An Act for making and maintaining a Navigation from the Town of Leicester to communicate with the River Nen, in or near the Town of Northampton; and also a certain Collateral Cut from the said Navigation.
In 1793, an act of Parliament, the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal Act 1793 (33 Geo. 3. c. 98) was passed for the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal: this was intended to link the Soar Navigation near Leicester to the River Nene near Northampton, and thus to the Grand Junction Canal via the latter's Northampton Arm. The Leicestershire and Northampton union reached the village of Debdale by 1797. The one major tunnel between Leicester and Market Harborough at Saddington was completed by 1797[1] but in doing so had used up all of its money. James Barnes, an engineer working on the Grand Junction Canal, was asked in 1799 to find a route for the canal to reach the Grand Junction at Braunston. In 1802, he produced a revised proposal, to route the rest of the canal to Norton on the Grand Junction, with a branch to Market Harborough. Thomas Telford was then asked for his opinion, and he also proposed a change of destination to Norton, but via the town of Market Harborough. This was agreed upon, but by 1809, the canal had reached only Market Harborough, where construction came to an end again.[2] It opened on Friday 13 October 1809. The opening was reported in the Northampton Mercury of 21 October 1809.[3]
Yesterday sennight was the day appointed for opening the Union Canal to Market-Harborough: at eleven o’clock the committee and subscribers began to assemble at Gallow-Hill Wharf, where a barge and two boats, provided with seats and awnings, and adorned with laurel flags, and streamers, were waiting to receive them. At half-past twelve o’clock they embarked, accompanied by a band of music, and a number of ladies and people from Harborough, and the neighbourhood. The day was remarkably fine; the shore on each side of the canal was lined with spectators; the whole presented a scene, grand, pleasing, and highly interesting. At Great-Bowden Wharf, the procession was joined by eight barges, deeply laden with coals, cokes, slates and merchandise, and the whole proceeded forward upon that part of the canal which has been recently finished, and in little more than an hour entered the bason at Harborough, amid the shouts of spectators. - The Committee and subscribers, preceded by engineers, navigators, and bargemen, carrying instruments, tools, and implements descriptive of their respective occupations, two barge horses, streamers flags, and a band of music, walked in procession to the Angel Inn. Between three and four o’clock, they sat down to a very elegant and sumptuous dinner; the table was plentifully supplied with fish and venison by the munificence and public spirit of J. Cradock Esq. of Gumley, whose liberality in this respect, the Union Canal Company at their general assemblies have beforetime frequently experienced. Many loyal and constitutional toasts were drank, and the evening concluded with hilarity and friendly conviviality. Foot races and ass races for the amusement of the populace, took place at intervals during the afternoon, and notwithstanding the multitudes of people assembled, happily no accident of any serious consequence happened, and to the credit of the navigators and workmen on the works and buildings, (though they were plentifully regaled with ale), no disturbance or quarrel, inconsistent with decorum and the peace of the town took place.
Thus have the Union Canal Company, after a period of 15 years from its commencement, finished a vast work, of great public utility. Very few canals in the same distance, have had to encounter such difficulties in the course of the undertaking – nearly 200 feet of lockage; a tunnel more than half a mile in length, two considerable aqueducts, other large embankments, a large reservoir, and several hundred yards of very deep cutting, have been completed. Their country is unquestionably much indebted to them for their successful exertions, and every friend to its improvement and manufactures, will rejoice if the trade upon the canal is such as to afford them a reasonable remuneration for the immense capital they have embarked in the concern.
On 1 October 1813[4] the connection was completed by the original Grand Union Canal Company which had been formed to make a connection between the canal at Foxton and the Grand Junction canal at Norton Junction.
On 23 August 1865 as a result of a torrential downpour, the canal was breached at Smeeton where the feeder from Saddington Reservoir joins the canal. Several hundred yards of embankment was washed away and ten miles of canal was drained.[5]
The company was eventually bought by the Grand Junction Canal company in 1894.[6]
It is 48 miles (77km) long with 22 locks, one aqueduct and a 1⁄2-mile-long (800m) tunnel, the Saddington.
Notes
↑ "To be sold and auction". Northampton Mercury. England. 23 September 1797. Retrieved 28 May 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
↑ Hadfield, Charles (1970). The Canals of the East Midlands. David and Charles. pp.100–101. ISBN978-0-7153-4871-0.
↑ "Yesterday sennight". Northampton Mercury. England. 21 October 1809. Retrieved 28 May 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter stretching for 137 miles (220 km) with 166 locks from London. The Birmingham line has a number of short branches to places including Slough, Aylesbury, Wendover, and Northampton. The Leicester line has two short arms of its own, to Market Harborough and Welford.
