View source for Dorset and Somerset Canal

{{short description|Partially-built and abandoned canal in South-West England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2017}}
{{Infobox Canal
  |name        = Dorset and Somerset Canal
  |image       = Murtry aqueduct 1.jpg
  |image_caption     = The north face of Murtry aqueduct
  |former_names      =
  |original_owner     =
  |engineer    =
  |other_engineer  =
  |date_act    = 1796
  |date_use    =
  |date_completed   = not completed
  |date_closed =
  |date_restored   =
  |len         =
  |len_in      =
  |original_boat_length       =
  |original_boat_length_in    =
  |len_note    =
  |beam        =
  |beam_in     =
  |original_beam      =
  |original_beam_in   =
  |beam_note   =
  |start_point       = Nettlebridge
  |original_start     =
  |start_note  =
  |end_point         = Frome junction
  |original_end       =
  |end_note    =
  |branch      =
  |branch_of   =
  |connects_to        =
  |locks       = 0
  |original_num_locks     =
  |lock_note   =
  |elev        =
  |elev_note   =
  |status      = Abandoned, not completed
  |navigation_authority         =
}}
{{Dorset and Somerset Canal plan}}
[[File:FussellsLiftDorsetAndSomersetCanal.png|thumb|right|Diagram showing the arrangement of Fussell's boat lift]]

The '''Dorset and Somerset Canal''' was a proposed [[canal]] in southwestern England. The main line was intended to link [[Poole]], Dorset with the [[Kennet and Avon Canal]] near [[Bradford on Avon]], Wiltshire. A branch was to go from the main line at [[Frome]] to the southern reaches of the [[Somerset coalfield]] at [[Nettlebridge]]. Construction of the branch started in 1786, using boat lifts rather than locks to cope with changes of level, but the company ran out of money and the canal was abandoned in 1803, never to be completed.

==Proposals==
Plans for a major canal to link [[Bristol]] and Poole, and therefore to make travel from the [[Bristol Channel]] to the [[English Channel]] easier and safer, were proposed in 1792. The suggested route passed through [[Wareham, Dorset|Wareham]], [[Sturminster Newton]], [[Wincanton]] and Frome, joining the [[River Avon, Bristol|River Avon]] at [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]]. Collieries in the Mendips near Nettlebridge were to be served by a branch canal, while the main trade was seen as coal travelling southwards and clay travelling northwards. A public meeting was held in [[Wincanton]] in January 1793, at which a list of subscribers was started.<ref name=hadfield>{{harvnb |Hadfield |1967 |pp=91–92}}</ref>

There were several proposals as to the precise route, and so the canal engineer [[Robert Whitworth (canal engineer)|Robert Whitworth]] was asked to survey a route. By the time he reported back in September 1793, the route started from the Kennet and Avon Canal at [[Freshford, Somerset]], rather than Bath, and having passed through [[Stalbridge]], headed for [[Blandford]] rather than Wareham. The new route reflected the availability of water to supply the canal. Whitworth was busy and recommended that the promoters of the scheme should employ [[William Bennet (engineer)|William Bennet]] of Frome as engineer. Bennet completed a detailed survey in 1795, estimating that the cost of the canal would be about £200,000, and the promoters approved most of his plan at a meeting in July. Short branches to [[Hamworthy]] and Wareham were added to the scheme, and the proposed junction with the Kennet and Avon Canal was later moved to [[Widbrook]].<ref>{{harvnb |Hadfield |1967 |p=92}}</ref>

