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

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

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Route planning

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Map of the original proposed route of the Ellesmere canal published in 1795
Ellesmere and Chester Canal Act 1793
Act of Parliament
 
Long titleAn 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.
Citation33 Geo. 3. c. 91
Dates
Royal assent30 April 1793
Other legislation
Repealed byEllesmere and Chester Canal Act 1827
Status: Repealed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, the Ellesmere and Chester Canal Act 1793 (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;[1] 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:

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

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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).[2]

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+12 miles (15 km) long, with 107 feet (33 m) of lockage and a 487-yard (445 m) tunnel at Weston Lullingfileds.[3]

Working canal

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Ellesmere and Chester Canal Company Act 1845
Act of Parliament
 
Long titleAn Act for uniting the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal Navigation Company with the Ellesmere and Chester Canal Company.
Citation8 & 9 Vict. c. ii
Dates
Royal assent8 May 1845

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 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, was 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.

Present day

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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

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Ellesmere Port to Chester

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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.

Hurleston to Frankton Junction

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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

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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

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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

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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, now rebuilt full-height)
 
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
 
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

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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+12-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.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Manors and estates in and near the City of Chester". www.british-history.ac.uk. British History Online. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  2. ^ "Local Timeline". Coedpoeth Minerahistory.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  3. ^ Priestly, Joseph (1831). Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, of Great Britain. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown & Green. p. 244.
  4. ^ Raven, Michael (2005). A guide to Shropshire. Michael Raven. p. 264. ISBN 0-906114-34-9.
  • 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.

53°17′N 2°53′W / 53.283°N 2.883°W / 53.283; -2.883