Canal in Gloucestershire in the south-west of England
Thames and Severn Canal
The canal at Brimscombe
Specifications
Length
28.7 miles (46.2 km)
Locks
44
Status
Under restoration
Navigation authority
Stroud Valleys Canal Company
History
Original owner
Thames and Severn Canal Company
Principal engineer
Josiah Clowes
Date of act
1783
Date completed
1789
Date closed
1933
Date restored
2018
Geography
Start point
Lechlade, River Thames
End point
Wallbridge, near Stroud
Connects to
Stroudwater Navigation, North Wilts Canal, River Thames
v
t
e
Thames and Severn Canal
Legend
Stroudwater Navigation
Stroudwater Junction
1
Wallbridge Lower Lock
Slad Brook (culverted)
A46 Stroud Brewery Bridge
2
Wallbridge Upper Lock
Capel Mill diversion
A419 (Dr Newtons Way) bridge
Golden Valley line Stroud viaduct
A419 road built along canal bed
River Frome
3
Bowbridge Lock
4
Griffins Mill Lock
5
Ham Mill Lock
Stroud Brewery, navigable limit
6
Hope Mill Lock
Gough's Orchard feeder from R Frome
7
Gough's Orchard Lock
River Frome aqueduct
Brimscombe Port
8
Bourne Lock
Golden Valley Line bridge
9
Beales Lock
10
St Marys Lock
Railway bridge
11-12
Ile's/Ballinger's Lock (2)
13
Chalford Chapel Lock
River Frome
A419 road bridge
14-16
Bell/Red Lion/Valley Lock (3)
17-18
Bakers Mill Locks (2)
19-21
Puck Mill Locks (3)
22-28
Daneway Locks (7)
Sapperton Tunnel
A419 road over tunnel
Railway bridge
Thames Head pumping station
Source of the River Thames
A433 road bridge
A429 aqueduct
Cirencester Arm
29-32
Siddington Locks (4)
33-35
South Cerney Locks (3)
36
Boxwell Springs Lock
37-38
Wildmoorway Locks (2)
B4696 Gateway Bridge
39
Cerney Wick Lock
North Wilts Canal
proposed diversion
40
Latton Lock
A419 road bridge
41
Eisey Lock
42-43
Dudgrove Double Lock (2)
River Thames to Cricklade
44
Inglesham Lock
River Coln
River Thames, Lechlade
The Thames and Severn Canal is a canal in Gloucestershire in the south-west of England, which was completed in 1789. It was conceived as part of a cargo route from Bristol and the Midlands to London, linking England's two largest rivers for better trade. The route climbs the steep Cotswold escarpment through the Golden Valley, tunnels underneath the summit of the Cotswold Edge, and emerges near the source of the Thames.
At its eastern end, it connects to the top of the navigable Thames at Inglesham Lock near Lechlade, while at its western end, it connects to the Stroudwater Navigation at Wallbridge near Stroud, and thence to the River Severn. It had one short arm (branch), from Siddington to the town of Cirencester. It includes Sapperton Tunnel, which when built was the longest canal tunnel in Britain, and remains the second-longest complete tunnel. There were always problems with water supply, as no reservoirs were built, while the summit section near the tunnel ran through porous limestone, and there were constant difficulties with leakage. Competition from the railways took much of the canal's traffic by the end of the 19th century, and most of the canal was abandoned in 1927, the remainder in 1941.
Since 1972, the Cotswold Canals Trust has been working to restore both the canal and the Stroudwater Navigation to navigably re-link the Thames and the Severn. A number of the structures have been restored, and some sections are now in water. A major step forward occurred in 2003, when a bid was made to the Heritage Lottery Fund for £82 million to restore both canals. The bid and the project had to be split into smaller sections, but £11.9 million was awarded in 2006 for Phase 1A, which with matched funding has restored from The Ocean at Stonehouse to Wallbridge on the Stroudwater Navigation, and from there to Stroud Brewery on the Thames and Severn Canal. The Phase 1B reconnection to the national waterways network at Saul Junction is expected to be completed by 2025, connecting the Severn with the Golden Valley for the first time in a century.
In 2010, British Waterways gave Inglesham Lock to the Trust, and the Inland Waterways Association mounted a national campaign to fund its restoration (and 420 yards (380 m) of canal above). To re-open the whole canal some major engineering obstacles will need to be overcome.
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