Ellesmere Canal

The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct opened to traffic on the Ellesmere Canal in 1805.

The Ellesmere Canal was a waterway in England and Wales that was planned to carry boat traffic between the rivers Mersey and Severn. The proposal would create a link between the Port of Liverpool and the mineral industries in north east Wales and the manufacturing centres in the West Midlands. However, the canal was never completed as intended because of its rising costs and failure to generate the expected commercial traffic.

The Ellesmere Canal, which was first proposed in 1791, would have created a waterway between Netherpool, Cheshire, and Shrewsbury. However, only certain sections were completed; these were eventually incorporated into the Chester Canal, Montgomery Canal and Shropshire Union Canal. Although several major civil engineering feats were accomplished, major building work ceased following the completion of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in 1805. The northern end of the navigation's mainline ended 16 miles (25 km) from Chester at Trevor Basin near Ruabon and its southern end was at Weston Lullingfields about 9 miles (15 km) from Shrewsbury.

As part of the rebranding of Britain's industrial waterways as leisure destinations, the surviving central section is now called the Llangollen Canal; even though historically its builders had no intention of sending boat traffic to Llangollen. The branch, from which the waterway now takes its name, was primarily a water feeder from the River Dee above the town. Therefore it was not built as a broad-gauge canal, hence its inherently narrow design.

History

Route planning

Map of the original proposed route of the Ellesmere canal published in 1795

Ellesmere and Chester Canal Act 1793
Act of 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.
Citation	33 Geo. 3. c. 91
Dates
Royal assent	30 April 1793
Other legislation
Repealed by	Ellesmere and Chester Canal Act 1827
Status: Repealed

The formal proposal for the canal was launched at a meeting in Ellesmere in 1791 for a canal from Netherpool (now Ellesmere Port) on the River Mersey to the River Dee at Chester. It would then go in a south easterly direction via 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 mines at Llanymynech. By 1793 an Act of Parliament (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 303 feet (92 m) from Chester to Wrexham, a 4,607-yard (4,213 m) tunnel at Ruabon, a high level crossing over the Dee at Pontcysyllte, a further tunnel and aqueduct near Chirk, and a tunnel in Shropshire near Weston Lullingfields.

A plan of the canal, published in 1795, showed the route between Netherpool in the north to Shrewsbury to the south:

River Mersey; Great Stanney; Stoak; Wervin; Caughall; Chester; Saltneyside; Lache Hall; Rough Hill; Cuckoos Nest; Wrexham; Ruabon; Plas Madoc; Chirk; Hordley; Dandyford; Shade Oak; Weston Lullingfields; Eyton; Walford; Hancott; Shrewsbury; River Severn.

The canal plan would also have four branches:

• A 3-mile (5 km) branch would run to Holt.
• A 5-mile (8 km) branch would run from near Wrexham to Brymbo.
• A branch would run from near Hordley to Llanymynech, via Maesbury, Morton and Crickheath.
• A 17-mile (27 km) branch would run from near Tetchill to Prees Heath, via Welshampton, Fenn's Moss and Whitchurch.

Originally Jessop had suggested that the cheaper solution was to use 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 aqueduct to maintain the original level.

Construction

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 was abandoned. Remnants of the feeder channel are visible in Gwersyllt. A street in the village is still named Heol Camlas (Canal Way).

The contour section from the River Mersey to the 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, 2 miles (3 km) 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 northwest of Wrexham, a feeder was constructed along the side of the Dee valley to 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 18-mile (29 km) 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 branch was re-routed. A 29-mile (47 km) 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, 1-mile (1.5 km) 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 9+1⁄2 miles (15 km) long, with 107 feet (33 m) of lockage and a 487-yard (445 m) tunnel at Weston Lullingfileds.

Working canal

Ellesmere and Chester Canal Company Act 1845
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom

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. This business was then merged with the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal in 1845. 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, was closed to navigation by Act of Parliament in 1944. 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.

