Stamford Canal - History

History

The River Welland was one of the earliest on which improvements, in this case to allow navigation to Stamford, were authorised by an act of Parliament. The act was granted in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in 1571, and the preamble explained how Stamford had prospered as a result of the river, but also stated that mills built between Stamford and Deeping had resulted in it no longer being navigable, as they had diverted the water. Powers were granted to restore the river using either the old channel or the new one, although it is not clear exactly what was meant by this. There is no evidence that any work was carried out under the terms of the act.

However, the powers were revived in 1620, when Stamford Corporation was given permission by the Commission of Sewers to build a new artificial cut, which would run from the eastern edge of Stamford near Hudd's Mill, to Market Deeping, where it would rejoin the river. The corporation estimated that it would cost £2,000 to carry out the work, and the act enabled them to charge tolls for its use, set initially at three pence (1.25 p) per lock, which could be charged once the work was completed. The decision was ratified in 1623 by a grant of James I, and the corporation expected to have the work completed by 1627. However, they were unable to find a suitable contractor to carry out the work, and failed to reach agreement on terms with David Cecil in 1636, and two other potential contractors after that. Nothing happened until 1664, when an Alderman from Stamford called Daniel Wigmore took the job. He built the cut and 12 locks, which included the High Lock and the Low Lock on the river at Deeping St James, at a cost of £5,000. In return for his expenditure, he was given the lease of the tolls for the next 80 years, for which he paid a rent of one shilling (five pence). The cut was the longest canal with locks in the country, when it was opened in 1670. Its construction preceded the 'canal age' by around 100 years, making it one of England's earliest post-Roman canals.

There are no known contemporary documents describing the design or methods of construction of the canal and nothing about its opening. However, a report from 1632 on alterations to the river noted that 600 men were involved in the work, so presumably there was sufficient labour locally for such tasks. Wigmore probably used handbills at local inns to recruit his workers, since there were no newspapers to carry advertisements. The work would have been done using pickaxes, shovels and wheelbarrows. The excavated ditch was then lined with blue clay to make it watertight. Excavations for a sewer in 1974 and work on a rubbish tip in 1979 revealed the layers of blue clay, and there were clay pits near Stamford, which supported a pottery industry, although their precise location is unknown.

The canal enabled goods to reach Stamford from The Wash, which was 34 miles (55 km) away, by way of Spalding and Crowland. The lower 24.4 miles (39.3 km) used the course of the Welland, after which the two river locks and weirs at Deeping St James were encountered. Beyond Market Deeping, the course consisted of an artificial cut with 10 more locks, by which it reached the eastern edge of Stamford, after which it rejoined the river to reach the town wharf. The length of the cut was 6.5 miles (10.5 km), although the length of the canal is usually quoted as 9.5 miles (15.3 km), to include the improved river sections at both ends. Just below Stamford, the canal crossed the River Gwash on the level. There was a weir on a bypass channel and a sluice on the main river channel, which enabled the river levels to be controlled, so that barges could cross.