Gloucester and
Sharpness
Canal
The
Gloucester and Sharpness Canal once had the accolade of being the broadest
and deepest canal in the world. It was built bypass a difficult stretch of
the river Severn and now links the Port of Sharpness with the Historic Docks
at Gloucester with a 16 mile waterway and is noted for the sheer size of the
swing bridges and ornate bridge-keepers cottages, which announce the pride
that the builders of the canal took in their achievement in successfully
taking on these ambitious engineering projects.
In 1793 Parliament
gave Royal assent to an Act which gave permission for a project that would
build a ship canal between Gloucester and Berkeley to bypass a winding,
narrow and dangerous section of the River Severn, work commenced but with a
third of the canal built funds ran out and the project came to a standstill
leaving the project stalled from1800 to about 1813, when some improvements
were mage to the basin at Gloucester, though it was not until1817 that money
to complete the project could be raised by a loan from the Government,
together with the selling of more shares.
The canal
eventually opened in 1827 having cost £440,000, being at that time 86.5 feet
wide and 16 feet deep the original
plan stating 18 feet to allow keeled sailing ships, but the steamers now
being used required a lesser draft.
The first dividend
was eventually paid by the mid 18th Century.
1905 saw traffic
exceed 1 million tons for the first time, traffic now including bulk oil
carriers heading for storage south of Gloucester and was even host to
submarines in 1937.
1948 saw the Docks
and Canal nationalised and a report in 1955 identified the Gloucester and
Sharpness Canal as a viable commercial prospect that had a potential for
further commercial development.
Today with a
decline of commercial traffic, which had more or less ceased in 1980, the
major use of the canal is for pleasure craft, though these can still be
catered for up to 64m in length, 9.6m wide and an air draft of 32m, with
maximum water draft at 3.5m. Oil transport ceased in 1985 with closure of
the depot at Quedgeley, though a few grain barges may still pass through.
A section of the
canal had to be diverted to allow for the A40 bypass, the new channel
opening in 2006.
The canal remains
a popular and interesting destination for leisure craft of all sizes.