Editing Gloucester and Sharpness Canal

{{Short description|Canal in Gloucestershire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2018}}
[[File:Gloucester and Sharpness Canalmap.jpg|thumb|right|A map of the canal from 1933]]
{{Gloucester and Sharpness Canal map}}
The '''Gloucester and Sharpness Canal''' (also known as the '''Gloucester and Berkeley Canal''') is a [[ship canal]] in the west of England, between [[Gloucester]] and [[Sharpness, Gloucestershire|Sharpness]], completed in 1827. For much of its length the canal runs close to the tidal [[River Severn]], but it cuts off a significant loop in the river, at a once-dangerous bend near [[Arlingham]]. It was once the broadest and deepest canal in the world. The canal is {{convert|26.5|km|abbr=in}}<ref name="IWA">{{cite web |url=https://www.waterways.org.uk/waterways/canals_rivers/gloucester_sharpness/gloucester_sharpness |title=Inland Waterways Association: Gloucester and Sharpness Canal |access-date=2013-04-24 |archive-date=20 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420172034/https://www.waterways.org.uk/waterways/canals_rivers/gloucester_sharpness/gloucester_sharpness |url-status=dead }}</ref> long.

==Canal planning and construction==
[[File:Glocester and Berkeley Canal Company 1794.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Founder's share of the Glocester and Berkeley Canal Company, issued 29 September 1794, printed on vellum. The proprietors of this canal were authorised to raise the sum of £140,000  to be divided into shares of £100 each. If the former sum be insufficient, then they raise a further sum of £60,000.|Founder's share of the Glocester and Berkeley Canal Company, issued 29 September 1794, printed on vellum. The proprietors of this canal were authorised to raise the sum of £140,000  to be divided into shares of £100 each. If the former sum be insufficient, they could raise a further sum of £60,000.<ref>"The History of Cheltenham and its Environs", Cheltenham, Printed and published by H. Ruff, 1803. p. 318</ref>]]

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Gloucester and Berkeley 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 or near the City of Gloucester, into a Place called Berkeley Pill, in the Parish of Berkeley, and also a Cut to or near the Town of Berkeley, in the County of Gloucester.
| year                  = 1793
| citation              = [[33 Geo. 3]]. c. 97
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 28 March 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
}}
Conceived in the [[canal mania]] period of the late 18th century, the Gloucester and [[Berkeley, Gloucestershire|Berkeley]] Ship Canal scheme (as it was originally named) was started by [[architect]] and [[civil engineer]] [[Robert Mylne (architect)|Robert Mylne]]. In 1793 an act of Parliament, the '''{{visible anchor|Gloucester and Berkeley Canal Act 1793}}''' ([[33 Geo. 3]]. c. 97) was obtained authorising the raising of a total of [[Pound sterling|£]]200,000.<ref name=hadfield342>Hadfield (1969), p.342</ref> The project rapidly encountered financial difficulties, to such an extent that Mylne left the project in 1798.

By mid-1799 costs had reached £112,000 but only {{convert|5+1/2|mi|0}} of the canal had been completed.<ref name=hadfield344>Hadfield (1969), p.344</ref> Mylne's role was taken over by [[James Dadford]], who had originally been engaged as resident engineer on the project in 1795.<ref name=hadfield343>Hadfield (1969), p.343</ref> Lack of funds resulted in the company ceasing to employ Dadford in 1800.<ref name=hadfield344/>

===Decade of capital raising===
Between 1800 and 1810 various unfruitful attempts were made to raise money to allow further building.<ref name=hadfield344/> Money from tolls and rents allowed for some improvements to be made to the basin at Gloucester in 1813.<ref name=hadfield345>Hadfield (1969), p.345</ref>

===Eventual completion===
Following the [[Public Works Loans Act 1817]] ([[57 Geo. 3]]. c. 34), it was possible for the company to borrow money from the [[Exchequer Bill Loan Commission]]. This, along with further share issues, provided enough money to bring the scheme to completion.<ref name=hadfield346>Hadfield (1969), p.346</ref>  After these significant delays, the canal opened in April 1827. In the course of its construction the canal had cost £440,000 ({{Inflation|UK|440000|1827|fmt=eq|cursign=£|r=-6}}).<ref name=hadfield348 /> As opened, the canal was {{convert|86+1/2|ft}} wide, {{convert|18|ft|m}} deep and could take craft of up to {{convert|600|LT|t ST|abbr=off}}. The longer of the two locks onto the canal proper was {{convert|115|ft|m}} long.<ref name=hadfield348>Hadfield (1969), p.348</ref>

