Construction of The Navigation
Work started that year at the Ipswich end but the contractors Dyson and Pinkerton were dismissed due to problems with trespass. A local contractor was employed to continue work at the Stowmarket end and in 1791 John Rennie was consulted. He reported that three turf and timber locks had been constructed between Stowmarket and Needham Market, the other main town on the waterway, advised that further lock structures should be of brick and stone and estimated costs to complete the works. This amount was raised by a Parliamentary Bill of 28 March 1793. The final cost of construction was £26,263, which was nearly double the original estimate.
The navigation was completed in 1793 and three barges loaded with coal made the 17 miles (27 km) trip from Ipswich to Stowmarket on 14 September, rising 90 feet (27 m) through 15 locks of broad construction each 55 by 14 feet (17 by 4.3 m), the draught being 3.3 feet (1.0 m).
The Ipswich to Stowmarket railway line opened in 1846, and with it came a serious decline in traffic on the navigation. Under the terms of the authorising act of Parliament, the Board of Trustees had legal obligations to maintain the waterway, but by 1932 they were unable to meet these, as there was no income from traffic. They therefore applied for a Revocation Order, which was granted, and the Board ceased to exist after 1934. The waterway gradually fell into decay.
Read more about this topic: River Gipping
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