Present day

Despite the formal closure, increasing popularity of the canal with pleasure boats led to its acceptance as an important amenity, and the rebranding as the Llangollen Canal. As the canal was never intended to go to Llangollen, this renaming is an ironic twist symbolic of the canal's convoluted development.

The Ellesmere Canal south of Frankton Junction (the Llanymynech Branch) nowadays forms part of the Montgomery Canal, together with the Montgomeryshire Canal, and the isolated northern section from Chester to Ellesmere Port considered part of the main line of the Shropshire Union Canal.

The Weston Branch is now infilled, save for a very short section, which has a Canal & River Trust amenity block.

Route

Ellesmere Port to Chester

Ellesmere to Chester
Manchester Ship Canal Swing bridge Ellesmere Port Basin Whitby Locks (4)  M53  Wirral Line  M53   A5117   M56   A41  Wirral Line  A5480  Deva aqueduct Start of Chester Canal Chester 18th-century dry dock} Upper Dee Locks (2) Tower Wharf Northgate Locks (3) Dee Locks (2)} River Dee

The canal starts at Ellesmere Port Dock by the Mersey. Originally goods would be transferred directly from inland waterways craft into river-going vessels at the dock, which would enter and exit through tidal lock gates. However, in the 1890s, with the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal, the basin became detached from the river. Traffic was controlled by a set of two-lock staircases.

A contour canal runs between Ellesmere Port and Chester following the course of a natural river valley that encompasses Backford Brook and the Bache valley. The canal enters Chester Basin (wharf) at the junction with the Chester Canal. At this point, there is also a 4-lock branch that once led down to the River Dee and Port of Chester.

When the Ellesmere Canal reached the Chester Canal, the configuration of the staircase locks at Chester was altered. The original 5-lock staircase was replaced by a deeper three-lock arrangement. At this point, the section is now part of the Shropshire Union Canal.

Whitby Locks, Ellesmere Port Docks.

Hurleston to Frankton Junction

Ellesmere Canal Hurleston Branch
Hurleston Jn (SU main line ) Hurleston Lock 4 Hurleston Lock 3 Hurleston Lock 2 Hurleston Lock 1 Hurleston Reservoir 1  A51  Road Bridge 1A Hurleston Bridge 2 Bache House Bridge 3 Martin's Bridge 4 Lees Bridge 5 Platts Bridge 6 Wrexham Road (Ravensmoor) Bridge Swanley Bridge Marina Swanley No 2 Lock 8 Swanley Bridge 9 Butcher's Bridge Swanley No 1 Lock 10 Stonely Green Bridge 11 Bethills Bridge 12 Hall's Lane Bridge 13 Grange (Greenfield) Bridge Baddiley No 3 Lock Baddiley No 2 Lock 14 Baddiley Bridge Baddiley No 1 Lock 15 Wrenbury Heath Bridge 16 Wrenbury Heath Footbridge 17 Wrenbury Hall Bridge 18 Starkeys Bridge 19 Wrenbury Church Bridge 20 Wrenbury Bridge 21 Wrenbury Frith Bridge 22 Thomason's Bridge 23 Church Bridge Marbury Lock 24 Steer Bridge 25 Quoisley Bridge Quoisley Lock Willey Moor Lock Povey's Lock 26 Jackson's Bridge 27 Railway Bridge 28 Grindley Brook No 1 Bridge Grindley Brook Lock Grindley Brook Lock Grindley Brook Lock 29 Grindley Brook No 2 Bridge Grindley Brook Staircase Lock (3 chamber) 30 Danson's (Dawson's) Farm Bridge 30A  A41  Road Bridge 31 New Mills Bridge Whitchurch Arm 31A  A41  Road Bridge 32 Wrexham Road Bridge 33 Hassell's No 1 Bridge 34 Hassell's No 2 Bridge 35 Spark's Bridge 37 Dudlestone Bridge 38 Old Man's Bridge 39 Cambrian Railway Bridge 40 Blackoe (Hughes) Bridge 41 Springhill Bridge 42 Tilstock Park Bridge 43 Platt Lane Bridge 44 Roundhorn Bridge 45 Morris Bridge 46 Roving Bridge Whixall Moss Junction (Prees Branch) 47 Cornhill Bridge 48 Bettisfield Bridge 49 Clapping Gate (Knowles) Bridge 50 Hampton Bank Bridge 51 Lyneal Lane Bridge 52 Greaves Bridge 53 Lyneal Bridge 54 Miss Each Bridge 55 Little Mill Bridge 56 Burns Wood Bridge 57 Ellesmere Tunnel (80m) 58 Red Bridge 59 White Bridge over Ellesmere Arm 60 Stank's Bridge 61 White Mill Bridge 62 Coachman's Bridge 63 Clay Pit Bridge 64 Val Hill No 1 Bridge 65 Val Hill No 2 Bridge 66 Val Hill No 3 Bridge 67 Broom Farm Bridge 68 Pryce's Bridge 69 Peter's Bridge Frankton Junction (Llanymynech Branch) Junction with Llangollen Branch

