Sleaford Navigation - Course

Course

The upper terminus of the canal was at Navigation Yard, near Sleaford town centre. Navigation House, the former residence of the clerk, is now a Grade II listed building, and has been refurbished. It houses an interpretation centre where visitors can learn of the history of the canal. The River Slea between Navigation Yard and Bone Mill lock is owned by the Canal Trust. A short distance below the terminus, a new steel lift bridge crosses the canal, after which a stream leaves the east bank. This is the old course of the river, which rejoins the canal below Cobblers lock. The first lock is 0.6 miles (0.97 km) from Sleaford, and allowed boats to pass Coggesford Mill, an 18th century watermill which has been restored, and is still used to grind flour. It is managed by North Kesteven District Council. The railway line from Lincoln to Spalding crosses next, after which Dyers Mill or Bone Mill lock is reached, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from Sleaford and overshadowed by the A17 Sleaford bypass bridge.

Corn Mill lock is situated 2.4 miles (3.9 km) from Sleaford, and the buildings of Holdingham Mill are Grade II listed. They include a small octagonal toll house, which was used by the lock keeper. Next is Paper Mill lock, after which the canal follows a more easterly direction, to reach Haverholme lock after 3.5 miles (5.6 km). Nearby was Haverholme Priory, founded by Gilbertine priors in 1139. The Grade II listed ruins are of a much later date, being part of a Tudor style country house built in 1835 by H. E. Kendall. The bridge over the canal, built in 1893, is also Grade II listed. At 4.7 miles (7.6 km), Cobblers lock is reached, which has been the limit of navigation since 1986. Just beyond it, there is a pumping station on the south bank and the canal make a right-angle bend, to skirt Ewerby Waithe Common, after which there is another right angle bend by Ferry Farm, where Ferry Bridge now carries Ferry Lane over the canal. After a short distance, there is a bend called Heckington Tunnel, where a section of the Car Dyke, a Roman waterway which ran for 85 miles (137 km), heads off in a southerly direction, with the Midfodder Drain running parallel to it.

Somewhere here, the name of the river changes from the Slea to the Kyme Eau. The village of South Kyme follows, with its four-storey fortified tower, built in the 14th century for Sir Gilbert d'Umframville. It is 77 feet (23 m) high, and was surrounded by a moat. Two road bridges and a footbridge cross the navigation in the village. Damford Grounds, a low-lying area of fenland, lies to the north of the village, and Damford Drain, the main drainage ditch, is pumped into the river by a pumping station on the west bank. After passing Terry Booth Farm on the east bank, the 18th century buildings of which are Grade II listed, and a farm with the same name on the west bank, Lower Kyme lock is reached, 10.6 miles (17.1 km) from Sleaford. The Twenty Foot Drain and its pumping station join the river as it makes another sharp turn to the east, to reach a set of flood doors and Chapel Hill bridge, beyond which is the River Witham, flowing south-east to Boston.