The Trent & Mersey Canal

Plans had been made for a canal to join the Rivers Trent and Mersey as early as 1755, and rough surveys had been undertaken. In 1758 James Brindley made a survey for a canal from Stoke-on-Trent to Wilden Ferry, River Trent, for Earl Gower, Lord Anson and Thomas Broade.

Royal Assent for the Grand Trunk Canal (Trent & Mersey), was given by Act of Parliament in 1766. Work on the Trent and Mersey Canal commenced on July 26^th 1766 at Brownhills near Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent. Wedgwood himself dug the first spadeful to inaugurate the construction, and this was done in the presence of Brindley the engineer, and 'many respectable persons of the neighbourhood, who each cut a sod to felicitate the work'. (J. Ward 'Borough of Stoke-on-Trent'). Wedgwood was also Treasurer of the project (at nought Pounds per annum), and one of the number of the 'Company of Proprietors of the Navigation from the Trent to the Mersey'. Others included the Duke of Bridgewater, Earl Gower, Thomas Anson, Matthew Boulton, and other land-owners, merchants and manufacturers.

Various finds were made during the excavation of the Canal - these included large amounts of surface coal, and also various fossils, which were particularly prolific on the north side of the Harecastle Tunnel. Long delays were experienced in the cutting of this tunnel - eventually, it was to become an engineering masterpiece being some 2880 yards in length, and taking eleven years from 1766 to 1777 to complete. In the 'History of Inland Navigation' it was called the 'eighth wonder of the world'.

Unfortunately, Brindley died on 27^th September 1772 of diabetes and the completion of the scheme was undertaken by his brother-in-law, Hugh Henshall, under whose direction the Canal was completed in May 1777.

Further features of the Canal included four additional tunnels to help maintain the constancy of the level of the water, various major aqueducts transporting the Canal over rivers such as the Dove, Dane and Trent, and a number of lesser aqueducts numbering 160. There were in total 109 cart bridges, 11 foot bridges, and last but not least from the Canal's highest point at Etruria (408 feet above sea-level), the Canal descends to the Mersey by way of 35 locks, and to the Trent river by 40 locks.

In a letter to R L Edgeworth dated February 13^th 1786, Josiah Wedgwood I remarked about the success of the venture in the following words - 'I cannot give you any satisfactory account of the price of cutting our canal per mile. The whole length of the canal is 94 miles and it has cost to complete it near £300,000, but I suppose the mere cutting of a mile of our canal would not cost more than 700 or 800 pounds.' However, the reduction in transportation costs more than compensated for the initial outlay as transportation fees were effectively reduced from 10 pence to 1ž pence per mile per ton for raw materials.

Chronology of the Trent & Mersey Canal

(taken from a profile by Harry Arnold with acknowledgements to 'Waterways World'

1758	Original survey by James Brindley for a canal from Stoke-on-Trent to Wilden Ferry, river Trent, for Earl Gower, Lord Anson and Thomas Broade

1761	John Smeaton reviews Brindley's scheme and suggests that 'it could be continued to the Weaver'.

1765	The year when campaigning by Josiah Wedgwood, Thomas Bentley, Erasmus Darwin and other prominent men results in the publication of a plan for a 76 mile canal from Wilden Ferry to Frodsham Bridge on the Weaver, with a branch via Lichfield to Birmingham. On 30^th December the vital meeting of landowners and businessmen is held at Wolseley Bridge, near Rugely, at which Brindley presents his plans and an estimate for £100,000. From this meeting an application to Parliament is authorised and subscriptions opened.

1766	The Bill for the Trent & Mersey Canal is presented to Parliament on 18^th February and authorised on 14^th May. The first sod was cut on 26^th July and work commenced.

1770	The Canal opened from Derwent Mouth to Shugborough by 24^th June. A new Act of Parliament to raise a further £70,000 is passed.

1771	The Canal is opened to Stone.

1772	Brindley dies on 27^th September. His brother-in-law, Hugh Henshall, takes over as engineer. The canal is opened to Stoke-on-Trent.

1775	The Canal is opened from the South through Harecastle, and from Sandbach to Middlewich by 26^th September. At the northern end, Preston Brook Tunnel is completed by February. Another Act of Parliament is passed to raise a further £70,000.

1776	An Act of Parliament passed authorising a branch canal 17 and a quarter miles long from Stoke to Froghall - the Cauldon Branch.

1777	The final difficult section in the Weaver Valley, including Saltersford and Barton Tunnels, is completed and the canal is finally opened throughout in May. The final cost for the main line is around £300,000.