The navigable portion of the river weaver stretches from
Runcorn on the Manchester Ship Canal to Winsford in Cheshire a distance of
20 miles, with the Anderton Boat lift down giving access from The Trent and
Mersey Canal for pleasure boats.
The River Weaver as a whole runs from its source near
Peckforton Castle in West Cheshire and is about 50 miles long , with the
last 20 miles navigable.
The river ran through the Salt producing areas of was of
Cheshire, though in its natural state was not deep enough to support boats
for transport purposes, so the salt was moved overland by packhorse to
Pickering’s wharf where it could be loaded onto barges, which used the tides
of this portion of the river to move back downstream.
The idea of improving the Weaver was conceived in the
first decade of the 18th Century, though it was not entirely
popular with local landowners and carriers, who were afraid of either
flooding or loss of trade and therefore raised objections to presentations
to Parliament in 1711, 1715 and 1718 , with an Act finally being passed in
1720 for work between Frodsham Bridge and Winsford Bridge.
Tolls were set on the condition that once the initial cost
had been paid they would be reduced by 20% after which profits would be
invested in maintaining bridges and highways, at the direction of Justices
of the peace who would meet annually to discuss the matter.
The project proceeded slowly though was completed by 1732.
Construction at that stage consisted of 11 timber locks and weirs, dredging
and construction of cuts.
The Navigation was not a success in the early years
struggling against financial problems and deficiencies in the way the
Navigation had was managed , which went back to the 1721 Act of Parliament ,
the terms of which were reviewed and modified in another Act of 1760, which
gave the commissioners more power to protect the interests of the
undertaking. The Act also stipulated that locks should be 90ft by 17.3 ft
with a minimum draft of 4.5 feet, the specifications being met by 1765.
Meanwhile the Trent and Mersey was being built, running
parallel to the Weaver for some miles near Anderton , which was initially
conceived as a threat and a real cause of concern by the commissioners , who
nevertheless continued upgrading the Weaver Navigation, which had managed to
repay its debts by 1775.
The Trent and Mersey opened in 1777, resulting in an
immediate loss of trade of about 25% to the Weaver Navigation, though this
was soon offset by an upturn in the Salt Trade, especially after
1793 when chutes where installed at
Anderton , so salt could be transferred from the Trent and Mersey to the
Weaver ( 50ft below), which resulted in a steady increase in amounts of
cargo carried by the Weaver Navigation.
Work on improving the now busy water way continued, with
the most notable feature being the Anderton lift that was completed in 1906
, though even with this new facility the salt shuts were still retained,
though 38,000 tons of salt per year were still passed by the shuts at the
beginning of the 2oth Century.
While the salt trade gradually declined a chemical trade
began to grow, which presented a new demand for the waterway to serve and
another major source of income, leaving finances in quite a healthy state
and the waterway has continued to flourish.
The Anderton lift was declared a Scheduled Ancient
Monument in 1994, was refurbished and reopened in 2002.