Peel's Cut is a man-made waterway connected to the River Trent in Burton on Trent, Staffordshire, in England. It was originally constructed by Robert "Parsley" Peel in the early 1780s to drive a cotton mill. The mill closed in 1849 and the cut was largely filled in during the late 1960s. The name has since been extended to a section of the River Trent to the north, formerly known as the Fleet.
Peel's Cut was excavated on the orders of Robert "Parsley" Peel in the early 1780s. [1] Peel was originally from Lancashire where he had built up a cotton spinning, weaving and dyeing business in Lancashire based on Richard Arkwright's factory system. He expanded his business to Burton on Trent from 1779; his son, Robert Peel developed the business further and became a member of parliament; his grandson, also Robert Peel, served twice as home secretary and twice as prime minister of the United Kingdom. [2] According to Peel's grandson Laurence Peel the canal cost £9,000. [3]
Peel's Cut originally ran from a point on the west bank of the River Trent near to the boundary with Branston and turned to run parallel to the river until it met the Fleet, a branch of the Trent that ran between the town of Burton and the Ox Hay and Andresey islands. [4] A weir near to the upstream (Branston) end of the cut directed water into it and the flow was used by Peel to drive machinery at his Bond End cotton mill. [1] [5] The cut was dug under a sub-lease from Samuel Lloyd who held the navigation rights to the Trent in the area. [6]
In the 1790s the line of a canal was surveyed by William Jessop, James Barnes, Robert Whitworth and John Varley from the southern end of Peel's Cut to the Swadlincote and Newhall collieries but did not come to fruition. [7] Around 1797 the Bond End Canal was constructed joining Peel's Cut at the site of the cotton mill to the Trent and Mersey Canal at Shobnall; the canal fell into disuse and was filled in the 19th century. [8] The River Trent itself ceased to be navigable at Burton around 1819. [6]
Lloyd's navigation rights expired in 1849 and Peel's Bond End Mill ceased production in the same year 1849. [9] The mill site was afterwards used to store ale and timber and, after use as a municipal waste site from the 1880s, is now a supermarket. [9] [6] [10] [4] Water carried by Peel's Cut was later used by one of the Burton breweries. [5] The weir at the Branston end was derelict by 1955 and Peel's Cut was filled in, alongside many other secondary river channels in the area, in the late 1960s. [1] [5]
Only a short section of the original Peel's Cut, at the northern end, remains in water. The name has become extended to the stretch of water formerly known as the Fleet, which runs parallel to the main river channel before rejoining it near to Burton Library and the Meadowside Leisure Centre. This stretch is crossed by the wooden-decked Cattle Bridge footbridge, renovated in 2018. It is also crossed by Stapenhill Viaduct, erected in 1890 as an extension of the Ferry Bridge across the main channel to replace a set of stepping stones, and Andresey Bridge erected in 1884. [1] [11] [12] [13]
Staffordshire is a landlocked ceremonial county in the West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the south-east, the West Midlands county and Worcestershire to the south, and Shropshire to the west. The largest settlement is the city of Stoke-on-Trent, and the county town is Stafford.
The Trent and Mersey Canal is a 93+1⁄2-mile (150 km) canal in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire in north-central England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities to the east of Burton upon Trent and north of Middlewich, it is a wide canal.
Tamworth is a market town and borough in Staffordshire, England, 14 miles (23 km) north-east of Birmingham. The town borders North Warwickshire to the east and south, Lichfield to the north, south-west and west. The town takes its name from the River Tame, which flows through it. The population of Tamworth borough (2022) was 79,639. The wider urban area had a population of 81,964.
The River Dane is a tributary of the River Weaver that originates in the Peak District area of England. The name of the river is probably from the Old Welsh dafn, meaning a "drop or trickle", implying a slow-moving river.
Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. At the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,270. The demonym for residents of the town is Burtonian. Burton is located on the River Trent 11 miles (18 km) south-west of Derby and 20 miles (32 km) south of the Peak District National Park.
The Trent is the third longest river in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands into the Humber Estuary. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and spring snowmelt, which in the past often caused the river to change course.
Oswaldtwistle is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England, 3 miles (5 km) southeast of Blackburn, contiguous with Accrington. The town has a rich industrial heritage, being home to James Hargreaves, inventor of the spinning jenny, and Robert "Parsley" Peel of calico printing fame. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal passes through the town and was responsible for the export of much of the area's cotton produce.
Caldon Canal is a branch of the Trent and Mersey Canal which opened in 1779. It runs 18 miles (29 km) from Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, to Froghall, Staffordshire. The canal has 17 locks and the 76-yard (69 m) Froghall Tunnel.
Burton and Uttoxeter is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2024 by Jacob Collier of the Labour Party.
Brizlincote is a civil parish in Burton upon Trent in East Staffordshire, England. Formerly farmland and a manor lying in Derbyshire, it was added to the municipal borough of Burton by the Local Government Act 1888 and formally transferred to Staffordshire in 1894. It was developed for housing in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The area of the parish was previously considered part of the (unparished) adjoining areas of Stapenhill and Winshill. All three areas are now separate parishes. Brizlincote has a population of around 5,000 and has the highest average household income of any parish in Burton.
Winshill is an area to the east of the town of Burton upon Trent, in the borough of East Staffordshire, England.
Branston is a village and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. At the 2001 census, the population was 6,540, increasing to 6,749 at the 2011 Census.
Paulet High School is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in the Stapenhill area of Burton on Trent, Staffordshire, England.
Robert "Parsley" Peel was a British merchant who was the grandfather of Robert Peel, a future prime minister of the United Kingdom. Peel started life as a yeoman farmer but experimented with calico printing, eventually creating a parsley leaf pattern which would become his trademark. Despite losing a number of machines during riots, Peel's company became the largest in the textile sector by the time of his death, with 23 factories.
Ferry Bridge is a Victorian pedestrian bridge over the River Trent in Staffordshire, England. The bridge and its extension, the Stapenhill Viaduct, link Burton upon Trent town centre to the suburb of Stapenhill half a mile away on the other side of the river.
Thornewill and Warham Ltd was a metal hardware and industrial metalwork manufacturer, later an engineering company, based in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. Under different names it traded from 1740 until 1929, becoming a notable producer of steam engines and railway locomotives. It also constructed two footbridges across the River Trent in Burton.
St Peter's Bridge carries the A5189 road across the River Trent in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. Opened in 1985, the 800-metre (2,600 ft) long reinforced concrete bridge is the most recent road crossing of the Trent. It was closed for more than two months in 2017 for major repair works.
Stapenhill Gardens is a park in the Stapenhill neighbourhood of Burton-on-Trent, in England. It mainly comprises the former site of Stapenhill House, which was donated to the town in 1933, woodland, lawn, wild flower meadows and formal planted areas along a 1,250-metre (4,100 ft) stretch of the River Trent. A public space, it includes a large cement-rendered sculpture of a swan that has been described as a "Burton landmark".
Fred the Head is the popular name of an unidentified young white adult male found – deceased, naked, and bound – on the site of an abandoned flint mill in Burton upon Trent, England, in 1971. A number of investigations have failed to identify the body and it is now the oldest unsolved missing persons case in Staffordshire.