Horncastle Canal - History

History

By the 1790s, the Manor of Horncastle was leased by Sir Joseph Banks, a man of both local and national standing, with a keen interest in agriculture and trade. He had plans which included an Enclosure Act for Horncastle and drainage of the Wildmore Fen, and was also influential in plans for the canalisation of the River Bain from Horncastle to the River Witham near Tatteshall. Tattershall was already served by a short canal from the River Witham, which had been constructed in 1786 by John Gibson, a merchant from Tattershall, and John Dyson, who was from Bawtry. The canal was about 1 mile (1.6 km) long, and had an entrance lock near to where it joined the river.

Sir Joseph Banks canvassed the support of local merchants and the owners of the estates that bordered the river, and formed a steering committee, which instructed Sir Joseph's solicitor to draft a parliamentary bill for the proposed canal. This was ready by March 1792, and was considered by a public meeting held on 4 April. That meeting approved the bill, which became an Act of Parliament on 11 June 1792. In addition to local supporters, the bill was also supported by the Corporations of Boston and Lincoln, as it included a clause the enable the channel beneath Lincoln High Bridge, a medieval structure which prevented navigation from the River Witham to the Brayford Pool, to be made deeper. The act also regularised the position of the Gibson Cut, which had been built without an act of parliament on land owned by Lord Fortescue, and ensured that he would be compensated when the cut was taken over by the new company.