===Eventual dividends===

By the middle of the 19th century it proved possible to pay a small dividend, the debt to the Exchequer Bill Loan Commission having been repaid with the help of a loan of £60,000 from the [[Pelican Life Assurance Company]].<ref name=hadfield348/>  In 1871 the last of the debts incurred in the course of funding the canal, including the Pelican loan, were paid off.<ref name=hadfield351>Hadfield (1969), p.351</ref> 

=== Sharpness New Docks ===
A new, larger entrance and tidal basin at Sharpness was completed in 1874;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Canal and River Trust Archive BW120 - Records of the Sharpness New Docks and Gloucester and Birmingham Navigation Company |url=https://collections.canalrivertrust.org.uk/bw120 |access-date=2024-11-13 |website=collections.canalrivertrust.org.uk}}</ref> during this year the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal Company acquired the [[Worcester and Birmingham Canal]] Company. At this point, the canal company was renamed the Sharpness New Docks and Gloucester and Birmingham Navigation Company.

Where the [[Severn Railway Bridge]] (completed in 1879) passed over the canal, a [[swing bridge|swing section]] was constructed<ref name="EPT124" /> to avoid restricting headroom.

===Purton hulks===
{{Main|Purton Hulks}}
In 1909, following a collapse in the bank of the river, the canal company's chief engineer A.&nbsp;J. Cullis called for old vessels to be run aground along the bank of the Severn, near [[Purton, Berkeley|Purton]], to create a makeshift tidal erosion barrier to reinforce the narrow strip of land between the river and canal.<ref>{{cite web
  | title=The Purton Hulks
  | work=morturn.com – Legacy from the past
  | url=http://www.morturn.com/locations/Sites/Purton/Purton_Site_Page.htm
  | access-date=2008-10-19
  | archive-date=3 March 2016
  | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303182408/http://www.morturn.com/locations/Sites/Purton/Purton_Site_Page.htm
  | url-status=dead
  }}</ref> [[Barge]]s, [[trow]]s and [[schooner]]s were "hulked" at high tide, and have since filled with [[silt]].  More boats have been added, including the schooner ''Katherine Ellen'' which was impounded in 1921 for running guns to the [[Irish Republican Army (1922–69)|IRA]], the [[Kennet_and_Avon_Canal#River_navigations|Kennet barge]] ''Harriett'', and [[Concrete ship|ferrocement barges]] built in World War II.<ref>{{cite news
  | title=Purton Hulks – maritime history sunk by neglect | work=telegraph.co.uk
  | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/10/18/eaboatwreck118.xml | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081020064309/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/10/18/eaboatwreck118.xml | url-status=dead | archive-date=2008-10-20 | access-date=2008-10-19 | location=London
  | date=2008-10-18}}</ref>

In 1999, Paul Barnett started a privately funded research project to record the 81 vessels at the site, recognised as the largest ships' graveyard in mainland Britain.<ref>{{cite web
  | title=The Friends of Purton
  |url=http://www.friendsofpurton.org.uk
}}</ref> In 2010 [[British Waterways]] took control of the site in an attempt to protect it.<ref name=bbcpurton>{{cite news
  |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-11384382
  |title=Purton Hulks taken over by British Waterways
  |access-date=2010-10-06
  |work=  BBC News| date=2010-09-22
}}</ref>

===Bridge-houses===
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2023}}
Eight of the bridges have Neo-classical bridge-men's houses in the near vicinity. These were built in the early 19th century when the volume of traffic on the canal made it important that all the bridges could open at night so that vessels could meet the tides at Sharpness. At that time, the other bridge-men lived in existing houses that were close enough to their bridges.

The classical-style bridge-men's houses were originally symmetrical in plan with gables on each elevation. Each had a living room, one bedroom, a scullery at the back and a porch with Doric columns at the front. In later years, the houses have been extended to provide more accommodation and modern facilities. Today, the houses are in private ownership, and most of them are [[Grade II listed]].

