6?6 CAN 
The Duke of Bridgewater’s Canal. 
In 1758 and 1759, his grace the duke of Bridgewater, 
after obtaining two a< 5 ts of parliament for that purpofe, 
executed, under the diredtion of his engineer, Mr. Brind¬ 
ley, the firft canal, which was defigned for conveying coals 
from a mine on his grace’s eftate to MariChefter, but has 
Jince been applied to many other ufet'ul purpofes of inland 
navigation. This canal begins at Worfley Mill, about 
feven miles from Manchefter, where the duke has cut a 
bafon capable of holding, not only all his boats, but a 
great body of water which ferves as a refervoir, or head 
of his navigation. The canal runs through a hill, by a 
fubterraneous pafla^e, large enough for the admiftion of 
long flat-bottomed boats, which are towed by hand-rails 
on each fide, near three quarters of a mile under-ground 
to the coal works ; and fin the courfe of nine miles (a cir¬ 
cuit of two miles being made in feeking a level) the canal 
reaches Manchefter. The nsfvigation is continued over 
public roads by means of arches ; and, where not fuffici- 
ently high for a carriage to go under, the road is lowered 
with a gentle defcent, and afcends on the other fide. 
At Barton-bridge, three miles from the bafon, is an a- 
-quedutt, which, for upwards of two hundred yards, con¬ 
veys the canal acrofs the Irwell, and along a valley, forty 
feet above the bed of the river : there are alfo flops at each 
end, that may occafionally be drawn up, and the whole 
intervening body of water be let off, which is eafily done 
by drawing a plug, and difeharging the water into the Ir- 
well through a .wooden tube. There are many of thefe 
flops or flood-gates fo conflrufted, that fliould any of the 
banks give way, and thereby occaiion a current, they will 
;rife by that motion, and prevent, as well the great lofs of 
water, as the damage that would happen by overflowing 
the country. This bridge, which is built of ftone, unites 
the Lancalhire .and Cfiefliire parts of his grace’s naviga¬ 
tion ; it is carried over the meadows on each fide the river 
Merfeu, and quite acrofs Sale-moor, at incredible labour 
and e*'ence ; and it is obfervable that, throughout the 
whole of this canal, the depth never varies more than 
from four feet to four feet fix inches. At Combroke there 
is a circular weir to raife the water of this canal to its proper 
height : the furplus flows over the nave of a circle in the 
middle of the weir, built of ftone, into a well, and by a fub¬ 
terraneous tunnel is conveyed to its ufual channel. In or¬ 
der to feed that end of the navigation which is near Man¬ 
chefter, Mr. Brindley railed the river Medlock, by a large 
weir, compofed of (i-x fegments of a circle ; the whole cir- 
Xumference being three hundred and fixty-lix yards, witli 
a circular nave of ftone in the middle. The water, when 
•more than lufficient to fupply the navigation, flows over 
the nave, and down the well as at Combroke. At Lang- 
ford-bridge, the canal turns away to tlie right, and, crofs- 
jng the river Merfey, pafles near Altringham, Dunham, 
Grapenhal), and Haulton, into the tide-way of tlie river 
Merfey, at Runcorn Gap, where his grace’s barges can 
come into his canal from Liverpool at low water. 
The duke, by his navigation from Liverpool to Man¬ 
chefter, carries for only fix (hillings a ton, and with as 
certain delivery as i.f by land-carriage, becaufe he is able, 
.at the lowed: neap-tides, to come into or go out of his canal 
at Runcorn Gap to Liverpool ; and thus one half is faved 
to the public of the old water-carriage, and almoft fix parts 
in feven of the land-carriage. Coals alfo are delivered at 
Manchefter, the hundred weight of feven (core, inftead of 
feven-pe.oce, which was the old price, for three-pence 
halfpenny. A rate not exceeding two (hillings and fix- 
pence per ton was granted to the duke as a recompenfe for 
the charges of making and completing this navigation, 
which is more than twenty-nine miles in length ; falls 
ninety-five feet, and was finiftied in five years. The uti¬ 
lity and profits of it were foon perceived, and a number 
of applications were confequently made to parliament for 
different afts, to join the four great trading cities, Lon¬ 
don, Briftol, Liverpool, and Hull, by an inland navigation. 
A L. 
The Grand Trunk Navigation. 
