Grand Union Canal (old) - History

History

In 1793, an Act was passed for the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal: this was intended to link the Soar Navigation near Leicester to the River Nene near Northampton, and thus to the Grand Junction Canal via the latter's Northampton Arm. The Leicestershire and Northampton union reached the village of Debdale by 1797, but in doing so had used up all of its money. James Barnes, an engineer working on the Grand Junction Canal, was asked in 1799 to find a route for the canal to reach the Grand Junction at Braunston. In 1802, he produced a revised proposal, to route the rest of the canal to Norton on the Grand Junction, with a branch to Market Harborough. Thomas Telford was then asked for his opinion, and he also proposed a change of destination to Norton, but via the town of Market Harborough. This was agreed upon, but by 1809, the canal had reached only Market Harborough, where construction came to an end again.

The Grand Junction Canal Company were concerned about these delays to the opening of the important route to the east Midlands, which would bring traffic onto their canal from the River Trent and the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire coalfields. They requested James Barnes and Thomas Telford to revisit the question of route once again, and they developed a plan for a canal to link the part of the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal which had been built with the Grand Junction Canal, which had been fully open since 1805.

Experience on the Grand Junction showed that broad boats caused delays as they could not pass in the tunnels, and so the Grand Junction was happy for the new canal to be built with only narrow locks, but with broad tunnels and bridges to allow passing of boats.

With the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire route unfinished, a Bill was put to Parliament to authorise a new canal, known as the Grand Union Canal, from the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal at Foxton, to Norton on the Grand Junction Canal. The Act received Royal Assent on 24 May 1810, entitled "An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Canal from the Union Canal, in the parish of Gumley, in the county of Leicester, to join the Grand Junction Canal near Buckby, in the county of Northampton; and for making a collateral Cut from the said intended Canal". The company had an authorised capital of £245,000, and powers to raise a further £50,000 if this proved necessary. Benjamin Bevan was employed as the engineer and construction began at Foxton.

The terrain to be crossed was problematic for the canal engineers, as demonstrated by the several proposals made for routes. The core of the problem was the lack of river valleys or other obvious routes to take. The undulating countryside meant that the chosen route needed many twists and turns to maintain a level. However, the route does not keep as strictly to contours as the early canals of James Brindley did; the worst potential diversions were avoided by cuttings, embankments, and two significant tunnels, one of 1,528 yards (1,397 m) at Crick and another of 1,166 yards (1,066 m) at Husbands Bosworth, both of which were wide enough for narrowboats to pass.

From the junction with the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal, at Foxton, the new canal immediately climbed through the ten Foxton Locks, to its 22-mile (35 km) summit level. By late 1812, the Foxton flight was completed, and the canal to the eastern portal of Husbands Bosworth Tunnel was opened. The tunnel was completed by May of the following year, opening up 10 miles (16 km) of the main line. In addition, around 1 mile (1.6 km) of the branch to Welford was opened at this time. Further west, problems were encountered at Crick, where the rocks were unsuitable for tunnelling, and quicksands were found. A new route to the east of the village was authorised, and cost an extra £7,000. At Watford, the canal descended through the seven Watford Locks to the same height as the summit of the Grand Junction Canal, allowing a level junction with it at Long Buckby (Norton Junction). To avoid a deep cutting and a short tunnel at Watford, the company eventually agreed to buy the land they needed from a Mrs Bennett, despite the cost of £2,000 plus £125 per acre (£312 per ha). She drove a hard bargain, insisting that she be allowed to keep a pleasure boat on the summit level, and that she should appoint the Watford lock keeper, to ensure that he would always be civil to her and her tenants, and would protect her property from damage by boatmen. The company agreed, providing that the lock keeper was suitably qualified.

The main line of the canal was completed in 1814, and opened on the 9 August. The 1.6-mile (2.6 km) Welford, Northamptonshire|Welford Arm, which was essentially a navigable feeder, since it connected to the reservoirs which provided the water supply, was not completed until November. The total cost of the project was around £292,000, which rose by another £13,500 the following year. The main line was 23.2 miles (37.3 km) long, with a level pound of 20.5 miles (33.0 km) between the locks at Foxton and those at Watford. The opening of the Grand Union Canal provided an additional source of water for the northern summit level of the Grand Junction Canal.