rochdale between [[Todmorden]] and Burnley.<ref>{{cite book |first=Cyril |last=Boucher |title=John Rennie The life and Work of A Great Engineer 1761–1821 |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=1963 |page=124 }}</ref>

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Leeds and Liverpool Canal Act 1794
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of Great Britain
| long_title            = An act to enable the company of proprietors of the canal navigation from Leeds to Liverpool, to complete the said navigation, and to vary the line thereof, and to raise a further fum of money for those purposes; and for making a navigable branch, therein described, from the intended new line of the said canal.
| year                  = 1794
| citation              = [[34 Geo. 3]]. c. 94
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 9 May 1794
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
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In 1794 an agreement was reached with the [[Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal]] company to create a link near Red Moss near [[Horwich]].<ref>{{harvnb |Priestley |1831 |p=435}}</ref> The company's experiences running the two sections of the canal had shown that coal not limestone would be its main cargo,<ref name="Bradford"/> and that there was plenty of income available from local trade between the settlements along the route. With this in mind in the same year, the route was changed again with a further act of Parliament,<ref name = "llcs"/> the '''{{visible anchor|Leeds and Liverpool Canal Act 1794}}''' ([[34 Geo. 3]]. c. 94), moving closer to that proposed by Burdett.

The Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal company proposed another link from Bury to Accrington. This new link would have been known as the [[Haslingden Canal]]. The Peel family asked the canal company not to construct the crossing over the [[River Hyndburn]] above their textile printworks; such a crossing would have required the construction of embankments, and reduced the water supply to their factories.<ref name = "Cotton">{{Cite web |last=Clarke |first=Mike |title=The Leeds-Liverpool Canal |url=http://www.cottontown.org/Transport/Pages/Canals.aspx |publisher=cottontown.org |access-date=18 August 2008 }}</ref> Consequently, Accrington was bypassed and the Haslingden Canal was never built.
<!--PLEASE LEAVE THIS TEXT HERE UNTIL I CLARIFY--"to a location along the Leeds Liverpool Canal in North East Lancashire, but this was rejected by the [[House of Lords]].<ref name=Tomlinson>{{cite book | last = Tomlinson | first = V I | title = The Manchester Bolton And Bury Canal Navigation 1790–1845 | publisher = Lancashire And Cheshire Antiquarian Society | year = 1969 | url = http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00165SCDA | asin = B00165SCDA }}</ref>"-->

Yet more fund-raising took place, as the [[Foulridge Tunnel]] was proving difficult and expensive to dig. The new route took the canal south via the expanding coal mines at [[Burnley]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Lancashire Historic Town Survey Programme Burnley |url=http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/environment/documents/historictowns/BurnleyComplete_LowRes.pdf |publisher=Lancashire County Council |access-date=3 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121001073057/http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/environment/documents/historictowns/BurnleyComplete_LowRes.pdf |archive-date=1 October 2012 }}</ref> [[Accrington]] and [[Blackburn]], but would require some sizable earthworks to pass the former. The completion in 1796 of the {{convert|1640|yd|m|-1|abbr=off|adj=mid|-long}} Foulridge Tunnel and the flight of seven locks at Barrowford enabled the canal to open to eastern Burnley.<ref name = "llcs"/> At a cost of £40,000 (about £3.65 million in 2014). The tunnel became the most expensive single item in the whole project.{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}<ref>{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Gill |publication-date=12 February 2014 |year=2014 |title=Canals came at high cost to human life |work=Lancashire Telegraph |url=http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/archive/2014/02/12/11005109.Canals_came_at_high_cost_to_human_life/ |access-date=25 January 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402093404/http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/archive/2014/02/12/11005109.Canals_came_at_high_cost_to_human_life/ |archive-date=2 April 2015 }}</ref>

At Burnley, rather than using two sets of locks to cross the shallow [[River Calder, Lancashire|Calder]] valley, Whitworth designed the [[Burnley Embankment]], a {{convert|1350|yd|m|0}} long and up to {{convert|60|ft|m|0}} high earthwork. It would also require another {{convert|559|yd|m|0}} tunnel nearby at Gannow and a sizeable cutting to allow the canal to traverse the hillside between the two. It took 5 years to complete this work, with the embankment alone costing £22,000, about £1.55 million in 2014 (comparing the historic opportunity cost of £22,000 in 1801 with 2014).<ref>{{cite book | first=Brian |last=Hall| title=Burnley: A Short History| year=1977 | publisher=Burnley Historical Society | location=Burnley | isbn=0-9500695-3-1 | pages=40}}</ref> [[Robert Whitworth (canal engineer)|Whitworth]] died aged 64, on 30 March 1799 and Samuel Fletcher, previously the inspector of works took over as engineer.<ref>{{harvnb |Skempton |2002 |pp=230, 781}}</ref> Once the Burnley work was completed, the canal opened to Enfield near Accrington in 1801.<ref name = "llcs"/> It would be another 9 years until it reached Blackburn only 4 miles away. Following the [[French Revolution]], Britain had been at [[French Revolutionary Wars|war with France]] from 1793 to 1802. The peace proved temporary, with the [[Napoleonic Wars]] beginning the following year. High taxes and interest rates during this period made it difficult for the company to borrow money, and the pace of construction inevitably slowed.

====Third phase====
In 1804 Samuel Fletcher also died and his brother Joseph and son James were jointly appointed to replace him and they were provided with Gannow House in Burnley.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num= 1244807|desc= Gannow House, Burnley|access-date= 13 January 2015}}</ref> In 1805 they estimated the cost of linking Enfield to Red Moss would be £245,275 and £101,725 for the shorter continuation to Wigan (totalling about £27.36 million in 2014).<ref name="Skempton 2002 230">{{harvnb |Skempton |2002 |p=230}}</ref> The planned link with the Manchester, Bolton and Bury did not materialize.

