Editing Ellesmere Canal (section)

===Working canal===
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Ellesmere and Chester Canal Company Act 1845
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for uniting the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal Navigation Company with the Ellesmere and Chester Canal Company.
| year                  = 1845
| citation              = [[8 & 9 Vict.]] c. ii
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 8 May 1845
| 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
}}
Due to the constraints placed on the canal by its incomplete design, the Ellesmere Canal struggled financially throughout its operating life as an industrial waterway. In 1813, the Ellesmere Canal company merged with the [[Chester Canal]] to form the Ellesmere and Chester Canal Company under the [[Ellesmere and Chester Canals Unification Act 1813]] ([[53 Geo. 3]]. c. lxxx). This business was then merged with the [[Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal]] by the '''{{visible anchor|Ellesmere and Chester Canal Company Act 1845}}''' ([[8 & 9 Vict.]] c. ii). A year later the canal was taken over again by the formation of the [[Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company]].

By 1917 the Weston Branch had closed following a breach near Hordley Wharf. In 1939 traffic on the line from Hurleston to Llangollen had all but ceased. All remaining parts of the Ellesmere Canal network, other than the northern line from Ellesmere Port to Chester, were closed to navigation by the [[London Midland and Scottish Railway (Canals) Act 1944]] ([[8 & 9 Geo. 6]]. c. ii). However, the canal from Hurleston to Llangollen was retained as a water feeder for the Shropshire Union Canal main line and for drinking water. In 1955 an agreement with the Mid & South East Cheshire Water Board secured the canal's future.