Sankey Canal

Sankey Canal
The start of the Sankey Canal at Spike Island in Widnes
Specifications
Locks16
StatusPartly restored
History
Original ownerSankey Brook Navigation Co
Principal engineerHenry Berry
Date of act1755
Date of first use1757
Date closed1963
Geography
Start pointRiver Mersey, Widnes
End pointSt Helens
Connects toRiver Mersey
Sankey Canal
Ravenhead Branch
Sutton Branch
St Helens
Gerard's Bridge Branch
New Double Lock (2)
Blackbrook Branch
A58 bridges
Old Double Lock (2)
Haydock Lock
A572 Common Road bridge
Newton Common Lock
Sankey Viaduct
Bradley Lock
Hey Lock
M62 bridge
Winwick Lock
Hulme Lock
Sankey Brook aqueduct
A574 bridge
Bewsey Lock
Great Sankey viaduct
A57 bridge
Railway bridge
Sankey Brook
Sankey Lock
River Mersey
Fiddlers Ferry Locks (2)
Widnes Locks (2)
River Mersey

The Sankey Canal in North West England, initially known as the Sankey Brook Navigation and later the St Helens Canal, is a former industrial canal, which when opened in 1757 was England's first of the Industrial revolution, and the first modern canal.[1][2][3]

The canal eventually connected St Helens to the River Mersey at Spike Island in Widnes. Originally it followed the valley of the Sankey Brook from the Mersey through Warrington to Parr following which extensions were constructed at the Mersey end to Fiddlers Ferry and then to Widnes, while at the northern end it was extended to Sutton.

The canal was abandoned between 1931 and 1963 but has been the object of ongoing restoration attempts since 1985.

  1. ^ "History of the Sankey Canal". Pennine Waterways. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021.
  2. ^ "A brief history of the Sankey Canal". SCARS. 12 June 2017. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020.
  3. ^ "Sankey (St.Helens) Canal". Canal & River Trust.