This section was added to link the canal to the national network. It became the Ellesmere Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal and is now part of the Llangollen Canal.

The Llangollen Canal begins here with a flight of four locks raising the water level more than 34 feet (10 m) from the Shropshire Union.

Hurleston Locks are at the eastern end of the Llangollen Canal, at the junction with the Shropshire Union Canal.

Stoneley Green Bridge near to Ravensmoor, Cheshire

Canalside buildings close to the canal junction at Ellesmere, Shropshire

South of Springhill Bridge

A boat passing Bettisfield Bridge heading towards Ellesmere

Sailing east from Lyneal Lane Bridge

South-east between Coachman's and Clay Pit bridges

Frankton Junction to Trevor Basin

Frankton Junction to Trevor Basin
Junction with Ellesmere Branch Frankton Junction (Llanymynech Branch) 1W Rowson's Bridge 2 Nicholas Bridge 3 Rodenhurst Bridge 4 Maestermyn House Bridge 5 Maestermyn Bridge 6 Pollet's Bridge 7 Broom's Bridge 8 Paddock No 1 Bridge 9 Paddock No 2 Bridge 11 Hindford Bridge New Marton Bottom Lock New Marton Top Lock 12 New Marton Bridge 13 St. Martin's Bridge 14 Sarn Bridge 15 Preeshenlle Bridge 16 Belmont Bridge 17 Moreton Bridge 18 Rhoswiel Bridge 19 Gledrid (O'Leord) Bridge 21 Monk's (Chirk Bank) Bridge Chirk Aqueduct Chirk Tunnel (459 yards) Chirk Marina 25 Whitehouse Tunnel (191 yards) 26 Whitehouse Bridge 27 Irish Bridge 28 Fron Bridge Pontcysyllte Aqueduct Llangollen navigable feeder 19th-century dry dock 29 30 Trevor Basin

This was the principal part of the original main line of the canal. It became the Llangollen Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal and is now part of the Llangollen Canal.

Refurbished banksman's cottage and outhouses at St Martin's Moor

Rhoswiel

Looking towards Trevor Basin

Trevor Basin to Horseshoe Falls

Trevor Basin to Horseshoe Falls
Ellesmere Main Line junction 31 Rhos-y-coed Bridge 32 Roving Bridge 33 White Bridge 34 Plas-yn-y-pentre Bridge 35 Millar's Bridge 36 Bryn-Ceirch Bridge 37 Plas-Isaf Bridge 38 Bryn Howel Bridge 39 Great Western Railway Bridge 40 Plas Ifan Bridge 41 Sun Trevor Bridge 42 Wenffrwd Bridge 43 Llanddyn No 1 Bridge 44 Llanddyn No 2 Bridge 45 Siambra-Wen Bridge Llangollen Wharf Llangollen Marina Limit of navigation 46 Pen-y-ddol Bridge 47 Tower Bridge 48 Pentrefelin Bridge 48A Ty-Craig Bridge 49 Llantisilio Bridge 49A King's Bridge Horseshoe Falls Gauging Station Horseshoe Falls weir

This section of the canal was added as a navigable feeder. It is now part of the Llangollen Canal.

