Editing Ellesmere Canal (section)

===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>