Stamford Canal facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Stamford Canal
The remains of Deeping St James High Lock
Specifications
Locks	12
Status	defunct
History
Principal engineer	Daniel Wigmore
Date of act	1571
Date completed	1670
Date closed	1863
Geography
Start point	Stamford
End point	Market Deeping
Connects to	River Welland

The Stamford Canal is a very old canal in England that is no longer used. It opened in 1670. This was about 100 years before the start of the Industrial Revolution. That time was known as the "golden age" for canals in Britain.

You can still see parts of the canal route today. Only one of its locks is still complete. The canal was part of the Welland Navigation in Lincolnshire. Work on the canal was first allowed in 1571 during the time of Elizabeth I. But building didn't start until 1664. The canal was given permission again in 1620 and confirmed by James I.

The canal stretched for about 9.5 miles (15.3 km). It ran from Stamford to Market Deeping. It had 12 locks, which are like water elevators for boats. Two of these locks were on the river section at Deeping St James. We don't have any original plans of how it was built. However, a visiting engineer wrote about one lock in 1699. The canal helped Stamford become richer. It allowed barley to be brought to the town for making malt, which is used in brewing.

There were ideas to connect the Stamford Canal to other waterways. These included the Oakham Canal to the west. There were also plans for links to the South Forty-Foot Drain in the north and the River Nene in the south. These plans were made in 1809 but never happened. The canal closed in 1863. This was soon after the Midland Railway arrived in the area. Stamford Corporation tried to sell the canal after it closed. But there was a disagreement over who owned it, so they couldn't sell it. You can still see some parts of the canal today. These include old warehouses in Stamford and a weir. A weir is a small dam that controlled water levels on the River Gwash. The canal crossed this river.

Building the Stamford Canal

The route of the canal is visible in Uffington Park

The River Welland was one of the first rivers to be improved for boats. An act of Parliament in 1571 allowed this. The goal was to let boats reach Stamford. The law said that Stamford used to be rich because of the river. But mills built between Stamford and Deeping had made the river hard to use for boats. This was because the mills took water away. The law allowed people to fix the river. But it seems no work was done at that time.

However, the idea came back in 1620. Stamford Corporation got permission to dig a new canal. This new waterway would go from Stamford to Market Deeping. It would then rejoin the river. The corporation thought it would cost about £2,000. The law allowed them to charge tolls for using the canal. A toll is a fee you pay to use something. They would charge three pence per lock once the work was finished.

King James I approved this decision in 1623. The corporation hoped to finish the work by 1627. But they couldn't find anyone suitable to build it. Nothing happened until 1664. Then, a man named Daniel Wigmore from Stamford took on the job. He built the canal and 12 locks. This included the High Lock and Low Lock on the river at Deeping St James. It cost him £5,000. In return, he was allowed to collect the tolls for 80 years. He paid a small rent of one shilling (five pence) for this right.

When it opened in 1670, this canal was the longest in the country with locks. It was built about 100 years before the main "canal age." This makes it one of England's earliest canals built after the Romans.

How the Canal Was Built

We don't have any old papers that describe how the canal was designed or built. We also don't know much about its opening. But a report from 1632 said that 600 men worked on changes to the river. So, there were likely enough workers nearby for the canal. Daniel Wigmore probably found workers by putting up notices in local inns. There were no newspapers for advertisements back then.

The work was done using simple tools. Workers used pickaxes, shovels, and wheelbarrows. They dug a ditch, then lined it with blue clay. This clay made the ditch watertight. When people dug for a sewer in 1974 and worked on a rubbish tip in 1979, they found layers of this blue clay. There were also clay pits near Stamford, which were used by pottery makers.

The canal allowed goods to reach Stamford from The Wash. This was about 34 miles (55 km) away. Boats would travel through Spalding and Crowland. The first 24.4 miles (39.3 km) used the River Welland. Then, boats would go through two river locks and weirs at Deeping St James. After Market Deeping, the canal was an artificial cut. It had 10 more locks. This led to the eastern edge of Stamford. From there, it rejoined the river to reach the town wharf. The artificial cut was about 6.5 miles (10.5 km) long. But the total length of the canal is usually given as 9.5 miles (15.3 km). This includes the improved river parts at both ends. Just below Stamford, the canal crossed the River Gwash. There was a weir and a sluice to control the river's water levels. This allowed barges to cross safely.

Life on the Canal

Trade was busy on the canal. In 1673, a writer named Richard Blome noted how well Stamford's malt trade was doing. This trade relied on barley being brought by boat.

When Daniel Wigmore died, his son-in-law, Charles Halford, took over the toll rights. In 1695, he was earning between £400 and £500 each year. Most of this money came from carrying sea coal. About 3,000 chaldrons of coal were carried that year. A chaldron was a large measure of coal. Halford tried to get a tax on sea coal removed, but he didn't succeed. By 1706, he said the tax had reduced the amount of coal carried to only 500 chaldrons.

