“Arteries of a Revolution”:
The Growth of Inland Navigation and Industrial Enterprise
Sabrina Shaw
Stanwood High School
Stanwood, WA
2010 NEH Seminar for School Teachers
Interpretations of the Industrial Revolution in Britain
On March 2, 1665 the Speaker of the House of Commons met in the House of Lords to
discuss a series of Navigation Acts that had been prepared with the hopes of making numerous
small English rivers navigable. The Speaker declared England, “incomparably furnished with
pleasant Rivers, like Veins in the Natural Body, which conveys the Blood into all the Parts,
whereby the whole is nourished, and made useful… He went on to claim that increased
navigation, “…easeth the People of the great Charge of Land Carriages; preserves the Highways,
which are daily worn out with Wagons carrying excessive Burdens; it breeds up a Nursery of
Watermen, which, upon Occasion, will provide good Seamen; and with much Facility maintain
Intercourse and Communion between Cities and Countries.”1 This speech highlights the era in
which river navigation, driven by conflict at home and abroad, became a national concern.
However, it also foreshadowed an era of Canal Mania between 1760-1830 in which 300 Acts of
Parliament would be passed and over 3,875 miles of water would be made navigable. It was the
great era of canal building that took advantage of the geographic features of Britain to develop
innovative solutions to inland navigation, increasing trade and communication of goods and
ideas. This resulted in the new field of civil engineering and the development of regional
economies that quickened the spread of the industrial revolution.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the rivers of England were utilized extensively to transport
goods as the demands of agriculture and industry increased. As trade between regions grew, and
pilgrimages were reduced, the system of Roman roads grew into disrepair. 2 Rivers began to
replace the declining Roman roads as the chief source of communication and travel for those
1
Willian, T.S. River Navigation In England: 1600-1750. (London: Oxford University Press, 1936), 29.
Jackman, William T. The Development of Transportation in Modern England. (London: Cambridge
University Press, 1916), 14.
2
2
who wanted goods to arrive safely inland. Numerous sources document a flourishing trade
between interior streams and rivers and port towns such as York and Doncaster. These towns,
worked to control the waterways by securing land grants and water rights, often to the dismay of
the developing manufacturing interests who were asserting themselves through the construction
of weirs and mills.3
Increasingly, throughout the 16th and 17th century, various elements complicated the use
of rivers as a method of conveying goods and services. While an increasing number of
parliamentary statues called to preserve the navigation of major public rivers, keeping them free
of obstructions, additional impediments limited inland navigation. Rain and floods silted the beds
of rivers, creating uneven riverbeds and limiting the passage of heavy cargo.4 Waterman and
barge-masters couldn’t navigate the shallow water and threw ballast overboard, where it
accumulated, eventually blocking passage further. These issues resulted in goods being conveyed
by land with great expense. 5
In addition, the increasing number of milldams and weirs that were constructed during
Elizabethan times created obstacles to navigation. Many of these mills had been privately erected
along streams—built near fast moving water that would allow mill owners to reap the rewards of
a consistent source of water, even in dry seasons. Millers frequently opened the gates to their
milldams, creating a flashing, the raising of water that would allow boats to pass over the
shallows. For this they received a moderate sum. When water supplies were limited, millers
often limited the passing of ships for days—or extract large sums for the “favor” of passage.6
By the 17th century, pamphleteers had taken up the river improvements as a cause of
national importance. These early pamphleteers identified various schemes of river improvement
that would overcome the various problems of transport and increase the utility of England’s
valuable natural resource. Waterman and innkeeper, John Taylor, called for an English system
that imitated the ‘industrious Netherlanders’ who removed the various impediments from their
rivers.7 Taken one step further, pamphleteer Francis Mathew suggested river improvements be
done by the government. He claimed, “such great and publick Works are not to be attempted by
private men, or any particular Corporations; But most fit it were that the State it self should be
3
Ibid, 23-4.
Ibid, 24-5.
5
Ibid, 160-2.
6
Ibid, 161-63.
7
Willian, 7.
4
3
the sole Undertaker, performing all at its own proper charge.”8 Mathew was the first Englishman
to suggest the “systemic joining of rivers” that would come to be, although his proposals never
becoming law.9 This systematic joining of rivers was continually brought forward to parliament
and marks a new period in inland navigation—the attempt to develop navigation where none had
previously existed rather then the restoration of previous waterways.