<gallery>
File:Rea Bridge Bridgehouse.jpg|Rea Bridge Bridge-house

File:Sellars Bridge Bridgehouse.jpg|Sellars Bridge Bridge-house

File:Hardwicke Bridge Bridgehouse.jpg|Hardwicke Bridge (now removed) Bridge-house

File:Parkend Bridge Bridgehouse.jpg|Parkend Bridge Bridge-house
File:Fretherne Bridge Bridgehouse.jpg|Fretherne Bridge Bridge-house

File:Splatt Bridge Bridgehouse.jpg|Splatt Bridge Bridge-house

File:Cambridge_Arms_Bridge_Bridgehouse.jpg| Cambridge Arms Bridge Bridge-house
File:Purton Upper Bridge Bridgehouse.jpg| Purton Upper Bridge Bridge-house

</gallery>

==Modern times==
In 1905 traffic exceeded one million tons for the first time.<ref name=hadfield352>Hadfield (1969), p.352</ref> Oil was added to the list of cargoes carried by the canal, with bulk oil carriers taking fuel to storage tanks sited to the south of Gloucester.<ref name=SevernTraders27 />  In 1937 the canal was navigated by the [[submarines]] {{ship|HMS|H33}} and {{ship|HMS|H49}}.<ref>Tall and Kemp (1996), p.64</ref> The canal was nationalized in 1948.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.virtualwaterways.co.uk/exhibition.php?eid=12 |title=Waterways Virtual Archive Catalogue |access-date=2007-08-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928182017/http://www.virtualwaterways.co.uk/exhibition.php?eid=12 |archive-date=2007-09-28 }}</ref> At the same time the Sharpness Dock Police which had policed the dock since 1874 were absorbed into the [[British Transport Police]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.btp.police.uk/History%20Society/Publications/History%20Society/Constituent%20Force/Canal%20Forces/Sharpness%20Dock%20Police%20%20(1874%201948).htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040614073125/http://www.btp.police.uk/History%20Society/Publications/History%20Society/Constituent%20Force/Canal%20Forces/Sharpness%20Dock%20Police%20%20%281874%201948%29.htm |archive-date=2004-06-14 |title=Sharpness Dock Police (1874–1948) |access-date=2007-08-28 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1955 the Board of Survey of Canals and Inland Waterways released a report that, among other things, described the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal as carrying substantial traffic and offering scope for commercial development.<ref>{{cite news|title=  Uneconomic Canals Use Of 771 Miles "Not Justified" |work=The Times  |date=21 April 1955 |page=7}}</ref>

The [[River Cam, Gloucestershire|River Cam]], which is subject to accretion due to industrial and agricultural runoff, is an important feeder for the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal.<ref>{{Cite web |title=54098 – Cam at Cambridge |url=https://nrfa.ceh.ac.uk/data/station/info/54098 |access-date=2024-02-18 |website=National River Flow Archive |language=en}}</ref> It was formerly navigable as the '''Cambridge Arm'''<ref>{{Cite web |title=View map: Ordnance Survey, Gloucestershire XLVIII.NE (includes: Cam; Coaley; Eastington; Frampton on Severn... - Ordnance Survey Six-inch England and Wales, 1842-1952 |url=https://maps.nls.uk/view/101453925 |access-date=2023-03-15 |website=maps.nls.uk}}</ref> with one [[Pound lock|entrance lock]] leading to a basin and wharf at [[Cambridge, Gloucestershire|Cambridge]], the limit of navigation due to mill weirs and low bridges on the [[A38 road|Bristol to Gloucester road]]. The lock was missing and the basin abandoned by 1901.<ref>{{Cite web |title=View map: Ordnance Survey, Gloucestershire XLVIII.3 (Coaley; Eastington; Frampton on Severn; Frocester; Sli... - Ordnance Survey 25 inch England and Wales, 1841-1952 |url=https://maps.nls.uk/view/109727398 |access-date=2023-03-15 |website=maps.nls.uk}}</ref> Most of the straightened channel has survived as [[flood defence]] improvements and is potentially still navigable, but the entrance is now blocked by a very low bridge at the site of the former lock.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Song of the Paddle Forum-Gloucestershire River Cam |url=https://www.songofthepaddle.co.uk/gloucestershire-river-cam-t60388.html |access-date=2023-03-15 |website=Song of the Paddle Forum |language=en-gb}}</ref>

