Stewarts Bridge on the Arundel to Portsmouth section of the canal
History
Date completed
1823
Date closed
1847
Geography
Start point
London
End point
Portsmouth
v
t
e
London to Portsmouth Canal
Legend
River Thames to London
Richmond Lock
3 locks - Teddington to Sunbury
Shepperton Lock
River Wey Navigation
4 locks plus stoplock
Basingstoke Canal
8 locks
Guildford
Wey and Godalming Navigations
2 locks
Wey and Arun Canal
To Godalming
7 locks
16 locks
Arun Navigation
6 locks + 1 flood lock
River Arun
Portsmouth and Arundel Canal
2 locks (Ford)
Chichester Canal
2 locks
Chichester Harbour
Thorney Island
Hayling Island
2 locks (Milton)
Canal across Portsea Island
Portsmouth
The London to Portsmouth canal was a concept for the construction of a secure inland canal route from the British capital of London to the headquarters of the Royal Navy at Portsmouth. It would have allowed craft to move between the two without having to venture into the English Channel and possibly encounter enemy ships. There is no naturally navigable route between the two cities, which resulted in several schemes being suggested. The first, which was put before Parliament in 1641, was for a canal to link the River Wey and the River Arun, whose sources were only 2 miles (3.2 km) apart, but the bill was defeated. Improvements to the River Wey were authorised in 1651, and navigation was extended to Godalming in 1763. During the American War of Independence, goods was conveyed to Godalming by water, and overland from there to Portsmouth, but this ceased when the war ended.
Several other routes for a canal were proposed around the end of the 18th century, as was a railway, but the first to be authorised was the Wey and Arun Junction Canal, which would link the River Wey to the Arun Navigation. It was authorised in 1813 and completed in 1816. This provided a link to the south coast, but the link to Portsmouth was completed by the building of the Portsmouth and Arundel Canal linking the Arun to a ship canal near Chichester. This was authorised in 1817, and included provision for dredging a channel around Thorney and Hayling Islands and construction of another ship canal across Portsea Island. The work was finished in 1823. It was not a success, as there were problems with salt water leaking into farmland and contaminating the water supply for Portsmouth, while it was easier and cheaper to ship goods around the coast once the war with France had ended.
Between 1823 and 1825, three grand schemes for an overland ship canal were proposed, but came to nothing, despite brief interest from the Admiralty. The Portsea Canal was abandoned in 1830, having been hardly used. Trade on the Portsmouth and Arundel and the Wey and Arun canals was much lower than anticipated, and they were abandoned in 1841 and 1871, but the Chichester Canal continued to operate until 1892, when it was given to Chichester Corporation. Parts of it have been restored since 1984, and the Wey and Arun Canal Trust has also succeeded in restoring significant sections of that canal since it was formed in 1970.
and 24 Related for: London to Portsmouth canal information
1888. The canal was part of a larger scheme for the construction of a secure inland canal route from LondontoPortsmouth, which allowed craft to move between...
constructed, to provide an overland route between the cities of London and Portsmouth, removing the need to enter the English Channel. Berks & Hants Canal, a proposed...
secure inland canal route from LondontoPortsmouth, allowing boats to avoid the English Channel. It had three sections: a pair of ship canals (one on Portsea...
passenger trains between London, Guildford and Portsmouth; connections are made to the ferry services which operate between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight...
Harbour to Chichester through two locks. The canal (originally part of the Portsmouth and Arundel Canal) was opened in 1822 and took three years to build...
"Navigable cut from Rainham to Romford". The London Gazette. No. 16409. 2 October 1810. p. 1539. Gill, Jonathan. "The Romford Canal Essex". Oxford Archaeology...
The Carlisle Canal opened in 1823, linking Carlisle to the Solway Firth, to facilitate the transport of goods to and from the city. It was a short-lived...
Avon Canal Trust. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2011. "Bruce Tunnel". Kennet and Avon Canal. University of Portsmouth. Archived...
Portsmouth, on Portsea Island in England. It was opened in the Fratton area of Portsmouth on 1 July 1885 as an interchange station between the London...
His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB...
waterway route toLondon. This did not last long, with parts of the Portsmouth and Arundel Canal being closed after just 4 years. Portsmouth gained its first...
from the Croydon Canalto Newbridge in the Arun valley Portsmouth & Arundel Canal 1815 – with Netlam Giles surveyed a route for the canal on behalf of John...
was smaller than the nearby port of Portsmouth, but since Portsmouth's harbour was already well-developed due to naval operations, Southampton was the...
The Croydon Canal ran 9+1⁄4 miles (15 km) from Croydon, via Forest Hill, to the Grand Surrey Canal at New Cross in south London, England. It opened in...
with few of the cargoes which made canals profitable, was to provide an inland route from LondontoPortsmouth and the south coast of England, an important...
Cuthbert, Ted (1988). Portsmouth's Lost Canal. Environmental Education Project. p. 42. "Hampshire Canals". University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 13 September...
Grand Surrey Canal was a canal constructed in south London, England during the early 19th century. It opened to the Old Kent Road in 1807, to Camberwell...
Union Canal (formerly the Grand Junction Canal) which first linked London with the rest of the growing canal system. It was one of the last canalsto carry...
Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in...
Dover Folkestone Rye Harbour Newhaven Shoreham-by-Sea Portsmouth International Port, Portsmouth Newport, Isle of Wight Port of Southampton, Southampton...
West Main Line to Weymouth via Southampton, the West of England main line to Exeter via Salisbury, the Portsmouth Direct line toPortsmouth Harbour which...
Paddington Canal in London attended by Thomas Telford and Charles Babbage. They hoped that steamboats running on the canals would be able to attain these...
completed in 2004 as part of the Grand Union Canal office and retail development project at Paddington Basin, London. The Rolling Bridge was conceived by Thomas...
Global Information