The latest plan for the route had it running parallel to, and then crossing the southern section of the [[Lancaster Canal]], but common sense prevailed and the Leeds and Liverpool connected with the Lancaster Canal between [[Aspull]] and Johnson's Hillock. The main line of the canal was thus completed in 1816.

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Leeds and Liverpool Canal Branch and Railway Act 1819
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to enable the Company of Proprietors of the Canal Navigation from Leeds to Liverpool, to make a Navigable Cut, and also a Collateral Branch or Railway, from their said Canal at Hennis Bridge near Wigan, to join the Duke of Bridgewater's Canal at Leigh, all in the County Palatine of Lancaster; and to amend the several Acts relating to the said Leeds and Liverpool Canal, and an Act for making the Rochdale Canal, so far as relates to certain Powers therein given to the late Duke of Bridgewater.
| year                  = 1819
| citation              = [[59 Geo. 3]]. c. cv
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 21 June 1819
| commencement          = 
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There had been various unsuccessful negotiations to connect the canal to the [[Bridgewater Canal]] at [[Leigh, Greater Manchester|Leigh]] but agreement was finally reached in 1818, and embodied in the '''{{visible anchor|Leeds and Liverpool Canal Branch and Railway Act 1819}}''' ([[59 Geo. 3]]. c. cv) and the connection was opened in 1820, thus giving access to Manchester and the rest of the canal network. The Bridgewater Canal, like most of Brindley's designs was for boats of {{convert|72|ft|m}} length, whereas the Leeds and Liverpool had been designed for broad boats of {{convert|62|ft|m}} length. There was naturally a desire by the longer boats to reach Liverpool and the locks of the westerly end of the canal were extended to {{convert|72|ft|m}} in 1822.

James Fletcher continued as engineer until his death in 1844.<ref name="Skempton 2002 230"/>

===Operation===
The canal took almost 50 years to complete; in crossing the Pennines the Leeds and Liverpool had been beaten by the [[Huddersfield Narrow Canal]] and the [[Rochdale Canal]]. The most important cargo was always coal, with over a million [[long ton|tons]] per year being delivered to Liverpool in the 1860s. Even in Yorkshire, more coal was carried than limestone. Once the canal was fully open, receipts for carrying merchandise matched those of coal. The heavy industry along its route, together with the decision to build the canal with broad locks, ensured that (unlike the other two trans-Pennine canals) the Leeds and Liverpool competed successfully with the railways throughout the 19th century and remained open through the 20th century.

===20th century===
[[File:Hoscar pillbox.JPG|thumb|right|A concrete [[British hardened field defences of World War II|pillbox]] by the canal]]
[[File:1890s Warehouse - Weavers' Triangle - Leeds-Liverpool Canal - geograph.org.uk - 528590.jpg|thumb|right|1890s warehouse - [[Weavers' Triangle]] - Leeds and Liverpool Canal]]
The canal suffered some damage during the [[Second World War]]. It was breached when a German bomb fell on it in [[Bootle]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2009/03/24/history_leeds_liverpool_canal_feature.shtml|title=Bridging the Pennines|publisher=BBC|website=www.bbc.co.uk|access-date=22 June 2019}}</ref> The canal in West Lancashire was part of Britain's defensive plans against invasion. Along the canal there were [[tank trap]]s, [[bunker]]s and [[blockhouse]]s. Some buildings such as barns and pubs along the canal were fortified. There are still some remaining concrete [[British hardened field defences of World War II|pillboxes]] and brick built blockhouses.{{sfn|Fisher|2017|p=274}}

===21st century===

In August 2010, a 60-mile stretch of the canal was closed due to the low reservoirs, following the driest start to the year since records began. It was reopened the following month, although some restrictions remained.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.waterscape.com/features-and-articles/news/2855/british-waterways-announces-phased-reopening-of-leeds-and-liverpool-canal |title=British Waterways announces phased reopening of Leeds & Liverpool Canal |publisher=British Waterways |date=15 September 2010 |accessdate=25 September 2010}}</ref>

[[File:Leeds-Liverpool Canal - panoramio.jpg|thumb|Liverpool Canal Link, [[Pier Head]]]]
The £22&nbsp;million [[Liverpool Canal Link]] was completed in 2009, joining the Leeds and Liverpool Canal with the City Centre.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7962742.stm|title=New canal link to boost tourism|date=25 March 2009|work=BBC News|access-date= 16 September 2020}}</ref>

On 11 October 2021 the stretch between Barrowford and Blackburn was closed following a breach in the canal appearing between bridges 109 and 110.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mackinlay |first1=Catherine |title=Leeds and Liverpool canal collapses in Lancs emptying waters overnight |url=https://www.lancs.live/news/lancashire-news/update-leeds-liverpool-canal-collapses-21831229 |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=Lancs Live |date=12 October 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Dams installed after Leeds and Liverpool canal breach |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-58897281 |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=BBC News |date=13 October 2021}}</ref>

Later that month, lock numbers 73 and 80 were among 142 sites across England to receive part of a £35-million grant from the government's [[Culture Recovery Fund]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/news/heritage-and-craft-workers-across-england-given-a-helping-hand/ |title=Heritage and Craft Workers Across England Given a Helping Hand |publisher=[[Historic England]] |date= 22 October 2021 |accessdate=23 October 2021}}</ref>