Llangollen Canal - History

History

The grand plan for the Ellesmere Canal was to link the River Mersey with the River Severn. The northward section would begin at Netherpool (now Ellesmere Port) using part of the existing Chester Canal before reaching the River Dee at Chester. The southerly section of the waterway would pass through Overton before heading towards Shrewsbury.

Although work commenced in 1795, the canal was never finished as intended even though major works included two aqueducts at Pontcysyllte and Chirk as well a tunnel. Only the southerly section from Lower Frankton to Weston Lullingfields was completed. The final 9 miles (14 km) to Shrewsbury was never started because of financial problems.

Only a short length of the northern section beyond Trevor Basin was built. It was infilled when the canal company decided not to proceed because of rising costs and resistance from property holders to sell their land. The failure to reach the main water source north of Wrexham prompted the creation of the Llangollen feeder from the Horseshoe Falls. The weir, which created the man-made falls on the River Dee, provided water for this part of the network.

Eventually the Ellesmere canal was completed between Frankton Junction to Ellesmere and Whitchurch in Shropshire, eventually reaching the Chester Canal at Hurleston Junction near Nantwich, Cheshire.

The surviving sections of the Ellesmere Canal became part of the Shropshire Union Canal network in 1846.