This article is about the canal in south-west England. For the canal in north-west England, see Bridgewater Canal.
Bridgwater and Taunton Canal
Firepool Lock, where the canal joins the River Tone
Specifications
Length
14.5 miles (23.3 km)
Maximum boat length
51 ft 10 in (15.80 m)
Maximum boat beam
13 ft 7 in (4.14 m)
Locks
7 (originally 6)
Status
Navigable
Navigation authority
Canal and River Trust
History
Original owner
Bridgwater and Taunton Canal Company
Principal engineer
James Hollinsworth
Date of act
1811, 1824
Date of first use
1827
Date completed
1841
Date closed
1907
Date restored
1994
Geography
Start point
Taunton
End point
Bridgwater Docks
Connects to
isolated
v
t
e
Bridgwater and Taunton Canal
Legend
River Parrett
ship and barge locks
(former) Tidal basin
1841 Bascule bridge
(lock now always open)
Bridgwater Docks
(Inner Dock)
Newtown Lock
A39
A38
old route to R Parrett
Entrance Lock
Huntworth Basin
Huntworth Lock
original course
Crossways swing bridge
M5 motorway
Mead's Buildings swing bridge
Huntworth Lane bridge
Fordgate swing bridge
Standards Lock
Kings Lock
Lower Maunsel Lock
A361
Higher Maunsel Lock
River Tone
Chard Canal
M5
A38
A358
Bristol–Exeter line
Grand Western Canal
Firepool Lock and weir
River Tone
Taunton
French Weir
The Bridgwater and Taunton Canal is a canal in the south-west of England between Bridgwater and Taunton, opened in 1827 and linking the River Tone to the River Parrett. There were a number of abortive schemes to link the Bristol Channel to the English Channel by waterway in the 18th and early 19th centuries. These schemes followed the approximate route eventually taken by the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal, but the canal was instead built as part of a plan to link Bristol to Taunton by waterway.
The early years of operation were marred by a series of legal disputes, which were resolved when the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal Company and the Conservators, who managed the River Tone Navigation, agreed that the Canal Company should take over the Tone Navigation. The canal originally terminated at a basin at Huntworth, to the east of Bridgwater, but was later extended to a floating harbour at Bridgwater Docks on its western edge. Financially this was a disaster, as the extension was funded by a mortgage, and the arrival of the railways soon afterwards started the demise of the canal. The canal was rescued from bankruptcy by the Bristol and Exeter Railway in 1866.
Despite commercial traffic ceasing in 1907, the infrastructure was maintained in good order, and the canal was used for the transport of potable water from 1962. The Countryside Act 1968 provided a framework for Somerset County Council to start the restoration of the canal as a leisure facility, which was completed in 1994, when the canal was reopened throughout. Bridgwater Docks have been restored as a marina, but there is no navigable connection to the River Parrett, as the canal still transports drinking water for the people of Bridgwater.
and 24 Related for: Bridgwater and Taunton Canal information
still stand today. Its larger neighbour, Taunton, is linked to Bridgwater via a canal, the M5 motorway and the GWR railway line. Historically, the town...
The Chard Canal was a 13.5 miles (21.7 km) tub boat canal in Somerset, England, that ran from the BridgwaterandTauntonCanal at Creech St. Michael, over...
The Grand Western Canal ran between Taunton in Somerset and Tiverton in Devon in the United Kingdom. The canal had its origins in various plans, going...
interest in canal building in Somerset; the BridgwaterandTauntonCanal was authorised in 1824, the Glastonbury Canal in 1827, and the Chard Canal in 1834...
BridgwaterCanal may refer to: BridgwaterandTauntonCanal in Somerset, England Bridgewater Canal connecting Manchester and Runcorn in north west England...
22-kilometre (14-mile) BridgwaterandTauntonCanal to display a model of the Sun and its planets in their proportionally correct sizes and distances apart....
navigation to fund a wing of the Tauntonand Somerset Hospital, and to aid the Taunton Market Trust. The BridgwaterandTauntonCanal opened in 1827, which provided...
Bridgwater railway station serves the town of Bridgwater in Somerset, England. It is on the Bristol to Taunton Line and is operated by Great Western Railway...
Tone at Taunton having been made forcibly by the canal company, and which were only resolved when the BridgwaterandTauntonCanal Company and the Conservators...
India Company BridgwaterandTauntonCanal, Somerset, England Port of Bridgwater, Somerset, England Bridgewater Canal, from Preston Brook and Worsley to...
building, which was not rebuilt, and the ruins were demolished in the 1920s. In the 1820s the BridgwaterandTauntonCanal was constructed. The work included...
of the jewel can be found in the church of St Mary. When the BridgwaterandTauntonCanal was opened in 1827 it joined the River Parrett by a lock at Huntworth...
following list of canals in the United Kingdom, includes some systems that are navigable rivers with sections of canal (e.g. Aire and Calder Navigation)...
Bristol and Exeter Railway, the BridgwaterandTauntonCanal, and the River Tone and has a population of 1,929. Flint and pottery uncovered during archaeological...
until 1962. Bridgwater railway station remains open on the Bristol to Taunton Line. The site is now occupied by a Sainsbury's supermarket and an adjacent...
floating harbour in Bridgwater, and the Huntworth link was filled in. The canaland river were not re-connected at this point when the canal was restored, because...
are also dramatic remains of the Chard Canal, including the (filled) junction with the Bridgwater & TauntonCanal, a raised embankment leading south from...
alongside the BridgwaterandTauntonCanaland adjacent to large areas of farmland. The entire site is approximately 8 acres (32,000 m2) and comprises 7...
the railway station and the wharf in 1859. Having acquired the BridgwaterandTauntonCanal, the B&ER owned the canal dock, and the B&ER then converted...
Global Information
