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The History of the Mongomery Canal
to 1944
The canal passing through Maesbury was an arm of the Ellesmere Canal
which ran from Llangollen to Chester & Ellesmere Port. The Maesbury
arm being from Lower Frankton to Llanymynech, there joining the Montgomeryshire
Canal which ran from Llanymynech to Newtown.
According to the Shropshire County Council website "The canal from
Llanymynech to Frankton opened in 1796". They also state that at
Frankton "a boat could branch northwards towards Llangollen, or on
the mainline go west to Llanymynech" - but this was later reversed
to the 'Llanymynech branch" with Llangollen as the main line.
Jim
Shead's website provides a very detailed summary of how the canals
were built, everything below is summarised from there.
The original Montgomeryshire Canal
By way of summary Jim Snead states: "Authorised by an Act of 1794,
opened to Garthmyl in 1797, and to Newtown in March 1819. Joined the Shropshire
Union in 1850."
He also provides extracts from the book Book "Priestley's Navigable
Rivers and Canals" by Joseph Priestley, previously published
in April 1831 and originally called "Historical Account of the
Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, of Great Britain". These
extracts show that the 1794 act for the 'Montgomeryshire Canal' was to
build from "Porthywain Lime Rocks in the parish of Llanyblodwell,
in the county of Salop, to or near Newtown, in the county of Montgomery."
Priestley also stated:
The northern parts of the line in particular, and the whole line generally,
is situated in the midst of quarries of limestone, slate and freestone,
and near mines of coal, lead-ore and other minerals; the advantages
of the work, therefore, are of much importance, as well to the proprietors
of land on its banks as to the public in general; particularly when
we take into consideration its connection with the Ellesmere Canal,
and the extent of country traversed by this useful line of navigation.
The original Ellesmere Canal
Some extracts from Jim Snead again (bold type added):
A canal that was never wholly completed the two major sections now
being part of the Shropshire Union Canal.
31 August 1791: At a meeting at the Royal Oak in Ellesmere the estimate
he [John Duncombe, engineer] produced with Joseph Turner was presented.
They estimated £67,456 for the main line from Netherpool on the
Mersey to the River Dee then on to Overton and Shrewsbury. Branches
to Llangollen, Bersham and Llanmynech brought the total to £171,098.
August 1792: His [William Jessop, engineer] estimate for the main line
was £179,898 plus £17,000 for branches at Holt and Llanymynech.
1793: Authorised by an Act.
February 1793: John Duncombe was appointed to assist William Jessop
in the construction of the canal.
30 October 1793: Thomas Telford made General Agent, Surveyor, Engineer,
Architect and Overlooker of Works for the canal which had just been
authorised at a salary of £300 a year. This was a part-time post
under William Jessop, the Principal Engineer. He retained his post as
Surveyor of Public Works for the County of Shropshire.
1795: The Chester to Ellesmere Port section completed.
1801: Chirk Aqueduct opened, 70 feet high.
1808: The navigable feeder from Trevor to the Dee at Llantisilo completed
what is now the Llangollen Canal.
Jim Snead gives as a reference: The Ellesmere and Llangollen Canal.
An Historical Background by E A Wilson , Published by Phillimore &
Co., 1975.
Further notes from Jim Snead on both the Monty and the Ellesmere canals:
Late 1797: William Jessop [engineer for the Montgomery company]. He
was called in to examine the engineering following the collapse of an
arch on the Vyrnwy Aqueduct, which he considered a normal teething trouble.
Autumn 1813: Josias Jessop [engineer for the Montgomery company]. He
was called in to make plans for the Western Branch to Newtown and estimated
a cost of £28,268 but was later accused of not including the cost
of puddlling and lining the canal.
March 1819: John Williams [engineer for the Ellesmere company]. The
western line, which he built as resident engineer, was completed to
Newtown, a distance of 7 miles 3 furlongs and with six locks. [by this
time there was some overlap of work between the Monty and the Ellesmere
companies, and some confusion in the records as to who was responsible]
1823: George W Buck [Engineer for the Ellesmere company]. Carried out
extensive repairs on the Vyrnwy Aqeduct that had every arch fractued
due to it originally being constucted from sub-standard materials. It
was strengthened using iron bands.
1845: William Cubitt. Was asked by the [Montgomeryshire] company to
consider if their canal could be turned into a railway. The survey was
never completed as the canal company accepted an offer of £110
per share from the Ellesmere & Chester Canal and had agreed to become
part of the Shropshire Union Canal.
1850: Joined the Shropshire Union.
At some point the whole section from Lower Frankton to Newtown became
known as the Montgomery(shire) Canal, presumably after it all became part
of the Shropshire Union in 1850. The other section of the Ellesmere canal
at Lower Frankton becoming known as the Llangollen Canal.
We also have another summary from WaterScape.com
The line now known as the Montgomery Canal, an agricultural line that
made no connection with the town of Montgomery, runs from Welsh Frankton
(sic) to Newtown and was part of an extensive network of over 200 miles
of waterways once owned by the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company.
It was commenced around the same time as the Ellesmere Canal, part of
which was to become known as the Llangollen.
Carreghofa marks the original junction between what was then the Montgomeryshire
Canal and the Llanymynech Branch of the Ellesmere Canal and the curious
feeder arrangements from the River Tanat are indicative of the jealous
emphasis on water supply. Terminating for a while at Garthmyl its continuation
to Newtown was delayed by the Napoleonic Wars and it was left to a separate
company to complete the Western Branch, or Newtown Extension, which
opened in 1821. Completion of the Weston Branch of the Montgomery, which
was to connect with the Severn at Shrewsbury, failed to materialise
[the junction to Weston is just below Lower Frankton].
Competition from the railways led to a decline in trade and when the
Montgomery breached its banks near Perry in 1936, isolating it from
the rest of the system, the cost of repairs vastly exceeded the annual
revenue and it was abandoned. Legal abandonment followed in 1944. The
line from Llangollen to Hurleston become known as the main line of the
Llangollen Canal, with the derelict Montgomery perceived as merely a
spur off it at Welsh Frankton.
Shropshire County Council website:
Closure of the Montgomeryshire Canal was proposed in 1887 but it was
reprieved as it was still making the tiny profit of £432 (before
interest payments). By the end of the nineteenth century, the trade
in limestone had virtually ceased, but the canal was still kept open,
possibly because of the legal difficulties of closing it.
More about the canal from the Shropshire County Council website::
For a detailed account of life by the canal in the early part of the
20th century, see: A Little Bit of Shropshire: The Village of Maesbury,
1800-1930 by F. A. Mason, published by Gee & Son, Denbigh, November
2000, ISBN 07074 0350 2.
After the canal was officially closed the boating fraternity described
it as 'derelict' and soon starting campaigning and working to have it
re-opened. Meanwhile the environmentalists described it as a 'wildlife
haven' and started campaigning and working to protect the wildlife which
had moved in. The uneasy balance of interests has continued ever since....
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