Dorset and Somerset Canal

Dorset and Somerset Canal
The north face of Murtry aqueduct
Specifications
Locks0
StatusAbandoned, not completed
History
Date of act1796
Date completednot completed
Geography
Start pointNettlebridge
End pointFrome junction
Dorset and Somerset Canal plan
Bristol Channel
Bristol
Bath
Jn with Kennet and Avon Canal
Coleford and Mells
Nettlebridge basin and Frome Jn
Wincanton
Stalbridge
Sturminster Newton
Blandford
Wareham branch
Poole Harbour
Diagram showing the arrangement of Fussell's boat lift

The Dorset and Somerset Canal was a proposed canal in southwestern England. The main line was intended to link Poole, Dorset with the Kennet and Avon Canal near Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire. A branch was to go from the main line at Frome to the southern reaches of the Somerset coalfield at Nettlebridge. Construction of the branch started in 1786, using boat lifts rather than locks to cope with changes of level, but the company ran out of money and the canal was abandoned in 1803, never to be completed.