The aforementioned shift was a gradual response to the increase in the costs of land and
river carriage prior to the 18th century. However, changes in carriage were not without
opposition:
Those interested in road transport naturally disliked a cheaper competitor;
landowners along the banks of river objected to the introduction of poundlocks because of the danger that their lands might be flooded as a result of
raising the water level, or their water-meadows not be flooded because of
better flood-control; farmers feared lest the wider areas of trade opened up
by improved transport would cause prices to fall, since in times of scarcity
corn could by water be obtained from farther away. But the most sustained
opposition to particular schemes came from those towns which were
distributing centers for goods, and which saw themselves as being
supplanted.10
It became a battle, waged by the pamphleteers and in parliament to alter the public perception
and push forward the development of various bills to make rivers navigable. Prior to 1660, 685
miles of English rivers were navigable. By 1724, over 1,160 miles had been made navigable.
Setting aside the mountainous areas, most Englishmen lived within fifteen miles of a navigable
river. Goods were moved freely, at less cost, and new patterns of transportation developed.11
The idea of a “Dutch system” of canals was not new to England. The Exeter Canal
opened in 1566. Served by pound-locks, the locks raised and lowered the water necessary to lift,
or lower, a boat from one level of the river to another. This system not only saved water, but
more importantly saved time. Soon, canalized rivers were utilized in river improvement schemes
and the idea of canals as a system of transportation began to draw interest of financiers.12 In
1754, William Taylor was chosen by the Liverpool Common Council to survey the Sankey
Brook, “a small stream running from near St Helens to the River Mersey” to determine if it could
8
Ibid, 8.
Ibid, 9.
10
Hadfield, Charles. British Canals: An Illustrated History. (London: David and Charles, 1974), 23.
11
Ibid, 27.
12
Ibid, 23.
9
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be utilized to ferry coal from the mines.13 The limited size of the brook made it clear to Taylor
that it would be necessary to utilize a canalized system, but a similar project had recently been
rejected by Parliament. Thus, Taylor and “the proprietors obtained an Enabling Act in 1755 ‘for
making navigable the River or Brook called Sankey brook,’ with the power to make ‘such new
cuts….as they shall think proper and requisite.” The Sankey Canal began work by carrying large
amounts of coal from the St. Helens coalfield with dividends of 33.33% being paid for the next
eight years.14 It was clear that the construction of the Sankey Canal was a successful business
proposition, about to be taken further by the Duke of Bridgewater.
A visit to the French Canal du Midi in 1754 intrigued the young duke. The 150 mile-long
French canal had joined the Atlantic and Mediterranean seas since 1681. It is said that this visit
inspired the duke to take up ‘Exerimentall Philosophy’ with a focus on science and engineering
upon return to his studies.15 In 1758 Francis Reynolds of Strangeways wrote to Edward Chetham
to discuss a recent visit by the Duke of Bridgewater to his Worsley Estate. Reynolds’ indicated
that the Bridgewater Canal was already being drawn up in the duke’s mind: “his Grace has found
so large a Mine of Coal, for which he has so small a consumption, that he is inclinable to make a
water road from Worsley Mill to Salford, at his own expense, by which means he will be able to
supply Manchester at a much cheaper rate.16
Various flooding issues at Worsley had limited the Duke’s receipts and he was eager to
begin work on a solution. In addition, the recent work development of the Sankey Navigation
was set to provide competition and possibly shrink the duke’s market.17 On November 25, 1758
‘ A Petition of the Most Noble Francis Duke of Bridgewater’ was presented to the House of
Commons. The Duke’s petition was unique in that it was to be fulfilled at his own expense, he
owned one-third of the land along the projected route, and he was key to solving a coal supply
problem that plagued the local community. The petition brought forth great question to “which
private gain balanced the public interest” and questions of imminent domain. On March 23, 1759
13
Hadfield, Charles. The Canal Age. (Devon: Latimer Trend & Co.,1968), 22-25.
Ibid, 23.
15
Malet, Hugh. Bridgewater: The Canal Duke, 1736-1803. (Manchester: Manchester University Press,
1977),15-16.
16
Ibid, 33.
17
Ibid, 39.
