Thames and Severn Canal

Thames and Severn Canal
The canal at Brimscombe
Specifications
Length	28.7 miles (46.2 km)
Locks	44
Status	Under restoration
Navigation authority	Stroud Valleys Canal Company
History
Original owner	Thames and Severn Canal Company
Principal engineer	Josiah Clowes
Date of act	1783
Date completed	1789
Date closed	1933
Date restored	2018
Geography
Start point	Lechlade, River Thames
End point	Wallbridge, near Stroud
Connects to	Stroudwater Navigation, North Wilts Canal, River Thames

v t e Thames and Severn Canal
Legend
Stroudwater Navigation Stroudwater Junction 1 Wallbridge Lower Lock Slad Brook (culverted)  A46  Stroud Brewery Bridge 2 Wallbridge Upper Lock Capel Mill diversion  A419  (Dr Newtons Way) bridge Golden Valley line Stroud viaduct  A419  road built along canal bed River Frome 3 Bowbridge Lock 4 Griffins Mill Lock 5 Ham Mill Lock Stroud Brewery, navigable limit 6 Hope Mill Lock Gough's Orchard feeder from R Frome 7 Gough's Orchard Lock River Frome aqueduct Brimscombe Port 8 Bourne Lock Golden Valley Line bridge 9 Beales Lock 10 St Marys Lock Railway bridge 11-12 Ile's/Ballinger's Lock (2) 13 Chalford Chapel Lock River Frome  A419  road bridge 14-16 Bell/Red Lion/Valley Lock (3) 17-18 Bakers Mill Locks (2) 19-21 Puck Mill Locks (3) 22-28 Daneway Locks (7) Sapperton Tunnel  A419  road over tunnel Railway bridge Thames Head pumping station Source of the River Thames  A433  road bridge  A429  aqueduct Cirencester Arm 29-32 Siddington Locks (4) 33-35 South Cerney Locks (3) 36 Boxwell Springs Lock 37-38 Wildmoorway Locks (2)  B4696  Gateway Bridge 39 Cerney Wick Lock North Wilts Canal proposed diversion 40 Latton Lock  A419  road bridge 41 Eisey Lock 42-43 Dudgrove Double Lock (2) River Thames to Cricklade 44 Inglesham Lock River Coln River Thames, Lechlade

The Thames and Severn Canal is a canal in Gloucestershire in the south-west of England, which was completed in 1789. It was conceived as part of a cargo route from Bristol and the Midlands to London, linking England's two largest rivers for better trade. The route climbs the steep Cotswold escarpment through the Golden Valley, tunnels underneath the summit of the Cotswold Edge, and emerges near the source of the Thames.

At its eastern end, it connects to the top of the navigable Thames at Inglesham Lock near Lechlade, while at its western end, it connects to the Stroudwater Navigation at Wallbridge near Stroud, and thence to the River Severn. It had one short arm (branch), from Siddington to the town of Cirencester. It includes Sapperton Tunnel, which when built was the longest canal tunnel in Britain, and remains the second-longest complete tunnel. There were always problems with water supply, as no reservoirs were built, while the summit section near the tunnel ran through porous limestone, and there were constant difficulties with leakage. Competition from the railways took much of the canal's traffic by the end of the 19th century, and most of the canal was abandoned in 1927, the remainder in 1941.

Since 1972, the Cotswold Canals Trust has been working to restore both the canal and the Stroudwater Navigation to navigably re-link the Thames and the Severn. A number of the structures have been restored, and some sections are now in water. A major step forward occurred in 2003, when a bid was made to the Heritage Lottery Fund for £82 million to restore both canals. The bid and the project had to be split into smaller sections, but £11.9 million was awarded in 2006 for Phase 1A, which with matched funding has restored from The Ocean at Stonehouse to Wallbridge on the Stroudwater Navigation, and from there to Stroud Brewery on the Thames and Severn Canal. The Phase 1B reconnection to the national waterways network at Saul Junction is expected to be completed by 2025, connecting the Severn with the Golden Valley for the first time in a century.

In 2010, British Waterways gave Inglesham Lock to the Trust, and the Inland Waterways Association mounted a national campaign to fund its restoration (and 420 yards (380 m) of canal above). To re-open the whole canal some major engineering obstacles will need to be overcome.