Exeter Ship Canal

At the start of Exeter's history, the River Exe was tidal and navigable up to the city walls enabling it to be a busy port. In the 1270s or 1280s, the Countess of Devon, Isabella de Fortibus, built a weir across the river to power her mills (this weir is remembered in the name of the nearby suburb Countess Wear).^[3] This had the effect of cutting off Exeter's port from the sea and damaging its salmon fisheries. In 1290, trade with Exeter's port was restored, only to be blocked by a new weir built in 1317 by Hugh de Courtenay, 9th Earl of Devon (Isabella's cousin), who also built a quay at Topsham.^[3] Because of the blockages on the river, boats were forced to unload at Topsham and the earls were able to exact large tolls to transport goods to Exeter.^[4] For the next 250 years the city petitioned the King to have the waterway reopened, to no avail, until 1550 when Edward VI finally granted permission. However, it was by then too late because the river channel had silted up.^[3]

In 1563, Exeter traders employed John Trew of Glamorgan to build a canal to bypass the weirs and rejoin the River Exe in the centre of the city where a quay would be built. Work began in February 1564, and was completed in Autumn 1566^[5] or early 1567.^[6] The canal had three locks with vertical gates – the first pound locks to be built in Britain. They accommodated boats up to 16 tonnes.^[7] The original cut was 3 feet (0.91 m) deep and 16 feet (4.9 m) wide (0.9 m by 5 m). It ran for three and a quarter miles (5.2 km) from just below the Countess Weir to the centre of Exeter. This navigation was not very effective; it could not be entered at all states of the tide, and the double transfer of cargo over such a short distance made it uncompetitive with road transport.^[8]

The weir that maintains the water level in the quay is named "Trew's Weir" after the canal's builder. When built, it replaced St Leonard's Weir, and as well as maintaing the water level, it also provided a water source for a fulling mill, a cotton mill and a paper mill. The city council considered the weir as a site for a hydro-electric generating station in 1899, as their existing station needed to be replaced, due to the impending introduction of electric trams. However, this option was not pursued, and a new steam-powered station was built at Haven Banks, near the head of the canal basin.^[9]^[10]

In 1677 the canal was extended and the entrance was moved downstream towards Topsham, to avoid a difficult stretch of the river. The entrance was made larger, while a basin for transhipment of goods was provided nearby. The new entrance had a single pair of gates, was called Trenchard's Sluice, and could accommodate barges of 60 tons. As part of the upgrade a quay built of stone and a new weir were constructed at Exeter.^[11] Further enlargement was approved in 1698, when William Bayley was employed to create a canal with a draught of 14 feet (4.3 m) to enable seagoing craft to use it. Bayley absconded with much of the money in 1699, leaving the canal unusable. The Council decided to carry out the work themselves, and were assisted by a large number of volunteers, both men and women, from the town. In 1701 the canal was re-opened. They had created a canal which was 50 feet (15 m) wide and 10 feet (3.0 m) deep, which could be used by ships of up to 150 tons. The three locks were replaced by a single large lock, which could be used as a passing place. Floodgates were fitted where the canal re-entered the Exe at Exeter. The entrance to the canal still only had a single pair of gates, and large ships could only use it at spring tides.^[12]

These improvements led to the canal being successful. The number of boats using it was 310 per year between 1715 and 1724, but this had increased to 479 in 1750/51. In 1795/96 448 boats used the canal, consisting of 158 sea-going ships and 290 lighters. Receipts which had been £747 per year in the 1750s had risen to £2,335 by the 1790s and to £3,221 by the 1810s.^[13]

There were complaints by users of the canal, and the engineer James Green was asked to assess what could be done. In 1820 he was asked to implement his plans, dredging the canal, making it straighter, and repairing the lock. He completed the work in 1821, and in 1824 suggested that the canal should be extended to Turf, 2 miles (3.2 km) nearer to the sea, where there was room for a better entrance. Ships needing 12 feet (3.7 m) of water could reach that point at all states of the tide. Work began in 1825. While it was ongoing, the banks along the canal were raised, so that ships drawing 14 feet (4.3 m) could use it, and a new basin was built at Exeter, avoiding the need to make the river deeper where ships re-entered the river to reach the quay. The enlarged canal opened on 14 September 1827, with the basin following on 30 September 1830. The old entrance was closed, but a new side lock at Topsham was finished in 1832.^[14] Receipts improved, from £6,253 in 1830/31 to £8,550 in 1842/42, although there was some criticism that this had been achieved by raising the tolls and other charges.^[15]

There were many notable failures to connect Exeter and the South West to the national canal and rail networks: The Grand Western Canal linking Exeter to Bristol (1796) was never completed; the Bristol & Exeter Railway link to the canal basin was postponed in 1832 and 1844; the South Devon Railway ran services to the canal from 1867, but by this time the canal was too small to attract the sizeable ocean-going vessels and the canal was taken over by its creditors for sixteen years. Use of the canal declined with the end of the wool trade in the early 19th century and later with the rise of the railways.

20th century

In 1939 the canal was still carrying some 63,000 tons of material annually, and after the war it was still seen as a useful means of transporting goods to and from its basin at Haven Banks, opposite Exeter Quay. Planning for the city after The Blitz recommended that Turf Lock, the canal's junction with the estuary be deepened and enlarged to allow ships of 600 tons to pass.^[16]

In May 1944 the Countess Weir Road bridge (present day A379) was used in rehearsals for the D-Day attack on the 'Canal de Caen' (Pegasus Bridge) and the River Orne (Horsa Bridge), by the Second Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. A plaque acknowledging this is sited on the south side of the bridges on the east bank.^[17]

One of the last regular commercial uses of the canal was the tanker Esso Jersey, which served the Esso oil terminal. The ship was known as the Kieler from 1977, and was scrapped in 1984.^[18] It was the largest ship to use the canal, and delivered a final load of 244 tons of petrol in July 1971. Commercial traffic ceased after a coaster unloaded a cargo of timber in December 1973.^[19] However, the ship Countess Weir continued to use the canal. It had been built in 1963 as a sludge carrier, and was used to take sewage sludge from the Exeter sewage works out to sea, where it was dumped. It was originally named SW2, but became the Countess Weir in 1974. It was operated by the city council, who owned the treatment works, and had to be modified slightly in 1975, as it would not fit under the newly constructed M5 motorway bridge. Ownership of the treatment works and the vessel passed to South West Water when the water industry was privatised in 1989, and dumping of sludge at sea ceased on 31 December 1998. The ship made a ceremonial visit to the canal in January 1999, after which it was sold.^[20]

The fall of commercial traffic in the 1960s coincided with the rise of leisure use of the canal. In the 1970s, the basin provided the backdrop for the filming of quayside activity in the historical drama The Onedin Line, even though the series was supposed to be set in Liverpool.^[21] In 2002 the future of the canal looked brighter when the city basin was included in a £24 million redevelopment scheme by Exeter Quay Developments, a consortium led by the construction company McAlpine.^[22] The quay area retains a mix of Georgian and Victorian buildings, repurposed for modern use, including the custom house which dates from 1681. The basin has seen a lot of redevelopment, including residential buildings in a mock warehouse style, with the older buildings finding new uses as antique shops, cafes, restaurants and studios. The canal basin itself is popular for a range of water sports, including canoeing, rowing and kayaking.^[23]

Throughout the year the Butts Ferry, a small hand powered passenger ferry, operates across the river by Exeter quay and canal basin during the day, though there is a footbridge close at hand. A ferry has been operating here since at least 1641.^[24]

Exeter Ship Canal

History

20th century

Administration

See also

Bibliography

External links

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