Shrewsbury Canal | |
---|---|
Specifications | |
Maximum boat length | 81 ft 0 in (24.69 m) (Locks could hold four 20-foot tub-boats) |
Maximum boat beam | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) (originally 6 ft 7 in or 2.01 m) (Only Eyton locks were widened) |
Locks | 34 (originally 11) (plus Trench inclined plane) |
Status | Early stages of restoration |
Navigation authority | None |
History | |
Original owner | Shrewsbury Canal Company |
Principal engineer | Josiah Clowes / Thomas Telford |
Date of act | 1793 |
Date of first use | 1794 |
Date completed | 1797 |
Date closed | 1944 |
Geography | |
Start point | Norbury Junction (originally Trench) (Newport Branch opened 1835, connecting canal to national network) |
End point | Shrewsbury |
Branch(es) | Newport Branch, Humber Branch |
Connects to | Shropshire Union Canal, Shropshire Canal, Donnington Wood Canal |
The Shrewsbury Canal (or Shrewsbury and Newport Canal) was a canal in Shropshire, England. Authorised in 1793, the main line from Trench to Shrewsbury was fully open by 1797, but it remained isolated from the rest of the canal network until 1835, when the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal built the Newport Branch from Norbury Junction to a new junction with the Shrewsbury Canal at Wappenshall. After ownership passed to a series of railway companies, the canal was officially abandoned in 1944; many sections have disappeared, though some bridges and other structures can still be found. There is an active campaign to preserve the remnants of the canal and to restore the Norbury to Shrewsbury line to navigation.