Editing Ellesmere Canal (section)

===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| status                = repealed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.