This canal, which unites the ports of Briftol, Livefpool,, . 
and Hull, proceeds from the Merfey, joins the Duke of 
Bridgewater’s canal, and, pafling by Prefton Brook, is car¬ 
ried near Nortlnvich to Harecaftle, where it runs for above 
a mile under-ground. From Harecaftle it is continued by 
Newcaftle, Stone, Wefton, and many other intermediate 
places, into the Trent at Wilden in Derbyfiiire. The o- 
ther part of this grand work proceeds from Haywood, at 
the confluence of the river Sow with the Trent, by Penk- 
ridge, Wolverhampton, &c. and, palling near Stourbridge 
and Kidderminfter, falls into the Severn a little below 
Bewdley. From Great Haywood it is called the Wolver¬ 
hampton canal. The whole navigation is 1394- miles, and 
the falls of water are 1068 feet. The rate of carriage, in¬ 
cluding freight, is about two (hillings and fixpence a ton 
for every ten miles, but manure and materials for repair¬ 
ing the roads are exempt. It is impoflible to enumerate 
the advantages derived from this communication between 
thefe fea-ports and nnmufafturing towns. "^The natural 
productions of thofe countries through which the canal 
pafles, as iron-fto/ie, lead, copper, calamine, marble, lime- 
ilone, &-c. many of which have lain undifturbed forages, 
now find their value to a degree far beyond expectation. 
The fait-works at Nortlnvich, and the manufactures of 
Nottingham, Leicefter, and Derby, reap conliderable be¬ 
nefit from this navigation. Corn, timber, wool, hides, 
and all the various commodities, both of import and ex¬ 
port, find an eafy and cheap conveyance. By this junc¬ 
tion goods are aifo carried from near Nortlnvich to Man¬ 
chefter at a trifling expence in ten hours, and the mer¬ 
chants of all that trading country have a water-carriage 
from their own doors, as it were, to three of the princi¬ 
pal fea-ports of England. 
Coventry and Oxford Canal. 
This navigation is ninety-two.miles in extent, and pro¬ 
ceeds out of the Grand Trunk at Fradley Heath to Faze- 
Tey, where there is a cut to Birmingham, and from the 
collieries in the neighbourhood of Wednefbury. From 
Fazely it js carried to Atherftone with eiglity-feven feet 
rife, and, pafling by Coventry and Hill Morton, is conti¬ 
nued to Marfton Doles with a rife of feventy-fix feet; 
whence it proceeds to Oxford,'having in the laft thirty-fix 
miles a fall of 180 feet. The length of the canal from 
Birmingham to Fazeley is fixteen miles and a half, having 
an aqueduCl acrofs the river Tame near Birmingham, and 
a fall of 248 feet. This includes the collateral cut to Dig- 
beth, in Birmingham. The length of the canal from the 
Grand Trunk at Stoke, near Newcaftle, to Froghall and 
Caldon coal-pits and lime-ftone quarries, is nineteen miles 
three furlongs. Another canal has been cut from Rider’s 
Green, near Birmingham, to Broad-water tire-engine coal¬ 
mines, being four miles and a half. An aft lias alfo been 
obtained to autho.rife the proprietors to extend a branch of 
the Birmingham canal from Broadwater in the parifh of 
Wednefbury to the town of Walfal, and to make three 
branches from the fame, viz. one from the canal at Broad¬ 
water to the townfliip of Bradley in the parifh of Wolver¬ 
hampton, another branch from the canal to the townfhip 
of Bilftone, and another branch from the canal to termi¬ 
nate near David’s Barn Farm ; and alfo to make a naviga¬ 
ble cut from the Birmingham and Fazeley canal at Bloom¬ 
field in the parifh of Tipton, to communicate with the fame 
canal at Deepfield, in the parifh of Sedgley. 
The Birmingham canal company are authorifed to take 
the following rates for tonnage, viz. For all coal, coak, 
lime-ftone, iron-ftone, and other minerals, navigated on any 
part of the branch to Walfall, three-pence per ton ; for all 
other goods, wares, &c. three-halfpence per ton. For all 
coal, coak, lime-ftone, iron-ftone, lime, goods, wares, &c. 
navigated on the new cut of this canal from Bloomfield to 
Deepfield, the fame rates of tonnage and wharfage accord¬ 
ing to the diftance as is granted by the aft of the 8 Geo. III. 
Tli£ 
3 
