The Bridgwater and Taunton Canal
( Note: not Bridgewater )
The Bridgwater and Taunton canal serves the lowlands of
Somerset which are preserved as a site of special scientific interest
because of the diversity of the unique ecosystem which encourages rare
plants and birds to proliferate in this area.
History
The canal opened in 1827 with the original route running
from Taunton to join the Parrett at Huntworth,
the enginer in charge being James
Hollingsworth and the work was greeted with success leading the proposal of
a further extension from Huntworth to
Bridgwater and a dock was built at
the entrance lock to the river Parrett.
In 1866 the canal was sold to the Bristol and Exeter
Railway Company for £64,000, with it eventually passing into the hands of
the Great Western Railway, who like many Railway companies them owning
canals made little effort to maintain or utilise their asset, the suspicion
being that at least in some cases they were just buying out a competitor so
they could monopolise an area of trade.
The last tolls were collected in 1907 since when it has
simply served a purpose for land drainage and as a general water course.
During the second World War it was identified as a
potential line of defence; all iron bridges were removed and replaces with
wooden structures that could be quickly demolished and the banks decorated
with pill boxes and tank traps
… some still in evidence.
Ownership passed to The British Transport Commission and
then to British Waterways, who finally began to revers its fortunes, first
making it one of the first canals to commercially supply water, when the
Durleigh Resevoir started needing
support in the summer months and then a full restoration with support of
Somerset County Council, with bridges recreated to past design.
The canal is now open for navigation between Bridgwater
and Taunton and makes a delightful attraction.
Briidgwater is a commercial port under the control of
Sedgemoor District Council , who acts as the Competent Harbour Authority and
provide pilotage schemes for all vessels over 98 ft in length, this being
necessary as the tidal range be more than 39 feet leaving vessels looking
for the deep channel.
Dunball wharf is the practical limit of navigation for
commercial shipping with the facilities to handle large cargoes. Main
cargoes consist od stone products largely in the form of gravel and sand
dredged from the bed of the Bristol channel. There is also a roll-on,
roll-off berth at Combwich , which is occasionally used to move heavy goods
and is likely to see more use with the construction of the Hinkley Point C
nuclear power station.