By the mid-1980s commercial traffic had largely come to a halt, the canal being given over to pleasure cruisers with the exception of a few passages by grain barges.<ref name=SevernTraders27>Green (1999), p.27</ref> The oil trade ceased in 1985 with the closure of the petroleum depot at [[Quedgeley]].<ref name=EPT124>Paget-Tomlinson (2006), pp.124–125</ref> In order to allow the [[A430 road|A430]] Gloucester southwestern bypass to be built the canal had to be diverted.  This new cut eliminated a major problem which had plagued commercial traffic since opening: the sharp double bend in the canal.  The new section of channel was opened on 6 May 2006.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/4980788.stm |title=Canal's new channel section opens |access-date=2007-08-25 |work=  BBC News| date=2006-05-06}}</ref> In January 2009 a project began to replace the Patch Bridge [[swing bridge]] with a motor-powered design instead of the former hand-cranked system.<ref>{{cite news |first=Rachel|last=Clare |title=Wardens at bird sanctuary travel by boat |url= http://www.stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk/news/4023101.Wardens_at_bird_sanctuary_travel_by_boat/ |work= stroud news and journal|date= 6 January 2009 |access-date=7 January 2009 }}</ref>

Today, the canal can be used by boats up to {{cvt|64|m}} in length, {{cvt|9.6|m}} in beam and {{cvt|32|m}} in height. The maximum draft is {{cvt|3.5|m}}.<ref name="IWA"/>

The canal links directly to the [[Stroudwater Navigation]] at [[Saul Junction]], the only such flat crossing between two different canal companies anywhere in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Saul Junction - Stroudwater History |url=https://stroudwaterhistory.org.uk/saul-junction/ |access-date=2023-03-15 |website=stroudwaterhistory.org.uk}}</ref>

<gallery class="center">
File:Dutch Barge passing a swing bridge, on the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal.jpg|A motorised Dutch barge passing a [[swing bridge]] on the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal
File:Gloucester and Sharpness Canal at Patch Bridge.jpg|The canal at Patch Bridge, near the [[WWT Slimbridge|Wildfowl Reserve]] at [[Slimbridge]]
File:Berkeley.and.sharpness.canal.ts.jerwood.arp.jpg|The [[Sea Cadet]] training ship TS ''John Jerwood'' passes through Patch Bridge, on its way to the [[River Severn]]
File:Gloucester and Sharpness.JPG|The canal at [[Saul Junction]]
File:G&SCanal.JPG|The canal at the entrance to Gloucester docks
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|United Kingdom|Transport}}
*[[Canals of the United Kingdom]]
*[[History of the British canal system]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin}}
*{{cite book
  |title=Severn Traders
  |author=Colin Green
  |year=1999
  |publisher=Black Dwarf Publications
  |isbn=0-9533028-2-2}}
*{{cite book
  |author=Charles Hadfield
  |title=The Canals of South and South East England
  |year=1969
  |publisher=David and Charles
  |isbn=0-7153-4693-8}}
*{{cite book
  |title=The Illustrated History of Canal & River Navigations
  |author=Edward Paget-Tomlinson
  |year=2006
  |publisher=Landmark Publishing Ltd
  |isbn=1-84306-207-0|edition=3rd
 }}
*{{cite book
  |title=HM Submarines in Camera An Illustrated History of British Submarines
  |author=J.J. Tall
  |author2=Paul Kemp
  |year=1996
  |publisher=Sutton Publishing
  |isbn=0-7509-0875-0}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Gloucester and Sharpness Canal}}
*[http://www.gloucesterdocks.me.uk/ Gloucester Docks and the Sharpness Canal Past, Present and Future]
*[http://benchmarks.mister.red/gs.htm Some OS Bench Marks to be seen along the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal]
*[http://gsms.mister.red/ images & map of mile pegs (milestones) seen along the Gloucester & Sharpness canal]
*[http://canal.stroudvoices.co.uk  Stroud Voices (of local canals) - oral history site]

{{Coord|51|44|N|2|29|W|display=title|region:GB_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki}}

{{Canals of Britain}}
{{River Severn}}
{{Transport in Gloucestershire}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gloucester And Sharpness Canal}}
[[Category:Canals linked to the River Severn]]
[[Category:Canals in England]]
[[Category:Transport in Gloucester|Canal]]
[[Category:Stroud District]]
[[Category:Canals in Gloucestershire]]
[[Category:Works of Thomas Telford]]
[[Category:Canals opened in 1827]]
[[Category:Severn drainage basin|CGloucester]]
[[Category:1827 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Gloucester Docks]]