Liskeard and Looe Union Canal - History

History

The idea for a canal to Liskeard was first investigated in 1777 when Edmund Leach and a gentleman from Liskeard proposed a manure canal, which would be used to transport lime and sand upwards from Looe. These commodities were at the time transported by pack horse. Leach's canal would run between Bank Mill Bridge, which was some 2.5 miles (4.0 km) from Liskeard, and Sandplace, 2 miles (3.2 km) to the north of Looe. Although the termini were only about 8 miles (13 km) apart by river, the canal would be 15 miles (24 km) long, and incorporate two inclined planes to cope with the difference in levels. The project was estimated to cost £17,495, which would be recouped in seven years, based on expected income, but no further action was taken at the time.

In 1823, following a meeting held in East Looe to discuss the way forward, a committee was formed, and the engineer James Green was asked to examine options for a canal, a railway or a turnpike road to link Looe to Liskeard. While he thought that all three were possible, he suggested that the valley was too steep to allow a conventional canal with locks to be economic, and he therefore proposed a tub-boat canal, suitable for four-ton boats, which would use two inclined planes on the upper section, rather than locks. The lower section, from Sandplace to Looe, would use locks and be larger, so that barges used on the river could bring limestone to some proposed limekilns. Green thought the tub-boats could be worked in trains of up to ten, and the cost of construction would be £14,000.

The decision was taken to present a bill to Parliament, for which Green produced the plans, but after his departure, the proposers had second thoughts, asked Robert Coad, Thomas Esterbrook and John Edgcumbe, an engineer from Liskeard, to survey a route for a locked canal, and obtained an Act of Parliament to authorise it on 22 June 1825. The Act created the Liskeard and Looe Union Canal Company, who could raise £13,000 by issuing shares, and borrow another £10,000 on mortgage if required. In addition to a canal from Terras Pill, near Looe, to Moorswater, near Liskeard, they could also build roads to connect to the canal. Water to supply the canal could be taken from the River Looe and the Crylla Rivulet, but because this fed into the River Fowey, the mayor and corporation of Lostwithel had the right to appoint an additional engineer, to ensure that their interests were not harmed.

By the time the Act was obtained, 134 shareholders had promised to subscribe to 420 shares, raising £10,500 of the total. There had been some opposition to the plans, as the job of obtaining the Act was described as an "arduous struggle" at the first meeting of the shareholders, and Peter Glubb, the Clerk, was praised for his work, which had been largely responsible for its success. Work on building the canal began with Robert Coad as the engineer and Robert Retallick as Superintendent of Works. It seems that neither man had much experience of such projects, as there was a suggestion in 1826 that a "properly qualified" engineer should be asked to assess the work done so far, and whether the two men should be allowed to proceed without further assistance, but the motion did not have general support, and so work continued.

Part of the canal opened for traffic in August 1827, and it was completed in March 1828. It rose through 156 feet (48 m) over its length of 5.9 miles (9.5 km). The cost, which included a road between Moorswater and Liskeard, and the payment of £600 in compensation to a landowner, only came to £17,200, and enabled the company to be profitable from the beginning. A dividend of 6 per cent was paid in 1829, and 5 per cent thereafter. During the construction, the company operated a health insurance scheme for the labourers, with each worker contributing six pence (2.5p) per month, which was used to pay Mr. Robert Rean, an apothecary and surgeon from East Looe, for his services. The plans for the canal showed that 25 locks would be used to raise the canal as it proceeded up the valley, with the first one, where the canal joined the River Looe, being larger than the rest, but a report produced in 1836 clearly shows that only 24 were built. Having crossed the river to the west bank below Landreast, the canal should have continued on that bank to reach West Looe, but there were problems with obtaining land from a Mr. Eliot, and so the route re-crossed the river and ran through land provided by John Buller, at no cost to the company.

Initially the southbound traffic was mainly agricultural produce while the northbound traffic included fertilizer, lime and coal.

In the 1840s the growth of mining on Caradon Hill, north of Moorswater, led to increased southbound mineral traffic.

The ores, mostly of copper, tin and lead were brought from Caradon Hill to Moorswater by packhorse and then loaded on to barges.