Dorset and Somerset Canal

Wednesday, 30 December 2009 12:04

Total length built Approx 8 miles

Act of Parliament 1796
Date opened for navigation Not completed, never opened

Proposed to link Kennet & Avon Canal at Limpley Stoke via Frome, Wincanton and Sturminster Newton with the south coast at Poole, with a branch from Frome to collieries at Nettlebridge. Only a section of the branch was built, but of particular interest was the proposal, by James Fussell, a local ironmaster of Mells, to replace locks with boat lifts. When the canal had been completed these lifts would have predated those built on the Grand Western Canal by some 30 years. The branch never carried cargo, but an aqueduct, a bridge and parts of the line are still to be found, including the “Roman Wall” in Frome!

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