Grand Western Canal

Last Updated on Monday, 04 January 2010 18:10 Wednesday, 30 December 2009 12:09

Total length built 11 miles in Devon, 13_ miles in Somerset

Act of Parliament 1796 Surveyors – John Rennie
Completed in Devon 1814 & Engineers - James Green
Completed in Somerset 1838 Somerset Section
Abandoned and closed 1867

Planned as a Channel-to-Channel waterway from Topsham, near Exeter to Taunton with connection with the Tone Navigation at French Weir.
In Devon, only the broad branch canal to Tiverton was built at the summit level when the funds ran out, largely due to inflation as a result of the Napoleonic Wars and difficult ground conditions. The later Tub boat section in Somerset was completed in 1838 connecting with the River Tone and the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal at Firepool.

The Somerset section, built for boats 22 ft x 6 ft 6 ins incorporated seven boat lifts and one inclined plane. The boat lifts were the first to operate under commercial working conditions anywhere in the world, and after initial teething problems gave satisfactory service for nearly 30 years until closed by the Bristol and Exeter Railway Company to ensure that the competition was removed.

The Waterway Today – Much of the Somerset line is discernible on the ground and a public footpath follows the route from the Devon border to beyond Nynehead and then runs near to the former canal for much of the way to Taunton. The remains of the structures are easy to find and the aqueducts and lift site at Nynehead are especially important for their ease of access, comparatively complete condition and historic significance.

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