Basingstoke Canal - Lost Sections of The Canal

Lost Sections of The Canal

The canal used to start from the centre of Basingstoke, but the last five miles of the canal route have now been lost. This section of the canal fell into disuse due to a lack of boat traffic, general neglect and a lack of water levels. There were no locks on this part of the canal after Ash and so the route generally followed the contours of the land with occasional cuttings, tunnels and embankments. The route can be partly determined by noting that the canal falls between the 75m and 80m contours on Ordnance Survey maps. The main source of water for the Basingstoke end of the top pound of the canal appears to have been the natural springs within the Greywell Tunnel, since in Basingstoke itself, Eastrop Way, on the former route of the canal, is above the height of the nearby River Loddon. (There are also small streams flowing into the top pound of the canal at Fleet and Aldershot.) An attempt to alleviate the lack of water is apparent by a small lock just to the east of the Greywell tunnel, which appears to have raised the water level by about a foot. However this was a long section of canal with many embankments and it is likely that this was a cheap short term measure to keep the canal open, in preference to plugging the leaks from the many embankment sections on the route.

The canal started at a canal basin, roughly where the cinema in Festival Place is located. From there the canal ran alongside the River Loddon following the line of Eastrop Way. The old canal route passes under the perimeter ring road and then follows a long loop partly on an embankment to pass over small streams and water meadows towards Old Basing, where the route goes around the now ruined palace of Basing House and then through and around the eastern edge of Old Basing. Cuttings, which contain water in the winter are present through Old Basing, just off Milkingpen Lane and from the section running around farm land at the eastern edge of the village behind the Belle View Road/Cavalier Road estate. It followed another loop to go over small streams near the Hatch public house (a lot of this section was built over when constructing the M3) and headed across fields on an embankment towards Mapledurwell. The canal then headed towards a small tunnel under the Andwell Drove and then across another field partly on an embankment towards Up Nately. The section of the canal from Up Nately to the western entrance of the Greywell Tunnel still exists and is a nature reserve; there is water in the canal and the canal towpath can be walked. A permissive footpath at the western entrance to the tunnel allows walkers to access public footpaths to get to the eastern entrance of the tunnel.

The limit of navigation is about 500m east of the Greywell Tunnel towards North Warnborough, although the section to the tunnel entrance is probably usable by canoes. The renovated sections of the canal can then be navigated east.

The Basingstoke Canal Heritage Footpath roughly follows the canal route for 2 miles (3 km) from Festival Place to Basing House.

Plans to reconnect Basingstoke with the surviving section of the Canal have been mooted several times in the past and this remains a long term aim of the Surrey and Hampshire Canal Society. Another possible idea also considered was to connect the remaining canal to the Kennet and Avon navigation near Reading.