(Ad 1)
The Ripon Canal is one of England’s most Northernly waterways and was built
to link Ripon (one of this countries
smallest Cities, with Medieval and Georgian architecture) to the river Ure
at Oxclose locks, from whence passage to the River Ouse provides connection
to other waterways. The length of the canal is 2.5 miles and it re-opened as
a navigable waterway in 1996.
The purpose of the canal was chiefly to supply an outlet for local
agricultural goods and the local Lead Mines at Ripon, while supplying Rippon
with coal from the Yorkshire
coalfields.
Construction
was authorised by an Act of parliament in 1767 as part of a larger scheme to
generally improve navigation of the River Ure, from the River Swale to
Oxclose, to provide a means of transporting cargo to York , Hill and wider
destinations. The canal was designed to carry
“keels” which were 58 feet by 14.5
feet.
Work
commenced in 1767 on a route surveyed by William Jessop, who was appointed
Chief engineer with John Smeaton supervising and John smith acting as
resident engineer and supervising work in progress.
The
construction was complete by 1773 and in use by February of that year. Trade
was steady and promising for the first few years, but by 1820 it became
evident that the commissioners were failing to service the loans sought to
finance the building of the canal, with interest accruing to £11,450.
Consequently the commisioners were dismissed and the company taken over by
creditors who formed the Company of Proprietors of the River Ure Navigation
to Rippon, who then obtained a second Act of Parliament in June 1820
allowing them to raise £34,000 in shares, the improvements made allowing
larger craft to navigate the waterway carrying up to 70 tons by the 1840’s.
The canal
survived the construction of the Darlington to York railway in 1841, even
though this competed directly for the coal cargoes, still making profits in
that year, but 1846 saw the Leeds and Thirsk Railway purchase the canal, the
terms requiring the canal to be kept in good order.
Ownership
passed to the North Eastern Railway in 1854 as companies merged and
gradually the canal became neglected, leaving the canal effectively disused
by 1892.
The canal was not nationalised in 1948, but officially abandoned in 1958. However the abandonment met local opposition as did later plans to in-fill the canal , which resulted in the creation of the ripon Canal Company Ltd in 1961 largely by instigation of members of the Ripon Motor Boat Club, with the intent of leasing and gradually restoring the canal. The lower half became navigable in 1985.
Encouraged
by the Inland Waterways Association the North Yorkshire Council the Ripon
Canal Society was formed in 1983 and restoration to Ripon was finally
completed by 1996 as part of the “River Ure and Ouse Recreational Subject
Plan”. The society then disbanded in 1997 donating remaining funds to the
cost of works on the repairs to Linton Lock on the river Ure.