Besides coal, the canal carried many other things. These included malt, farm goods, groceries, wood, slate, and stone. The boats used on the canal were small lighters. They were about 35 feet (11 m) long and 7 feet (2.1 m) wide. They could carry between seven and fourteen tons of goods. Boats usually traveled in groups of four.

How the Locks Worked

Even though we don't have original plans, a water engineer named Thomas Surbey wrote about the Hudd's Mill lock in 1699. He drew pictures and took notes during his visit. The lock chamber was about 86 feet (26.2 m) long and 11 feet (3.4 m) wide. The gates were hung on stone pillars. But the sides between the pillars were made of earth. The gates were like modern "V" gates. They had paddles to let water in or out. But they didn't have long balance beams. Instead, a chain or rope was tied to the gate and the bank. This would help open the gates, but it's not clear how they were closed. The measurements match other remaining parts of the canal. However, one lock, Briggin's lock, seems shorter at 56 feet (17.1 m). We don't know why it was built shorter or if it was changed later.

The Canal's End

There were ideas to connect the Stamford Canal to other canals. In 1785, when the Melton Mowbray Navigation was being planned, people talked about a link to Oakham. This eventually became the Oakham Canal. In 1809, the idea of a canal from Stamford to Oakham came up again. There were also plans for a link from Stamford to the Nene River at Peterborough. Another idea was a connection from near Market Deeping north to the South Forty-Foot Drain. This would allow boats to reach Boston.

Two plans were put before Parliament in 1811. One was for these connections. The other was for a rival plan to link Stamford to the Grand Junction Canal. This also included a link to the South Forty-Foot Drain. But neither plan succeeded. The idea was brought up again in 1815 and 1828, but nothing more happened.

Why the Canal Closed

When railways arrived, river trade started to decline. The Midland Railway reached Peterborough in 1846. Then, they opened their line through Stamford to Melton Mowbray in 1848. Carrying coal on the canal stopped. This was because railways brought cheaper coal from other parts of the country.

The canal's locks quickly got old and leaky. By April 1863, no boats were using the canal anymore. Stamford Corporation tried to sell the canal. But they couldn't because there was a dispute over who actually owned it.

Since it closed, most of the canal has disappeared. But you can still see some parts on maps and on the ground. The foundations of the two river locks are visible in the Deepings area.

Today, the River Welland can only be used by boats up to Crowland. There are plans for a new waterway link called the Fens Waterways Link. This would connect the river above Crowland to the River Nene. But there are no plans right now to bring boats back to Stamford.

Canal Route Highlights

The Stamford Wharf was the furthest point boats could go up the canal. It was located below Town Bridge in Stamford. There were buildings linked to the canal on both sides of the river. This included a large warehouse next to the bridge. Parts of this warehouse are from 1671 and are now protected as a Grade II listed building.

Barges would follow the river past the old St Leonard's Priory. This priory was built in 1090 by the Benedictine monks. The canal cut began at Hudds Mill, on the north side of the mill. Hudds Mill Lock was almost at the very start of the cut. The canal first flowed east, then turned northeast to cross the River Gwash. It then entered Uffington Park. You can still see the remains of the weir that controlled river levels where the canal crossed. The River Gwash now has less water than it used to. This is because of the Rutland Water reservoir built upstream. The canal's earthworks continue through the park.

The canal's path is just north of the river. A public footpath follows it through Uffington Park. It goes until it reaches the road from Uffington to Barnack. The nearby bridge over the River Welland has three arches and is from the 1600s. The canal bridge has been filled in to protect it.

There were three locks in the countryside along this section. Then the canal reached Tallington. Tallington Village Lock was just north of St Lawrence Church. Parts of this church are from the 1100s to 1400s. During excavations in 1998, remains of bridge supports were found. We don't have details of the bridge, but it was probably a movable bridge. The canal then passed near Tallington Mill, a water mill from around 1700. It then reached Horse Holmes Lock. A railway line crossed this lock. After the canal closed, the railway line was made wider. The lock is thought to be buried under the railway embankment.

The canal then curved around the north side of Horse Marsh. It reached West Deeping, where there was another lock. You can still see parts of this lock. It had stone supports for the gates at both ends, with earth sides between them. It then crossed King Street. An old map from 1810 shows that the road crossed the canal by a ford. A ford is a shallow place where you can cross a river or stream. There was also a footbridge for people to cross without getting wet.

From West Deeping to Market Deeping, the canal was close to the north bank of the river. There were two more locks in the countryside. Another lock was at the western edge of Market Deeping. After this, the canal rejoined the river. The final two locks were on the River Welland itself. These were Briggins Lock in Deeping St James and Low Lock to the southeast of the village.

Points of interest