14
5
royal assent brought the bill into an Act and the Duke of Bridgewater’s canal was prepared for
construction.18
The Duke of Bridgewater hired engineer James Brindley to begin work on the
Canal, leading to a second Act of Parliament in 1760. During the canal’s construction one
visiting writer is said to have exclaimed that when it was finished it would ‘ be the most
extraordinary thing in the kingdom, if not in Europe. The boats in some places are to go
underground, and in another place over a navigable river without communicating with its
waters.’19 When the Canal was opened on July 17, 1761, a grand celebration was held. It
is said that “strangers flocked from a distance to see Brindley’s ‘castle in the air;’ and
contemporary writers spoke in glowing terms of the surprise with which they saw several
barges of great burthen drawn by a single mule or horse along ‘a river hung in the air,’ or
over another river flowing underneath.”20 By 1773 the canal had achieved such fame that
Josiah Wedgewood, upon a visit, identified Worsley as having, “the appearance of a
considerable Seaport town. His Grace has built some hundreds of houses, and is every
year adding considerably to their number.”21
Far greater than the accolades that Bridley and Bridgewater’s canal drew were the
economic rewards it brought to the local economy. The canal is said to have provided
advantages as soon as it was opened through the reduction of prices and increase in the
availability of goods. Contemporaries claimed the charge for items carried between
Liverpool and Manchester, particularly coal, had been lowered by half. Local produce
was brought to Manchester from areas along the navigation, increasing income for local
farmers and shortening the time to market. In addition, the cost of farming fell as the cost
of essential agricultural products such as lime and manure fell.22
With the success of the Duke’s canal 18th century pamphleteers began to take up
the creation of additional canals. A 1788 pamphlet, Observations on a Scheme for
extending the Navigation of the Rivers Kennett and Avon claimed:
The price of carriage of coals, and all other heavy articles, will be greatly
reduced; the estates of gentlemen and farmers, will be improved at much easier
18
Ibid 46-48.
Hadley, British Canals, 32.
20
Smiles, Samuel. Lives of the Engineers: Early Engineering. (London: John Murray Alblemar, 1874),183.
21
Hadley, British Canals. 32.
22
Smiles, 225.
19
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expense by the introduction of free-stone, timber, brick, tile, and other building
materials; lime, peat-ashes and manure, of all sorts. They will find new markets
for the produce of their farms and estates: corn, malt, cheese, and other
productions, will meet with a ready and cheap conveyance to the great marts.23
Colliery owners and pottery manufacturers quickly acknowledged the tangible
benefits canals could have on the development of their industries. The expense of
importing clay and materials and exporting fragile earthenware and china increased the
cost of manufacturing inland and prevented the expansion of the industry. “Large crates
of pot-ware were slung across horses’ backs and thus conveyed to their respective ports,
not only at great risk of breakage and pilferage, but also at a heavy cost. The expense of
carriage was not less than a shilling a tone per mile, and the lowest charge was eight
shillings a ton for ten miles.”24
The opening of the Duke’s canal, combined with cheap capital, led to a Canal
Mania between 1790 and 1794. Much of the capital that was invested in the building of
canals came from wealthy business owners. Canal building was expensive and required
“compulsory powers to buy land, divert streams, cross highways, and do other such
things could only be given by Parliament, it was for this reason also necessary to obtain
an Act.”25 The number of canal corporations therefore grew rapidly and led to a Canal
bubble that inflated shares of stock and led to rapid investment from those outside of the
manufacturing sector. 26
Promoters, wanting to keep a good thing to themselves would “hold subscription
meetings quietly, and because they did so, wherever a meeting was held, hopeful
speculators rushed to the place seeking to put down deposits on shares they could
immediately sell at profit”27 A pamphlet published in 1795 tells the story of the mania,
claiming it was “a passion of speculation” which “spread like an epidemical disease
throughout the city. Every man believing he would gain thousands by his adventures. The
23
Hadfield, Canal Age, 37.
Smiles, 250.
25
Hadfield, Canal Age, 35.
26
Ward, J.R. The Finance of Canal Building in Eighteenth-Century England. (London: Oxford University
Press, 1974), 77.
27
Hadfield, Canal Age, 108.
24
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shares which were at 50 premium today were expected to rise to 60 tomorrow and to 100
in a week.”28
The rapid growth of capital and investment led to an increase in the number of
canals that were constructed throughout England. Subscribers, driven by profits of 30 to
40 per cent, pushed forward 30 new Acts of incorporation between 1793 and 1794.29
Through these Acts “canal companies were given powers to acquire by compulsory
purchase the land they required.30 Many of these canals would not succeed due to the lack
of planning and engineering knowledge of the time.
