Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, of Great Britain/Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal
BIRMINGHAM AND LIVERPOOL JUNCTION CANAL.[edit]
7 George IV. Cap. 95, Royal Assent 26th May, 1826.
7 & 8 George IV. Cap. 2, Royal Assent 21st March, 1827.
This line of canal, which is now in the course of execution, commences in the summit level of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, near Tettenhall, about one mile from Autherley, the place where the Birmingham Canal communicates with the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. Its course is to the north west, upon a level with the last-mentioned canal, by Chillington Part, Stretton Hall, and Little Onn Hall, where there is a lock, with a fall of 7 feet 3 inches, and which is the summit level, at a distance of eleven miles and a quarter from the commencement. From thence it continues, by the village of Cowley, for the distance of four miles and a half, on the same level, to near the village of Norbury, where the Newport Branch commences: from thence it continues for the further distance of nine miles and a half to the second lock, so that this canal is extended through the country a distance of twenty-five miles and a half, with only one lock. From the second lock, the canal is continued, in a northerly course, by Cheswardine Hill, to the town of Drayton, crossing the River Tarn; hence by the Brine Spring, near Adderley Hall, to the town of Audlem, in Cheshire; then, crossing the River Weaver, it proceeds by the Salt Springs, and by the town of Nantwich, to the United Navigation of the Ellesmere and Chester Canals, near Dorfold Hall, about three quarters of a mile north-west of the last-mentioned town.
The length from the second lock, to its termination at the above-mentioned navigation, is thirteen miles and a half, with a fall of 167½ feet, by twenty-six locks, thus disposed-from the second to the fifth lock, is a distance of half a mile; between the fifth and the sixth, it is nearly four miles; in the next half mile are five locks; then a pool of one mile and a quarter; in the following mile are eleven locks; in the next four miles are four locks; then a pool, of nearly three miles; and within one-tenth of a mile further, two locks; the remaining distance to the Chester Canal is two miles and three quarters, on a level. The total length of the navigation is thirty-nine miles, with a fall of 174¾ feet, by twenty-seven locks.
The act for making this canal, which received the royal assent the 26th of May, 1826, is entitled, 'An Act for making a navigable Canal from the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, in the parish of Tettenhall, in the county of Stafford, to the United Navigation of the Ellesmere and Chester Canals, in the parish of Acton, in the county palatine of Chester.' The subscribers to this canal, at the time the act was obtained, were three hundred and twenty-three in number, amongst whom were the Earl and Countess of Surrey, Earl Gower, Lord Levison Gower, Lord Crewe, and many other distinguished individuals, who were incorporated by the name of "The Company of Proprietors of the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal Navigation." They are empowered to raise among themselves the sum of £400,000, in four thousand shares of £100 each, and the act directs that the whole shall be subscribed before the work is commenced, of which, £325,000 was raised before going to parliament. They were further empowered to raise an additional sum of £100,000, on mortgage of the rates and duties, the interest of which is made payable in preference to any other claim.
TONNAGE AND WHARFAGE RATES.[edit]
| For Coal or other Minerals, (except Lime,) Coke, Goods, Wares,Merchandize, Commodities and Things whatsoever | 1½d. per Ton, per Mile. |
| Lime | ½d. ditto, ditto. |
Fractions to be taken as for a Quarter of a Ton, and as for a Quarter of a Mile.
EXEMPTION FROM TOLL.[edit]
Paving-stones, Gravel, Sand, and all other Materials for making or repairing of Roads, (Limestone excepted) all Dung, Soil, Marl, and all sorts of Manure for the Improvement only of any Lands or Grounds lying within any Parish or Place through which this Canal will be carried, and belonging to the Owners or Occupiers of such Lands as may be required for the purposes of the Act.
Boats of less Burthen than Twenty Tons not to pass without leave, unless there is not Water for a greater Burthen.
Five years are allowed for the execution of the works authorized to be done under this act, and the powers are to cease at the expiration of that period, excepting as to such part as shall have been completed.
In consideration of the lockage water, which is derived from the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, by locking down from it, the proprietors of that canal are authorized to collect the following
TONNAGE RATES.[edit]
| For Coal or other Minerals, Coke, Goods, Wares or Merchandize, Commodities and Things whatsoever, which shall pass out of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal into the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal, or out of the last-mentioned Canal into the former | 2s. per Ton |
The last-mentioned rates are to be collected by the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal Company, at the expense of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Proprietors; and in order that no unnecessary waste of water may be made, the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal Company are required to construct on the sumit level, a regulation lock, consisting of four pairs of gates. The locks upon this navigation are 7 feet 6 inches in width, and 80 feet long.
The company had originally intended to make a branch from near the village of Cowley, to join the Donnington Wood, or Marquis of Stafford's Canal, at Pave Lane, which was subsequently abandoned. Its length was seven miles and three quarters, and level. The estimate for making it was made by Mr. W. A. Provis, under the direction of Mr. T. Telford, and amounted to the sum of £55,466, 17s. 1d. The estimate for the main line was also made by the same parties, and which amounted to the sum of £388,454, 1s. 6d.
In 1827, the company applied to parliament, and obtained another act, entitled, 'An Act to enable the Company of Proprietors of the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal Navigation, to alter the Line of the said Navigation, and to make certain Branches therefrom, in the counties of Stafford and Salop.'
The deviations in the original line here contemplated are of little importance, as they consist merely of three alterations in the line between Connery Pool and Plardiwick, amounting, in length, to one mile and one thousand eight hundred and nineteen yards, while the parts abandoned are three hundred and forty-one yards longer; but this act gives power to make two branches from the main line, one of which, called the Newport Branch, commences near the village of Norbury, from whence it passes close to the town of Newport, and from thence to the Shrewsbury Canal, at Wappinshall Bridge, in the parish of Wellington. Its length is ten miles and a quarter, with a fall, from the main line, of 139 feet, by twenty-three locks; the last four miles and a half to the Shrewsbury Canal, being level. From this branch there is a collateral cut to a place called The Buttery, in the parish of Edgmond, which is nearly half a mile in length, the estimate for which is £2,421, 18s. lOd. and for the Newport Branch, £72,629, 13s. 2d. The company had it in contemplation to make a second collateral cut, from the Newport Branch, to Lime Kiln Bridge, but it was abandoned. The length was two miles and three quarters, and the estimate for making it amounted to the sum of £17,652, 14s. 6d.; in lieu, however, of which, the company are required to make a cut or railway from the Newport Branch to the limestone works, at Donnington Wood, and Lilleshall, belonging to the Right Honourable George Granville Lord Gower, whenever he shall require it to be done.
All these estimates were made by Mr. Thomas Telford, in 1826.
On the above branches, the company are empowered to collect the same tonnage rates as are allowed on the main line by the act of 7th George IV.
In this act, the company are restricted from using the water in Aqualate Mere, Wyn's Well Pool, and the Moss Pool, belonging to Sir T. F. Fenton Boughey, Bart. or the streams of water supplying and passing through the same.
The chief advantages arising from the execution of this canal is a shorter navigation between the ports of Chester, Liverpool, and the district of North Wales, and the important towns of Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton, Birmingham, the mineral districts of Staffordshire and Shropshire, and the Metropolis. The agricultural districts in the south of Cheshire, the western parts of Staffordshire, and the north-eastern parts of Salop, through which this canal is now being constructed, will also be greatly benefited.