Wey and Arun Canal - Wey and Arun Junction Canal

Wey and Arun Junction Canal

The first scheme to link the Wey and the Arun was proposed in 1641. Tributaries of both rivers were only 2 miles (3.2 km) apart, and a canal to bridge this distance was submitted as a bill to Parliament, but was dropped when it reached the committee stage. Another scheme, which would have linked up the rivers Adur, Arun, Mole and Wey, was suggested in 1663, but was not pursued.

In 1810, the 3rd Earl of Egremont began to promote the idea of a canal to link the Rivers Wey and Arun, separated by only 15 miles (24 km). Part of the justification for this canal through a very rural area, with few of the cargoes which had made other canals profitable, was to provide an inland route from London to Portsmouth and the south coast of England, an important consideration as England was at war with France and thus coastal shipping at risk of attack.

Josias Jessop (son of the more well known William Jessop) was appointed consulting engineer in 1811. It was his first job as an independent consulting engineer since he had established his reputation constructing Bristol Harbour. He made an estimate of £72,217 for construction of the canal, which he increased to £86,132 in May 1812, when he re-surveyed the route and part of it was changed. A survey was carried out in 1811 by Francis and Netlam Giles for an alternative route, 37 miles (60 km) long, from the Croydon, Mersham and Godstone Railway at Merstham to Newbridge, via Three Bridges, Crawley and Horsham. A petition was presented to Parliament, but the scheme got no further.

An Act of Parliament received the Royal Assent on 19 April 1813, entitled "An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Canal, to unite the Rivers Wey and Arun, in the counties of Surrey and Sussex". This authorised the construction of the canal from the Godalming Navigation (an extension of the River Wey) near Shalford, south of Guildford to the northern terminus of the Arun Navigation at Newbridge. May Upton was appointed resident engineer in July, and work began. Jessop designed all the main structures, including aqueducts, bridges, locks and cottages for the lock-keepers. The canal was 18.5 miles (29.8 km) long, had 23 locks and was suitable for 30-ton barges. Construction was completed in September 1816, having cost £103,000.

By the time it was opened, however, the war with France was over and thus one of the key reasons for its construction was removed. As a result it was never very prosperous, but did reasonably well, with a maximum of 23,000 tons carried in 1839. However, railway competition hit hard in 1865 with the opening of the Guildford and Horsham Railway, which was in direct competition with the canal. There were also engineering problems with few sources of water to tap into, compounded by porous soil on the summit level, which led to water shortages.

In 1867, a group of people cruised along the canal, and the trip was the subject of a book called The Thames to the Solent by Canal and Sea, which was published in 1868 by J. B. Dashwood, the same year in which an Act of Parliament authorised closure. It was offered for sale in 1870, but officially abandoned in 1871, with the land sold to many along its route, although the canal company was not wound up until 1910. After a century of disuse, the canal is being restored by The Wey & Arun Canal Trust.