Introduction
The Shropshire Union Canal network consists of several canals. The original names of the canals in the network are as follows:
- Birmingham & Liverpool Junction Canal (including the Newport Branch)
- Chester Canal (including the Middlewich Branch)
- Donnington Wood Canal
- Ellesmere Canal
- Ketley Canal
- Montgomeryshire Canal
- Shrewsbury Canal
- Shropshire Canal
- Wombridge Canal.
The Llangollen Canal, the Montgomery Canal and the Shrewsbury and Newport Canal are current names for canals consisting of various sections of the above canals (see below for more details).
Canal opening
In the second half of the 18th century, several tub boat canals were built in the area of what is now Telford: the Donnington Wood Canal opened in 1767; the Wombridge Canal and the Ketley Canal both opened in 1788; the Shropshire Canal opened in 1791; the Shrewsbury Canal was fully open by 1797.
The Chester Canal opened in 1779. It linked the River Dee near Chester to Nantwich. The Middlewich Branch of the Chester Canal opened in 1833 and connected the Chester Canal to the Trent and Mersey Canal.
The Ellesmere Canal was originally intended to link the River Mersey at Ellesmere Port with the River Severn at Shrewsbury. However, it was never completed as intended. The first section linked the River Mersey with the Chester Canal and opened in 1797. Further sections would have linked Chester to Shrewsbury with branches to Llanymynech and Whitchurch. However, the main line was only built between Trevor Basin and Weston Lullingfields. This was completed in 1805. The sections between Chester and Trevor Basin and between Weston Lullingfields and Shrewsbury were not built. The Llanymynech Branch between the main line near Hordley and Carreghfa opened in 1797. The plans for the Whitchurch Branch changed from that originally envisaged. It was constructed between Frankton Junction on the main line to Hurleston Junction on the Chester Canal with an arm to Whitchurch – various sections were opened between 1797 and 1806. At this point, the River Mersey was then linked to Carreghofa via two separate sections of the Ellesmere Canal and the Chester Canal.
As the section of the Ellesmere Canal between Chester and Trevor Basin was never built, the proposed sourcing of water from near Wrexham was not possible. A feeder was therefore constructed from near Trevor Basin to Horseshoe Falls near Llangollen. The feeder was made navigable and opened in 1808.
The Montgomeryshire Canal consisted of two sections: the Eastern Branch from Carreghofa to Garthmyl opened in 1797 and the Western Branch from Garthmyl to Newtown opened in 1819.
The Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal linked Nantwich on the Chester Canal with Autherley on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. There was also a branch, the Newport Branch, from Norbury Junction to the Shrewsbury Canal at Wappenshall Junction. The Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal opened in 1835.
In the 1830s, the section of the Shrewsbury Canal between Wappenshall Junction and Shrewsbury was widened to allow for the passage of narrowboats. At this point, Shrewsbury was connected to the national canal network for the first time.
With the building of the Manchester Ship Canal in the late 1880s and early 1890s, the Ellesmere Canal at Ellesmere Port has been linked to the ship canal rather than the River Mersey.
Canal renaming and merging
In 1813, the Ellesmere Canal and Chester Canal were merged into the Ellesmere and Chester Canal.
The Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal was taken over by the Ellesmere and Chester Canal in 1845.
The Shropshire Union Canal did not take this title until 1846 when all of the canals referred to above were amalgamated and run by the Shropshire Union Railways & Canal Company before being bought out by the London North Western Railway Company.
The section of the Ellesmere Canal between Hurleston Junction and Horseshoe Falls is today known as the Llangollen Canal.
The Eastern Branch, the Western Branch, the Llanymynech Branch and the section of the Ellesmere Canal between Frankton Junction and Hordley together form what is today known as the Montgomery Canal.
The Ellesmere Canal between Hordley and Weston Lullingfields is known as the Weston Branch of the Montgomery Canal.
The route between Autherley and Ellesmere Port is known as the Shropshire Union Main Line.
The Shrewsbury Canal and the Newport Branch are together known as the Shrewsbury and Newport Canal.
The Donnington Wood, Wombridge, Ketley, Shropshire and Shrewsbury canals are collectively known as the Shropshire Tub Boat Canals.
Width of the canals
The Shropshire Union canals all accommodate 7-feet-wide narrowboats with the exception of the following:
- The Shropshire Tub Boat Canals accommodated tub-boats which were approximately 20 feet by 6 feet 4 inches (6.1 metres x 1.9 metres). However, as noted above, the section of the Shrewsbury Canal between Wappenshall Junction and Shrewsbury was widened to allow for the passage of narrowboats.
- The Ellesmere and Chester Canals, but not the Middlewich Branch, accommodated boats of width 14 feet (4.25 metres).
Closure of some canals
The last open sections of the Ketley Canal were abandoned in the 1880s.
The Donnington Wood Canal was abandoned in 1904.
The Wombridge Canal closed in 1921.
The Shropshire Canal, the Shrewsbury Canal and the Newport Branch were formally abandoned in 1944.
The Weston branch suffered a breach in 1917. Being uneconomic to repair, it was mostly closed in 1920 leaving only a short length to Hordley navigable.
A breach on the Montgomery Canal near Perry Aqueduct occurred in 1936. The canal including the Weston Branch was formally closed in 1944.
The Llangollen Canal was formally abandoned in 1944. However, it continued to be used as a water supply from the River Dee to Cheshire serving some industries along the way, the local Water Board and a feed for the Shropshire Union Main Line and navigation by boats was still possible. In 1968, the canal was redesignated as a cruising waterway.
Restoration of closed canals
Several sections of the Montgomery Canal have been restored, see the Restoration page for more details.
Our friends the Shrewsbury and Newport Canal Trust are working on the restoration of the Shrewsbury and Newport Canal.
Further reading
Peter Brown’s book ‘The Shropshire Union Canal’ provides a comprehensive history. A map from the book showing the constituent canals is provided here.
The Shrewsbury and Newport Canal Trust have a page on the history of the Shropshire Tub Boat Canals.