Grantham Canal

Grantham Canal
A dry lock on the canal near Cropwell Bishop
Specifications
Maximum boat length	75 ft 0 in (22.86 m)
Maximum boat beam	14 ft 0 in (4.27 m)
Locks	18
Status	Parts restored
Navigation authority	Canal and River Trust
History
Original owner	Grantham Canal Co
Principal engineer	William Jessop
Other engineer(s)	James Green, William King
Date of act	1793
Date completed	1797
Date closed	1936
Geography
Start point	Grantham
End point	West Bridgford
Connects to	River Trent

v t e Grantham Canal
Legend
Grantham Basin (under scrap yard) Canal filled in  A1  road Proposed Basin Denton Reservoir feeder Casthorpe bridge Ironstone Tramway Woolsthorpe Wharf 14-18 Woolsthorpe Flight (Restored) 12-13 Woolsthorpe Flight Knipton Reservoir feeder Belvoir Tramway Muston Gorse Wharf LNWR/GNR Joint Railway dismantled) River Smite Hickling Basin 20 mile pound dry section 11 Cropwell Locks  A46  Fosse Way 9-10 Cropwell Locks 8 Joss's Lock road to Cotgrave 7 Hollygate Lane Lock (Restored) 6 Cotgrave Lock (Restored) road to Cotgrave 5 Sanders Lock 4 Skinners Lock Polser Brook Proposed new route to R Trent  A52  road 3 Gamston Lock 2 Bridgford Lock  A6011  road 1 Trent Lock (Restored) River Trent, Trent Bridge Nottingham Canal

The Grantham Canal ran 33 miles (53 km) from Grantham through 18 locks to West Bridgford, where it joined the River Trent. It was built primarily for the transportation of coal to Grantham. It opened in 1797 and its profitability steadily increased until 1841. It was then sold to a railway company, declined, and was finally closed in 1936. It was used as a water supply for agriculture, and so most of it remained in water after closure, although bridges were lowered. Since the 1970s, the Grantham Canal Society have been working to restore parts of it. Two stretches are now navigable to small vessels. A new route will be required where the canal joins the Trent, as road building has severed the original one.