It is important to remember that prior to the canal era very few civil engineering
feats had been accomplished outside of bridge building. There had been little political
purpose given to the development of engineering tasks. Instead in England it was
commerce that drove geographic improvements. These men, or civil engineers, were
“civilians, employed not by the State, but by the individuals, or companies of men, eager
to develop the trade of the areas from which they derived their personal incomes.”31
Accordingly, “it was the building of canals that largely created the profession of
civil engineer by producing a demand big enough to encourage specialists.”32 As money
was invested quickly, a number of previously unskilled civil engineers were given large
projects to supervise. One of the largest was the Ellesmere Canal in which a young
stonemason, Thomas Telford was named ‘general agent, engineer, and architect’ in
charge of connecting the rivers Mersey and Dee to the Severn.33
The Ellesmere Canal presented numerous challenges for Telford, particularly how
to carry the Llangollen canal across the deep Welsh valley over the river Dee. Telford, in
his first major work created Pontcysyllte, a 127 feet high cast-iron trough lifted upon a
stone pier that spans the 1,000 foot valley.34 Telford’s Pontycysyllte Aqueduct was
considered “one of the great engineering achievements of all time” and opened Telford to
additional areas of engineering for which he would be called, “The Colossus of Roads”
28
Ibid, 112.
Ibid, 107.
30
Ward, 144.
31
Ashton. T.S. The Industrial Revolution 1760-1830 (London: Oxford University Press, 1969) 57.
32
Hadfield, British Canals, 27.
33
Rolt, LTC. Thomas Telford (Gloucestershire: History Press, 2008), 42.
34
Ibid, 55.
29
8
by the Poet Southey.35 However, the most important result of the building movements
initiated by early civil engineers was the training of a, “new race of engineers, equipped
to meet the calls which the age of the railways was to make on their skill, endurance, and
capacity for disciplined effort.”36 The skills and mechanisms developed for altering and
shaping the landscape would help to rapidly implement the changes brought forth by the
railways and lead to their successful implementation throughout England.
Although the canal era was a short one, historian T.S Ashton identified it as key
to the “momentous changes” that occurred in economic life. The coming of the Railway
limited the growth of canals as investors placed their money in the technology of the
future. However the canal era demonstrated that mass transport could reduce the cost of
items, freeing capital to reinvest in industry:
The cost of bulky or heavy commodities such as coal, iron, timber stone,
salt and clay was greatly reduced; agricultural regions which had been
remote from the market were brought within the widening circle of
exchange; the fear of local famine, of both food and fuel, was removed;
and the closer contact with others which the new means of
communication afforded had a civilizing influence on the populations of
the Potteries and other inland areas. There was a redistribution of
activities; old river ports such as Bewdley and Bawtry declined, and new
communities grew up at nodal points like Stourport. The competitive
position of the more distant centers of production was improved, and
rents in those nearer to the markets fell, or failed to rise as they must have
otherwise done. The incomes paid out to those who dug the new canals,
when spent, resulted in a raising of the level of employment generally.
The other transferable shares, with prospects of high profit, accustomed
men to invest their resources outside the restricted field of the Funds and
the chartered trading companies, and so played a part in the rise of an
impersonal market for capital.” 37
The decline of the canal system came rapidly throughout England with the rise of the
Railroad. Although the canals found occasional use when trade routes were cut off during major
wars and conflict, the system fell into disrepair until the 1960s. Today, the canal system has once
again found a role in the modern economy for leisure boating. Pubs and communities that were
35
Ibid, 55-59.
Ashton, 59.
37
Ibid.
36
9
created during the canal age are undergoing refurbishment to meet the new needs of travelers and
tourists. The revival of the canals has provided the economic stimulus they for which they were
designed. However, instead of carrying the industrial goods, they now serve the needs of the
leisure industry. It seem apropos that the arteries of the industrial revolution have begun
pumping new life into those towns that have been impacted by the decline of the industry they
once helped to foster.
Bibliography
Ashton. T.S. The Industrial Revolution 1760-1830. London: Oxford University Press, 1969.
Hadfield, Charles. British Canals: An Illustrated History. London: David and Charles, 1974.
Hadfield, Charles. The Canal Age. Devon: Latimer Trend & Co., 1968.
Jackman, William T. The Development of Transportation in Modern England. London:
Cambridge University Press, 1916.
Malet, Hugh. Bridgewater: The Canal Duke, 1736-1803. Manchester University Press:
Manchester, 1977.
Rolt, LTC. Thomas Telford. Gloucestershire: History Press, 2008.
Smiles, Samuel. Lives of the Engineers: Early Engineering. London: John Murray Alblemar,
1874.
Ward, J.R. The Finance of Canal Building in Eighteenth-Century England. London: Oxford
University Press, 1974.
Willian, T.S. River Navigation In England: 1600-1750. London: Oxford University Press, 1936.