Origins
The tunnel was 2,966 yard (2712m) long, 9 ft (2.7 m) wide at water level, and 8 ft (2.4 m) from water to soffit (depending on the water level). At the time of building it was the third longest canal tunnel in the World after Sapperton and Dudley. Thirty-three shafts were sunk during construction with the workings dewatered using a Woodhouse steam engine. Water was provided for the Cromford Canal from the 50-acre (200,000 m2) Butterley Reservoir situated on the hill above the tunnel. The Butterley Reservoir is itself crossed by a stone railway embankment currently used by the locomotives of the Midland Railway - Butterley's preserved steam railway. Water flowed from the reservoir directly into the tunnel via an adit 600 yards (550 m) along the tunnel from the Western Portal. Above the Eastern portal the Butterley Park Reservoir once provided water to the canal. This Reservoir was filled in during 1935. Both the tunnel and reservoirs were constructed by the Butterley Company, formed in 1790 by Benjamin Outram (1764–1805) and Francis Beresford (died 1801) with William Jessop (1745–1814) and John Wright (1758–1840) joining by 1793.
There is no towpath within the tunnel, which was for the most part only 9 feet (2.7 m) wide, therefore narrow boats were propelled through the tunnel using the muscle power of the narrow boat's crew. This process is called legging. (The external link listed below shows men legging It through Butterley Tunnel.)
The sign illustrated (left) was displayed at both ends of the tunnel, and stressed the importance of only using the tunnel in any one direction at particular times. There are reported instances of fines levied for non-compliance with these rules.
Read more about this topic: Butterley Tunnel
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