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Dorset and Wiltshire Canal Act 1796
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An act for making a navigable canal from or near Gain's Cross, in the parish of Shillington Okeford, in the county of Dorset, to communicate with the Kennet and Avon canal, at or near Widbrook; in the county of Wilts, and also a certain navigable branch from the intended canal.
| year                  = 1796
| citation              = [[36 Geo. 3]]. c. 47
| territorial_extent    = [[Great Britain]]
| royal_assent          = 24 March 1796
| commencement          = 24 March 1796{{efn|name=aopca|The [[Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793]].}}
| repeal_date           = 
| amendments            = [[Dorset and Somerset Canal Act 1803]]
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = Current
| original_text         = https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=OPkIekjA89oC&pg=PA639
| collapsed             = yes
}}
By the time parliamentary approval was sought, the southern end had been cut back to [[Shillingstone]], to reduce the cost, and the '''{{visible anchor|Dorset and Wiltshire Canal Act 1796}}''' ([[36 Geo. 3]]. c. 47) was obtained on 24 March 1796, giving the company powers to raise £150,000, with an additional £75,000 if required. However, with the social changes and inflation that was occurring at the time, less than £80,000 was raised. With this, the company decided to start with the branch to Frome,<ref>{{harvnb |Hadfield |1967 |pp=92–93}}</ref> in order to capitalise on the lucrative markets in the coal fields and the clothing industry in Frome.

==Construction==
{{Dorset and Somerset Canal map}}
Construction began on the branch line, and about {{convert|8|mi|km}} of canal was built, from Stratton Common towards Frome, passing through Coleford and Vobster.<ref name=hadfield93>{{harvnb |Hadfield |1967 |p=93}}</ref> The works included the three-arched [[Murtry Aqueduct]] over the [[Mells River]] in [[Vallis Vale]], near [[Hapsford, Somerset|Hapsford]],<ref name=murtry>{{NHLE |num=1174214 |desc=Murtry Aqueduct |access-date=25 November 2006}} </ref> a larger aqueduct at [[Coleford, Somerset|Coleford]], and a tunnel at Goodeaves Farm, which was not completed.<ref name=hadfield93/>

Both the main line and the branch involved significant changes in level, and the act of Parliament had specified that conventional locks would be used on the main line, but that "caissons" would be used on the branch, which rose by 264&nbsp;ft (80.5m) over its length. The idea of using vertical boat lifts was proposed by [[James Fussell IV|James Fussell]],<ref>{{harvnb |Atthill |1964}}</ref> owner of the nearby [[Mells, Somerset|Mells]] [[Old Iron Works, Mells|ironworks]], and his particular design, known as a [[balance lock]], was patented in 1798. It consisted of two tanks, joined by chains which passed over large wheels. Boats entered one or both of the caissons, which each had an extra chamber below the main caisson, and the chamber of the top caisson was filled with water to provide the extra weight needed to cause the lift to operate. Although different in detail to those later used successfully on the [[Grand Western Canal]], it was essentially very similar.<ref>{{harvnb |Hadfield |1967 |pp=93–94}}</ref>

Fussell built the first boat lift at Barrow Hill. It was designed to take 10-ton boats, lifting them by {{convert|20|ft|m}}, and was tested during September and October 1800.<ref name=hadfield94>{{harvnb |Hadfield |1967 |p=94}}</ref> It was formally demonstrated on 13 October 1800,<ref>{{harvnb |Toulson |1984}}</ref> and the ''Bath Chronicle'' carried a glowing report 3 days later.<ref>''Bath Chronicle'', 16 October 1800, cited in {{harvnb |Hadfield |1967 |p=94}}</ref>

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Dorset and Somerset Canal Act 1803
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for enabling the Company of Proprietors of the Dorset and Somerset Canal Navigation to raise a further Sum of Money towards completing the said Canal, and for altering and amending an Act passed in the thirty-sixth Year of the Reign of his present Majesty, for making and maintaining the said Navigation.
| year                  = 1803
| citation              = [[43 Geo. 3]]. c. cviii
| territorial_extent    = [[Great Britain]]
| royal_assent          = 4 July 1803
| commencement          = 4 July 1803{{efn|name=aopca}}
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = [[Dorset and Wiltshire Canal Act 1796]]
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = Current
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Geo3/43/108/contents/enacted
| collapsed             = yes
}}
Five more lifts were to be built on the Barrow Hill section, and works started on the pits for four of them, but the company ran out of money in 1802, with {{convert|1.7|mi|km}} of canal still to be excavated and the boat lifts unfinished. Having consulted an engineer called Underhill, the company obtained a second act of Parliament, the '''{{visible anchor|Dorset and Somerset Canal Act 1803}}''' ([[43 Geo. 3]]. c. cviii), to allow them to raise more money and to build railways instead of the canal if this would reduce the cost, but they were unable to raise any more finance.<ref name=hadfield94/> Construction ceased in 1803, and the canal was never completed.<ref>{{harvnb |Dunning |1983}}</ref>