Canalside cottage near the Royal International Pavilion at Llangollen

The Horseshoe Falls, which are about three miles west of Llangollen, provide the water feed for the canal.

Frankton Junction to Llanymynech

Frankton Junction to Llanymynech
Frankton Junction (Llangollen Canal) Frankton (Top) Staircase Lock (2-chamber) Frankton (Middle) Lock Frankton (Bottom) Lock Weston Arm Branch now a nature reserve or in-filled 70 Lockgate Bridge Graham Palmer Lock Hawkswood winding hole Perry Aqueduct (new) 73 Keeper's Bridge (dismantled) Rednal Basin (now a nature reserve) Railway Bridge 74 Heath House Bridge 75 Corbett's Bridge Queen's Head winding hole 76 Queen's Head Bridge 76A A5 Bridge (new) Aston Top Lock Aston Middle Lock Aston Bottom Lock 77 Red Bridge Park Mill Bridge winding hole (partially overgrown) 78 Park Mill Bridge 79 Maesbury Marsh Bridge 80 Spiggots (or Spiket's) Bridge 81 Crofts Mill Lift Bridge Mill Arm (or Peate's Branch) Gronwyn Wharf winding hole 82 Gronwyn (or Gronwen) Bridge 82A Morton Farm Lift Bridge 83 Redwith Bridge (B4396) 84 Pryces Bridge Crickheath Basin winding hole Southern limit of restored canal (northern section) 85 Crickheath Bridge Crickheath Wharf 86 Schoolhouse Bridge (dropped bridge) 87 Waen Wen Bridge 88 Pant Bridge 89 Site of former railway bridge 90 Rhew Level Lane Northern limit of restored canal (middle section) Winding hole (new) Llanymynech Wharf arm Llanymynech Wharf arm 92  A483  Llanymynech Bridge - Wales England border Llanymynech winding hole Southern limit of restored canal (middle section) Carreghofa Lane (dropped bridge) 93 Walls Bridge Carreghofa (or Wern) Aqueduct over former railway 94 Causeway Lane Junction with the Montgomeryshire Canal

This section (the Llanymynech Branch) is now designated as part of the Montgomery Canal (combining the Llanymynech Branch of the Ellesmere Canal with the Montgomeryshire Canal). The section from Frankton Junction to the Weston Branch was originally intended to be the main line of the canal. Bridge numbering (which starts at Hurleston Junction) continues down the Llanymynech Branch, and despite now being regarded as two separate canals (the Llangollen and the Montgomery) this numbering scheme remains.

The canal at Maesbury Marsh

This part of the towpath approaching Llanymynech has been adopted by the Offa's Dyke Path.

The bridge carries the A483 in Llanymynech.

Stretches of the canal west of Llanymynech are overgrown.

Frankton Junction to Weston Lullingfields

The Weston Branch today, now a short arm of the Montgomery Canal

This section was originally intended to be the main line of the canal, and is now infilled. The 5+1⁄2-mile-long (9 km) arm had wharves at Hordley, Dandyford, Pedlar's Bridge, Shade Oak and Weston Lullingfields. At Weston Lullingfields the canal company built a wharf, four lime kilns, a public house, stables, a clerk's house and weighing machine. These were opened in 1797 and closed in 1917 when the Weston branch was closed following a breach of the canal.

See also

• Canals of Great Britain
• History of the British canal system

References

• Todd, John (2003) "A canal of many parts", Waterways world, 32 (2: Feb.), p. 46–49 & (3: Mar.), p. 48–51.
• Wilson, Edward A. (1975) The Ellesmere and Llangollen Canal : an historical background, London : Phillimore, ISBN 0-85033-109-9
• Denton, John Horsley (1984). Montgomershire Canal and the Llanymynech Branch of the Ellesmere Canal. Lapal Publications. ISBN 0-9509238-1-8.
• Waterways World (2005). Canal Guide 2 – Llangollen and Montgomery Canals. Waterways World Ltd. ISBN 1-870002-89-X.