Stamford Canal

Stamford Canal
The remains of Deeping St James High Lock
Specifications
Locks	12
Status	Defunct
History
Principal engineer	Daniel Wigmore
Date of act	1571
Date completed	1670
Date closed	1863
Geography
Start point	Stamford
End point	Market Deeping
Connects to	River Welland

Stamford Canal, now disused, is one of the earliest post-Roman canals in England.^[1] It opened in 1670, around 100 years before the start of the Industrial Revolution which brought about the "golden age" for canals in Britain.^[2] Parts of the route can be traced on the ground, though only one lock survives intact. It was part of the Welland Navigation in Lincolnshire. First authorised in 1571, during the reign of Elizabeth I, construction did not start until 1664, under powers granted in 1620 and ratified by James I. It ran for 9.5 miles (15.3 km) from Stamford to Market Deeping and had 12 locks, two of which were on the river section at Deeping St James. No plans of its construction survive, although one of the locks was documented by a visiting water engineer in 1699. It contributed to the wealth of Stamford, allowing barley to be transported to the town for malting.

Plans to link it westwards to the Oakham Canal, northwards to the South Forty-Foot Drain and southwards to the River Nene in 1809 came to nothing, and it closed in 1863, soon after the arrival of the Midland Railway in the area. Although Stamford Corporation attempted to sell it after closure, its ownership was disputed, and they were unable to do so. Its course and some of its structures can still be traced in the landscape. These include warehouses at the terminus in Stamford, and a weir which regulated water levels on the River Gwash, which it crossed on the level.