This valuable concern is now the property of the Most Noble the Marquis of Stafford, and it is said to have increased his annual income to the enormous amount of £260,000.
These navigations, although made at the private expense of the Noble Duke, and valuable as they have proved to his successors, are of much greater importance to the town of Manchester and the surrounding country, from the facilities they have afforded for the transit of merchandize, and in reducing the price of minerals, which, before the execution of these works, could only be obtained at nearly double their present value.
BRIDGEWATER AND TAUNTON CANAL.
- 51 George III. Cap. 60, Royal Assent 14th May, 1811.
- 5 George IV. Cap. 120, Royal Assent 17th June, 1824.
THE line of this proposed canal, commencing at Morgan's Pill, on the River Avon, about six miles below the port of Bristol, proceeds in a straight line, and in a south-easterly direction, to near Clevdon Court; from which place, taking a southerly course, it crosses the River Yeo; thence, west of the village of Puxton, crossing the eastern termination of the Mendip Hills, on the south side of which, an aqueduct is to be thrown over the navigable River Axe; hence, its course is continued in a straight line to near Huntspill Court, passing over the River Brue or Glastonbury Canal; thence, to the Tone and Parrett Navigation, near the village of Puriton, where it crosses the River Carey, at its junction with the Tone River, along the eastern bank of which, it continues its way two miles above the town of Bridgewater, where there is another aqueduct over the river. From the last-mentioned place it takes the course of the English and Bristol Channels' Ship Canal for two miles, when, diverging to the west, it passes the village of St. Michael's, running parallel with the last-mentioned canal, until it approaches the Tone, on the north bank of which it continues to its termination at Fire Pool Mills; there forming a junction with the intended Grand Western Canal, near the town of Taunton. The length is forty-two miles and a half.
From the main line, there is a branch of two miles and a
