Stamford Canal - Route

Route

Stamford Wharf was the upper limit of navigation, and was situated below Town Bridge, which carries the A43 road over the river at Stamford. There were buildings associated with the canal on both sides of the river, including a large warehouse next to the bridge, parts of which date from 1671, and which is grade II listed. Barges followed the river down past the ruins of St Leonard's Priory, established in 1090 by the Benedictines, to Hudds Mill, where the cut began, on the north side of the mill. Hudds Mill Lock was almost at the start of the cut. The canal flowed initially to the east, but turned to the north east to cross the River Gwash at right angles. It then entered Uffington Park, where the remains of the weir that regulated river levels at the crossing can still be seen. The Gwash now has much less flow than it did when the canal was active, since the construction of the reservoir at Rutland Water further upstream. The earthworks of the canal continue through the park.

The route of the canal is just to the north of the river, and a public footpath follows it through Uffington Park until it reaches the Uffington to Barnack road. The adjacent bridge over the River Welland has three arches and dates from the seventeenth century but the canal bridge has been filled in to protect its structure. There were three locks in open countryside on this section before the canal reached Tallington where Tallington Village Lock was located just to the north of St Lawrence Church, parts of which date from the 12th to 15th centuries, with later additions. Remains of bridge piers were uncovered during archaeological excavations carried out in 1998 when a water pipeline running from Tallington to West Deeping was installed. No details of the bridge have survived, but the levels suggest that it was probably a movable bridge. The canal then passed close to Tallington Mill, a water mill dating from around 1700, to reach Horse Holmes Lock. A railway line crossed the tail of the lock, but after the demise of the canal, the line was widened, and the lock is thought to be buried beneath the embankment.

The canal then looped around the northern edge of Horse Marsh to reach West Deeping, where there was another lock. There are visible remains of this lock, indicating that it had stone piers at both ends to support the gates, with turf sides between them. It then crossed King Street. An enclosure map dating from 1810 shows that the road crossed the canal by a ford, but that there was also a footbridge to allow pedestrians to cross the canal without getting wet. From West Deeping to Market Deeping, the canal was close to the northern bank of the northern river channel. There were two more locks in open countryside, and another at the western edge of the town, after which the cut rejoined the river. The final two locks were built on the River Welland, Briggins Lock in Deeping St James, and Low Lock to the south-east of the village.