Somerset Coal Canal

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Map of the Somerset Coal Canal

The Somerset Coal Canal (originally known as the Somersetshire Coal Canal) was a narrow canal in England, built around 1800 from basins at Paulton and Timsbury via Camerton, an aqueduct at Dunkerton, Combe Hay, Midford and Monkton Combe to Limpley Stoke where it joined the Kennet and Avon Canal. This gave access from the Somerset coalfield, which at their peak contained 80 collieries, to London. The longest arm was 18 miles (29 km) long with 23 locks. From Midford an arm also ran via Writhlington to Radstock, with a tunnel at Wellow.

A feature of the canal was the varying methods used at Combe Hay to overcome height differences between the upper and lower reaches of the canal, initially by the use of Caisson locks and when this failed an inclined plane and then a flight of 22 locks.

The Radstock arm was never commercially successful and was replaced firstly with a tramway in 1815^[1] and later incorporated into the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. The Paulton route flourished for some years until the coming of the railway and closed in 1898. Much of the course of the canal has since been used for a railway. In October 2006 a grant was obtained from the Heritage Lottery Fund to carry out a technical study on one of the locks and associated structures at Combe Hay.

[edit] History

Derelict lock next to Caisson House, Combe Hay.

In 1763 coal was discovered in Radstock and mining began in the area, however transport was a major problem because of the poor state of the roads and therefore a canal which could transport the coal to Bath and Wiltshire was proposed.^[2] Initial surveys were conducted during 1793 by William Jessop and William Smith under the direction of John Rennie who presented the report on 14 October 1793 estimating the cost of construction of the canal at £80,000. The canal was authorised by an Act of Parliament entitled 'An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Canal, with certain Railways and Stone Roads, from several Collieries in the county of Somerset, to communicate with the intended Kennet and Avon Canal, in the parish of Bradford, in the county of Wilts' of 1794, and further detailed surveys were carried out by Robert Whitworth and John Sutcliffe, who was then appointed as chief engineer. In 1799 William Whitmore and his partner, Norton, offered to build a balance (or geometrical) lift without payment, on condition that if successful they were to have £17,300 and a royalty of 4 pence per ton of goods passed.^[3]

To raise further funding for locks at Combe Hay a further Act was passed in 1802 which authorized the formation of a separate body called "The Lock Fund of the Somerset Coal Canal Company," with powers to raise the sum of £45,000. This set the tonnage rates to be charged:

Somerset Coal Canal at Dundas Aqueduct

Fractions of a Mile to pay for Haifa Mile, and of a Ton as a Quarter of a Ton; Rates for Wharfage to be determined by the Company. In addition to the above Rates, One Shilling per Ton is paid on all Goods to the Lock Fund, which also receives Three Farthings per Ton from the Coal Canal company.^[5]

The canal opened in 1805. The peak level of cargo carried was in 1838 at 138,403 tons resulting in over £17,000 of tolls being paid. Cargoes of over 100,000 tons were common until the 1870s when competition from railways reduced the amount carried. The canal went into liquidation in 1893; it closed in 1898 and was finally abandoned in 1904 when it was sold to the Great Western Railway for £2000.^[6] The closure caused problems across the Somerset coalfield especially to the pits in the northern area, which had relied on the canal for transportation.^[7]

[edit] Engineers and surveyors

Portrait of John Rennie, 1810, by Sir Henry Raeburn.

William Smith.

• William Bennet
• John Hodgkinson
• Benjamin Outram (1764 - 1805)
• John Rennie (1761-1821)
• William Smith (1769-1839)
• John Sutcliffe
• Robert Weldon (?1754-1810)
• Robert Whitworth (d.1799)

Data from Jim Shead's Waterways Information.^[8]

[edit] Combe Hay

Operation of Caisson Lock

The fall over the route is 135 ft (41.1m) which meant problems with supplying adequate water. The Cam brook was an inadequate source of water above Camerton, and the mills along it had water rights. Each narrow boat travelling through the series of locks (22 of them each 6 ft (1.8m) deep) with a 25 ton load of coal caused 85 tons of water to be discharged into the brook below the locks. As a result the canal was designed with all 22 locks in one flight near Combe Hay and a pumping engine to raise water from the Cam - the first canal to entirely depend on pumping. A potential solution to the water supply problem was the use of Caisson Locks as proposed by Robert Weldon, three of which could replace the 22 conventional locks, because it wasted no water, however the technology had only been tried in a one-third scale prototype. Each lock was 80 ft long and 60 ft deep and contained a closed wooden box which could take a barge. This box moved up and down in the 60ft (18.2m) deep pool of water, which never left the lock. The box was demonstrated to the Prince Regent (later George IV), but had engineering problems and was never successful commercially or built elsewhere.

It was temporarily replaced with an inclined plane whilst 22 locks and a Boulton & Watt Steam Pumping Station, capable of lifting 5 000 tons of water in 12 hours, were built to the latest design with metal plate clad wooden gates.^[9][10][11]

[edit] Paulton basin

The slag heap in Paulton, referred to locally as "The Batch".

Paulton was the terminus of the northern branch of the Somerset Coal Canal and was a central point for at least 15 collieries around Paulton, Timsbury and High Littleton, which were connected to the canal by tramroads.

