The Grand Western Canal

The Grand Western Canal is to be found in the south West peninsular serving Somerset and Devon and though navigable in places is unfortunately isolated from the rest of the UK system. One end is accessible from the Bristol Channel, which leads onto the Bridgwater and Taunton canal and the other accessible from the Exeter Ship Canal, but the passage between them is broken.

The original aim was to create and inland passage connecting the Bristol Channel to the English Channel at Exmouth, avoiding the need for a difficult passage around Lands End and proving a route that could safely be used by small craft in all weather. A major cargo was likely to be lime to the kilns returning quicklime for agriculture and building purposes.

1795 saw the first proposals for such a venture, but it was sometime later before any serious progress was made.

Work eventually started in 1810 with John Thomas as engineer, with construction of the 2.5m middle section from Tiverton to Lowdells  to serve the lime quarries and kilns. The decision made after construction commenced to cut the summit cut  16 feet deeper, to avoid the need of additional locks, which required another act of parliament in 1811. This required a greater amount of earth to me moved, but in the longer term would speed the passage of the canal by reducing the number of locks and would also save money in terms of lock maintenance, though obviously the cut itself would have to be maintained. The increased costs incurred by the changes caused the project to stall as funds ran low and continued after another Act of Parliament had been passed to allow an increase in the Tolls charge for the passage of goods, work recommenced in 1812.

The need for quarrying at Holcombe Rogus  to  cut a path though rock led to a further slowing of progress, with some sections also needing to be lined with puddle clay in order to seal leaks.

The canal opened 25th August 1814, the first recorded cargo being coal from Lowdells to Tiverton.

Unfortunately traffic was less than anticipated and profits were duly affected.

A second phase of development commenced in 1829 under James Green, this time to develop a link to Taunton, James Green had previously been involved in the construction on the Bude canal which used tub boats and inclined planes to cope with land gradients and proposed a similar approach here, though Green propose the use of vertical lifts.

The canal was partially opened in 1835, but completion was delayed by technical problems with the lifts, Green  was sacked and W.A. Provis was asked to review the works and propose solutions. Remedial work was instigated including a steam engine at Wellisford to power the inclined plane and the 14 mile extension was open and fully functional on 28th June 1838.

The last commercial use was to carry road stone from Whipcott quarry, of which about 7000 tons a year were transported until 1925, after that  income from the canal came from sheepwashing and the sale of water lilies that grew in it.

The Tiverton Canal Preservation Committee was formed in 1962, with the intension of preserving the canal where possible and the canal was passed from British Waterways  to Devon County Council, who repaired a section of the canal with a butyl liner to prevent leakage and opened it to unpowered craft in 1971, it is now a country park and nature reserve.

The Somerset section remains largely dry and continues in neglect.