Sir Nigel Gresley's Canal (also known later in its life as Robert Heathcote's Canal) was a 3-mile (4.8 km) private canal between Apedale and Newcastle-under-Lyme both in Staffordshire, England.[1]
History
edit| Sir Nigel Gresley's Canal Act 1775 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to enable Sir Nigel Gresley Baronet, and Nigel Bowyer Gresley Esquire, his Son, to make and maintain a navigable Cut or Canal, from certain Coal Mines in Apedale, to Newcastle under Lyne, in the County of Stafford. |
| Citation | 15 Geo. 3. c. 16 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 13 April 1775 |
The canal was used to transport coal from Sir Nigel Gresley's mines.[1] It opened in 1776 after being approved by an act of Parliament, the Sir Nigel Gresley's Canal Act 1775 (15 Geo. 3. c. 16), in 1775.[2] The act placed controls on the price at which coal transported via the canal to Newcastle could be sold for the following 42 years.[3] The canal was transferred to the ownership of Robert Edensor Heathcote in 1827.[4] It closed around 1857.[5]
| Newcastle-under-Lyme Canal and Sir Nigel Bowyer Gresley's Canal Junction Act 1798 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
| | |
| Long title | An act for making and maintaining a navigable canal, or canal and inclined plane or railway, from and out of the Newcastle-under-Lyme canal to the canal of sir Nigel Bowyer Gresley baronet, near the town of Newcastle-under-Lyme and also another branch of canal, or inclined plane or railway, from and out of the said last mentioned canal, at or near Apedale, to certain coal and other works, all in the county of Stafford. |
| Citation | 38 Geo. 3. c. xxix |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 26 May 1798 |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The canal joined the Newcastle-under-Lyme Junction Canal at a mill in Cross Heath, a site now occupied by a motorbike shop in Swift House on the A34 Liverpool Road. It then ran northwest to Milehouse, Chesterton and the Apedale mines. The Junction Canal was planned in turn to connect to the Newcastle-under-Lyme Canal via an inclined plane, but although approved in the Newcastle-under-Lyme Canal and Sir Nigel Bowyer Gresley's Canal Junction Act 1798 this was not built due to lack of money, thus the Sir Nigel Gresley's Canal remained severed from the main inland network and the Junction Canal became no more than an extension of the Gresley's Canal.[6]
See also
edit
Bibliography
edit- Hadfield, Charles (1985). The Canals of The West Midlands (3rd ed.). Hewton Abbot, Devon: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-8644-1.
- Priestley, Joseph (1831). "Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals and Railways of Great Britain".
References
edit- ^ a b Priestley 1831, pp. 324–325
- ^ Hadfield 1985, p. 324
- ^ Hadfield 1985, p. 40
- ^ Hadfield 1985, p. 209
- ^ "Sir Nigel Gresley's Canal". Jim Shead. Retrieved 6 May 2007.
- ^ "Newcastle Under Lyme Junction Canal Route".
External links
edit- "Tracing a canal via blackberries" - exploring the route in 2008
53°1′19″N 2°14′2.2″W / 53.02194°N 2.233944°W
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