==Today==
Several features are still visible including a bridge that once carried the Edford to Stratton Common road over the canal<ref>{{NHLE |num=1058683 |desc=Former canal bridge at NGR ST 6687 4880 |access-date=18 April 2011}}</ref> and an aqueduct at [[Coleford, Somerset|Coleford]], with two semi-circular arches nearly {{convert|33|ft|m}} across and a similar height.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1175761 |desc=Former aqueduct at NGR ST68474874 |access-date=11 November 2006}}</ref> The boat lift at Barrow Hill was the site of archaeological excavations in 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/15567 |publisher=Somerset Historic Environment Record |title=Fussell balance lock trial site, Mells}}<!-- web.archive.org archives a blank page--> </ref> The three-arched aqueduct over the River Mells at Murtry Bottom still has some {{convert|56|ft|m}} of retaining wall attached to it.<ref name=murtry/> A project to consider how best to conserve it has been aided by a grant from the Somerset Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rtjhomepages.users.btopenworld.com/hanson.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527201647/http://rtjhomepages.users.btopenworld.com/hanson.html |archive-date=27 May 2011 |url-status=dead |title=Details of Murtry Aqueduct }}</ref>

{{GeoGroup}}
{{PoIgb start|type=collapsed}}
{{PoIgb|Western end|51.237|-2.481|ST665487|}}
{{PoIgb|Edford Bridge|51.239|-2.476|ST668489|}}
{{PoIgb|Coleford Aqueduct|51.238|-2.452|ST685488|}}
{{PoIgb|Vobster Bridge|51.243|-2.420|ST707494|}}
{{PoIgb|Conduit Bridge|51.254|-2.387|ST730506|}}
{{PoIgb|Trial balance lock|51.249|-2.373|ST740500|}}
{{PoIgb|Murtry Aqueduct|51.247|-2.342|ST762498|}}
{{PoIgb|Whatcombe Wall|51.243|-2.329|ST771494|}}
{{PoIgb end}}

==See also==
{{Portal|United Kingdom|Transport}}
*[[Canals of Great Britain]]
*[[History of the British canal system]]
*[[James Fussell IV]], canal promoter

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{Refbegin}}
*{{cite book
  |first=Robin |last=Atthill
  |title=Old Mendip
  |year=1964
  |publisher=David and Charles
  |location=Newton Abbott
  |isbn=978-0-7153-5171-0
  }}
*{{cite book
  |first=Robert |last=Dunning
  |title=A History of Somerset
  |year=1983
  |publisher=Phillimore & Co
  |location=Chichester
  |isbn=978-0-85033-461-6
  }}
*{{cite book
  |title=The Canals of South West England
  |first=Charles |last=Hadfield
  |year=1967
  |publisher=David and Charles
  |isbn=978-0-7153-4176-6
  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HpcvAQAAIAAJ
  }}
*{{cite book
  |first=Shirley |last=Toulson
  |title=The Mendip Hills: A Threatened Landscape
  |year=1984
  |publisher=Victor Gollancz
  |location=London
  |isbn=978-0-575-03453-2
  }}
*{{cite book
  |first=Kenneth |last=Clew
  |title=The Dorset & Somerset Canal
  |year=1971
  |publisher=David and Charles
  |location=Newton Abbot
  |isbn=978-0-7153-5228-1
  }}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}
* {{Official website}}
* [http://rtjstevens.co.uk/dscanal.html Brief history and maps] – Richard Stevens
* [http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/23312 Site description] – Somerset Historic Environment Record

{{Unnavigable Canals of the United Kingdom}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorset And Somerset Canal}}
[[Category:Canals in England]]
[[Category:Canals in Somerset]]
[[Category:History of Somerset]]