On the northern side of Paulton basin was the terminus for the tramroad which served Old Grove, Prior's, Tyning and Hayeswood pits, with a branch line to Amesbury and Mearns pits. Parts of this line were still in use in 1873, probably all carrying horse drawn wagons of coal. The southern side of the basin served Brittens, Littleborrok, Paulton Ham, Paulton Hill, Simons Hill terminating at Salisbury Colliery. In addition the Paulton Foundary used this line. The entire line was disused by 1871 as were the collieries it served.^[12]

The area has been designated as an ‘area of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance’ under section 69 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.^[13]

[edit] Coming of the railway

The Great Western Railway built a railway line over much of the canal route from Limpley Stoke to Camerton, where it joined the existing 1882 branch line from Hallatrow to Camerton. This opened in 1910 for passenger and goods traffic, closed for the First World War, reopened after the war but ran for passengers only for two more years in the mid-1920s and finally closed to all traffic in the 1950s. The line was used in the 1950s Ealing comedy film The Titfield Thunderbolt.

[edit] Canal today

The route of the canal lies in a largely agricultural area dotted with small villages and minor roads.^[14]

The canal today: moorings on the only navigable section of the canal, near its junction with the Kennet and Avon Canal. This stretch at Brassknocker, some 200 metres long, is used for moorings, a café, and boat and cycle hire.

Despite the building of railways along both arms, there are traces of the Paulton arm of the canal and of the Radstock arm. A short stretch of the canal where it joins the Kennet and Avon at the Dundas Aqueduct has been restored, and is used for moorings. While some canal features are on private land, the towpath may survive in places as a right of way, while the later railway between Midford to Wellow is being surfaced to form part of National Cycle Route 24. It has been proposed that a statue, commissioned by Sustrans, of William Smith, the father of English Geology, will be sited next to the path on the line of the canal commemorating his work as surveyor on the canal and his recognition of the significance of rock strata.^[15]

[edit] Grant to study history of the canal

The canal has been studied for many years with exploration and restoration work being undertaken in Wellow and elsewhere. Particular effort, so far unsuccessful, has been put into trying to find the site of the Caisson lock at Combe Hay. In October 2006 a grant of £20,000 was obtained from the Heritage Lottery Fund, by the Somersetshire Coal Canal Society in association with Bath & North East Somerset Council and the Avon Industrial Buildings Trust to carry out a technical study on one of the locks and associated structures at Combe Hay.^[16][17] Many of the locks and associated workings are listed buildings.^[18][19]

[edit] See also

• Caisson lock
• Robert Weldon's Somersetshire Coal Canal caisson lock (article in French).

[edit] References

1. ^ Dunning, Robert (1983). A History of Somerset. Chichester: Phillimore & Co. ISBN 0-85033-461-6.
2. ^ Clew, Kenneth R. (1970). The Somersetshire Coal Canal and Railways. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN 0-7153-4792-6.
3. ^ History by Waterway from St Nicholas Bay Harbour & Caterbury Canal. Jim Shead's Waterways Information. Retrieved on 2006-10-09.
4. ^ Priestley, Joseph (1831). Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, of Great Britain. Retrieved on 2006-10-09.
5. ^ Priestley, Joseph (1831). Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, of Great Britain. Retrieved on 2006-10-09.
6. ^ Russell, Ronald (1991). The Country Canal. David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-9169-0.
7. ^ Down, C.G., A. J. Warrington (2005). The history of the Somerset coalfield. Radstock: Radstock Museum. ISBN 0955168406.
8. ^ History by Waterway from St Nicholas Bay Harbour & Caterbury Canal. Jim Shead's Waterways Information. Retrieved on 2006-10-09.
9. ^ The Somerset Coal Canal. Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution. Retrieved on 2006-10-06.
10. ^ History of the Caisson Lock On the Somersetshire Coal Canal. The Somersetshire Coal Canal (Society). Retrieved on 2006-10-06.
11. ^ Canals and Canal projects. Aspects of Somerset History. Retrieved on 2006-10-09.
12. ^ Down, C.G., A. J. Warrington (2005). The history of the Somerset coalfield. Radstock: Radstock Museum. ISBN 0955168406.
13. ^ Paulton conservation area character appraisal. Bath and North East Somerset Planning. Retrieved on 2006-12-10.
14. ^ Area 12 Cam and Wellow Brook Valleys. BANES Rural Landscapes. Retrieved on 2006-10-09.
15. ^ Bristol and Somerset. SUSTRANS. Retrieved on 2006-10-09.
16. ^ Grant unlocks Canal's secret history. BANES News Inform 32. Retrieved on 2006-10-06.
17. ^ Canal lock restoration under way. BBC News, Somerset. Retrieved on 2006-10-09.
18. ^ Flight of 10 locks. Images of England. Retrieved on 2006-10-06.
19. ^ Remains of the Basin at the bottom of the Inclined Plane. Images of England. Retrieved on 2006-10-06.

[edit] Bibliography

• Allsop, Niall (1993). The Somersetshire Coal Canal Rediscovered: A Walker's Guide. Bath: Millstream Books. ISBN 0-948975-35-0.
• Clew, Kenneth R (1970). The Somersetshire Coal Canal and Railways. Bran's Head Books. ISBN 0-905220-67-6.
• Halse, Roger, Simon Castens (2000). The Somersetshire Coal Canal: A Pictorial Journey. Bath: Millstream Books. ISBN 0-948975-58-X.

[edit] External links

• Somersetshire Coal Canal Society