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The Lydney Canal is to be found in Gloucestershire
running from the River Severn to
Lydney and opened in 1813 as a means of transporting Iron and Coal from the
Forest of Dean to Severn and from there into the general canal network. It
remained in commercial use until the 1980’s and more recently restored as a
harbour and marina for sea going leisure craft, protected by a tide gate.
The origins of the Lydney Canal lie
in the need to service the local iron works and mines of the Lydney
area, though no doubt a means of transporting timber would also have been
welcome.
The first interest in the idea of the canal seems to be shown in 1807 with John Rennie producing a report for the Department of Woods and Forests, which contributed to an Act in 1810 which allowed for a canal connecting to the existing Pidcock’s Canal. In the same year Josias Jessop was appointed Consultant Engineer for the project and presented plans for a canal and basin.
The following year Josias Jessop was replaced by Thomas
Sheasby (junior) and the canal
opened in 1813 by the Severn Wye and Railway Company.
!821 saw the harbour completed and the tramway from
Pidcock’s Canal extended to it a connection by canal not having been made.
In 1893 the Severn and Wye Railway and Canal Company hit
financial problems and was declared bankrupt and so the following year the
canal became the joint property of The Great Western and Midlands Railways
and managed between the two companies.
1948 saw the nationalization of the railways and with this
the ownership passed into the hands of The British Transport Commission,
from where it passed to the
Docks and Inland Waterways Executive in 1950 with the last cargo of coal
using the canal in 1960 and the harbour closed in 1970.
Preservation
of the site seems to have started
with the recognition of the swing bridge as a grade II listed building in
1988 after which the Environment Agency took over the management of the
site, replacing the inner gates with a dam in 1997 as a flood defence
measure after the original gates collapsed.
Active
restoration started with the formation of the Lydney Docks Partnership in
1998, with the aim of creating
a sustainable future for the site, which was re-opened in 2005 after
restoration , now serving a role in the leisure industry as a marina.