The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal is a canal in the south Midlands of England. The canal, which was built between 1793 and 1816, runs for 25.5 miles (41.0 km) in total, and consists of two sections. The dividing line is at Kingswood Junction, which gives access to the Grand Union Canal. Following acquisition by a railway company in 1856, it gradually declined, the southern section being un-navigable by 1945, and the northern section little better.
Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, close to the border with Northamptonshire. The population was 24,779 at the 2021 census. It is the administrative headquarters of the Harborough district.
The Canal Museum, formerly known as the "National Waterways Museum Stoke Bruerne" and "The Canal Museum at Stoke Bruerne", is a canal museum located next to the Grand Union Canal just south of the Blisworth Tunnel, near the village of Stoke Bruerne in Northamptonshire. It is about 10 miles (16 km) north of Milton Keynes and 7 miles (11 km) south of Northampton near junction 15 of the M1 motorway.
The River Soar is a major tributary of the River Trent in the East Midlands as well as the principal river of Leicestershire, England. The source of the river is midway between Hinckley and Lutterworth. The river then flows north through Leicester, where it is joined by the Grand Union Canal. Continuing on through the Leicestershire Soar Valley, it passes Loughborough and Kegworth until it reaches the Trent at the county boundary. In the 18th century, the Soar was made navigable, initially between Loughborough and the Trent, and then through to Leicester. It was not until the early 19th century that it was linked by the Grand Union Canal to the wider network to the south and to London.
Harborough is a local government district in Leicestershire, England. It is named after its main town, Market Harborough, which is where the council is based. The district also includes the town of Lutterworth and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. In the north of the district it includes parts of the Leicester Urban Area, notably at Thurnby, Bushby and Scraptoft. Covering 230 square miles (600 km2), the district is the largest by area of the eight districts in Leicestershire and covers almost a quarter of the county.
The canals of the United Kingdom are a major part of the network of inland waterways in the United Kingdom. They have a varied history, from use for irrigation and transport, through becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution, to today's role of recreational boating. Despite a period of abandonment, today the canal system in the United Kingdom is again increasing in use, with abandoned and derelict canals being reopened, and the construction of some new routes. Canals in England and Wales are maintained by navigation authorities. The biggest navigation authorities are the Canal & River Trust and the Environment Agency, but other canals are managed by companies, local authorities or charitable trusts.
The Grand Junction Canal is a canal in England from Braunston in Northamptonshire to the River Thames at Brentford, with a number of branches. The mainline was built between 1793 and 1805, to improve the route from the Midlands to London, by-passing the upper reaches of the River Thames near Oxford, thus shortening the journey.
Welford is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England, just south of the River Avon and the border with Leicestershire. At the 2011 Census, the population of the parish was 1,043.
Stoke Bruerne is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, about 10 miles (16 km) north of Milton Keynes and 7 miles (11 km) south of Northampton.
The Brampton Valley Way is a 14-mile (23 km) rail trail built on the way of the former Northampton to Market Harborough Railway in Northamptonshire, England. It forms what trail managers, Northamptonshire County Council, describe as a linear park.
The Grand Union Canal was a canal in England from Foxton, Leicestershire on the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal to Norton Junction, close to Long Buckby Wharf on the Grand Junction Canal. It now forms the first 23 miles (37 km) of the Leicester line of the Grand Union Canal.
The Midshires Way is a long-distance footpath and bridleway that runs for 230 miles (370 km) from the Chiltern Hills from near Bledlow in Buckinghamshire, through the Midlands counties of Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, to Stockport, Greater Manchester. It also links several other long-distance walking routes or trackways including The Ridgeway, the Pennine Bridleway and the Trans Pennine Trail.
Market Harborough railway station is a Grade II listed station which serves the town of Market Harborough in Leicestershire, England. It is situated to the east of the town centre and lies on the Midland Main Line, 16 miles (26 km) south-east of Leicester.
Fleckney is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It is situated 2.5 miles (4 km) west of the A6 national route between Market Harborough and Leicester.
The A508 is a north-south A-class road in central England, forming the route from Market Harborough in Leicestershire, via Northampton, to Old Stratford in Northamptonshire, just outside Milton Keynes.
Theddingworth is a village and civil parish in Leicestershire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 217. The parish includes the neighbouring hamlet of Hothorpe, which lies across the county boundary in Northamptonshire.
Saddington is a village in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It is close to Smeeton Westerby, Gumley, Kibworth and Fleckney. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 309.
James Barnes was a canal and railway engineer in England and twice Mayor of Banbury.
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