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The Grantham Canal Although the Grantham Canal is to the south of the southern boundary of Barrowby parish it would nevertheless have brought many advantages to the residents as the wharf at Harlaxton was easy to access, making the transport of goods in and out much cheaper. In the middle of the eighteenth century Grantham's coal supplies were transported from elsewhere in Lincolnshire along the Trent and then by horse-drawn carts. Road haulage was relatively expensive and so coal in Grantham could be twice the price of that in Nottingham. As a result in 1792 a group of local businessmen sought an Act of Parliament to create a canal from Nottingham to Grantham. However this was defeated because if conflicted with the interests of the Witham Navigation Commissioners (concerned about the depletion of water levels) and various Lincolnshire coal merchants. The following year a revised Bill, which had clauses to mitigate these concerns, received Royal Assent. An initial investment of £75,000 was quickly raised, with a £30,000 contingency available if needed. Construction started later the same year, 1793, and was completed in 1797. In the event only £24,000 of the contingency was needed. Starting near Trent Bridge and rising 140 feet through eighteen locks, the distance to Grantham is 33 miles. Reservoirs providing almost all the water were constructed at Denton and Knipton. It is the longest of ten canals engineered by William Jessop in south Nottinghamshire and adjoining counties. Unexpected problems arose at Cropwell Bishop and Cropwell Butler where gypsum in the soil reacted with the waterproof clay lining, resulting in leaks.   The Harlaxton cut. Between Barrowby and Harlaxton a deep 'cut' allows the canal to pass over the Witham-Trent watershed. Most of this cutting is only wide enough for a single vessel, but two passing places were created in 1801. The main cargoes were coal, stone and lime (mostly to help fertilise fields but also used for mortar). Also carried on the barges to help fertilise arable land was 'night soil' – Nottingham's residents created far more waste than the city could dispose of locally until piped sewage was installed. Allowing for time to load and unload – no mechanical aids in those days, just shovels, barrows and carts – it took about five days to go in each direction. Not exactly speedy, but commercially-viable at the time. The canal company was profitable, although not exceptionally so compared to, say, the Soar Navigation in Leicestershire (where in good years the dividend equalled shareholders' original investments). The Grantham canal's best year was 1841 when income peaked at £18,000. But major changes were on the way. In 1850 the Grantham to Nottingham railway opened. Just eleven years later, in 1861, the railway company bought out the canal. The inevitable was delayed until 1936, when a Closure Act was passed, but requiring two feet of water to be maintained for agricultural needs. During the 1950s forty-six of the sixty-nine bridges over the canal were flattened. The A52 around Nottingham has severed the connection to the Trent while the Grantham wharf has been filled in and is now used for commercial premises.   The former wharf in Grantham photographed in February 2022.   The level of the canal was considerably higher than most of the town was at the time it was built. This photograph was taken from the same place as the previous one, but looking east instead of west. The elevation is similar to the railway track. The banks of the canal were at least six feet higher.   To have brought the water level down would have required several locks which would have been impractical. A similar arrangement of somewhat 'out of town' (at least when constructed) wharf on a nearby hill exists at Market Harborough.   The original bridge at Hickling.     The replacement flattened bridge at Hickling, Nottinghamshire.     A more picturesque view of the same bridge. Just because...   In 1963 ownership of the canal passed to British Waterways. Since the 1970s two voluntary groups have done extensive work to restore parts of it. Two stretches are now navigable to small vessels, including a 4.4 mile section nearest Barrowby, after Lincolnshire County Council funded the rebuilding of the overbridge at Casthorpe (completed in 2009). Reportedly the whole length to West Bridgford is navigable by canoe. The towpaths can be walked or cycled for the full length. Sources Wikipedia entry for the Grantham canal Grantham Canal Society towpath walk Redmile to Grantham If you think I've got something wrong – or can add additional information or photographs – then please email me:– bobtrubs@indigogroup.co.uk. Back to top of this page   This website does not gather or store any visitor information. Copyright Bob Trubshaw 2021–2022 No unauthorised copying or reproduction except if all following conditions apply: a: Copy is complete (including this copyright statement). b: No changes are made. c: No charge is made. www.hoap.co.uk/barrowby

what's new? Articles about Barrowby Barrowby's location and geology summary of prehistoric Barrowby summary of Roman Barrowby Anglo-Saxons summary of Anglo-Saxon Barrowby place-names Winnibriggs and Threo Domesday Book eleventh century water mills Kesteven moot site Medieval summary of medieval Barrowby origins of All Saints church moated sites the decline of Casthorpe Newbo Abbey Barrowby's Rectory the Conduit to Grantham Sewstern Lane or The Drift Seventeenth and eighteenth centuries summary of early modern Barrowby Dr Thomas Hurst Sir John Thorold John Manners, the Marquess of Granby Charnwood slates the toll bar Enclosure of Barrowby 1762 village green a.k.a. Stevens Gutter Grantham Canal Nineteenth century summary of nineteenth century Barrowby restoration of the parish church schools Methodist chapels Reading Room windmills pinfold Richard Hornsby nineteenth and twentieth century population Twentieth century summary of twentieth century Barrowby ironstone quarrying two World Wars Memorial Hall Barrowby's Listed buildings Barrowby's modern housing guided walks in and around Barrowby there's more could be said... bibliography index of surnames in Cryer 1979 Articles and web links for nearby places rare seventeenth fonts at Muston, Bottesford and Orston from Project Gargoyle Newsletter 2020 Ironstone quarries of Leicestershire YouTube video Wyville's wells Harston's Anglo-Saxon carvings Bottesford's effigies Grantham Canal Society The Grantham Canal All you need to know – and more – from Wikipedia Croxton Kerrial manor house excavations photos and brief details from Leicester Mercury. By 2021 the remains had been consolidated and there are annual open days. Grantham Archaeology Group Bottesford History Group Grantham Civic Society Grantham Museum Heritage Lincolnshire