40-628: The Melton Mowbray Navigation was formed when the River Wreake in Leicestershire , England , was made navigable upstream from its junction with the River Soar and the Leicester Navigation near Syston to Melton Mowbray , opening in 1797. Largely river navigation, there were numerous lock cuts, to accommodate the 12 broad locks built along its length, many of which were built at sites where it
80-660: A 7-mile (11 km) link from Stamford to the River Nene at Peterborough . The River Welland could be reached by a canal from Stamford at the time, and the plans also included a link from the Welland near Market Deeping northwards to the South Forty-Foot Drain , from where Boston could be reached. A bill for this, together with one for a rival scheme to link Stamford to the Grand Junction Canal , which also included
120-630: A canal to Oakham were first conceived in 1785, by some of those proposing the Melton Mowbray Navigation . William Jessop was asked to survey a route, but it was Robert Whitworth who carried out the work. His route was generally further west than the adopted route, passing to the west of Stapleford, and then through Leesthorpe and Ashwell to reach Oakham. It would have required 13 locks. Meetings were held in December 1785 to consider proposals for an extension onwards from Oakham to Stamford. In 1791,
160-626: A link to the South Forty-Foot Drain, were put before Parliament in 1811, but neither met with any success. The idea was revived in 1815 and 1828, but no further action was taken. Railway companies arrived in the area in November 1844. When they were approached by the Midland Railway company about proposals for the Syston and Peterborough Railway , the shareholders recommended negotiation. A deal
200-489: A much more direct route due east to Wyfordby. The railway then follows the course of the canal much more closely, although there are only a few small sections where it actually followed the canal bed. Near the junction with the dismantled railway branch to Bourne , the canal swept northwards in a loop, to cross the River Eye, near which was Saxby wharf. The canal then headed southwards to the east of Stapleford Park , where there
240-515: A river in England is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Oakham Canal The Oakham Canal ran from Oakham , Rutland to Melton Mowbray , Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It opened in 1802, but it was never a financial success, and it suffered from the lack of an adequate water supply. It closed after 45 years, when it was bought by the Midland Railway to allow
280-409: Is conjectural. In Melton itself, new wharves were built, which provided warehousing, a granary, a coal yard and malt offices, to the west of the main basin. Dividends on the shares gradually increased, reaching 7.5 per cent in 1809, and 10 per cent in 1821, where they remained for the next 20 years. Income from tolls exceeded £4,000 per year in the 1830s. Cargoes benefited from the connection at Syston to
320-627: Is known as the River Eye and becomes the Wreake below Melton Mowbray . It flows southwest, passing through Melton Mowbray, Asfordby , Frisby on the Wreake , Brooksby , Thrussington and Ratcliffe on the Wreake , before meeting the Soar near Syston . In its upper reaches it is called the River Eye and it becomes the Wreake below Melton Mowbray, near Sysonby Lodge. The name Wreake was given by Danish invaders of Leicestershire, who are thought to have navigated
360-578: The Fosse Way at Syston ), and most lock chambers are still extant though in need of repair. A slipway has been built in Melton Mowbray by Waterway Recovery Group volunteers, some dredging and towpath repairs undertaken, and the society has worked with the Sustrans Connect2 project to replace the entrance footbridge at Syston with one offering navigable headroom. Sustrans were awarded £50 million by
400-428: The River Soar and the national waterways system. The route passed through 19 broad locks along its 15.5-mile (24.9 km) route, rising 126 feet (38 m) between Melton and Oakham. No aqueducts or tunnels were required, and there was just one large embankment near Edmondthorpe . The main cargos carried were coal, which moved up the canal, and agricultural produce, which was carried away to market. The enterprise
440-458: The River Thames had shown that this arrangement tended to prevent the formation of a bar or shoal where the lock cut rejoined the river. Work began soon after the award of the act, with Staveley employed as engineer, although there are few details of the construction, as the company records have not survived. The first section, from the Soar to Frisby Mill, was opened in November 1794. The canal
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#1732844885622480-567: The River Trent , then the River Soar and finally the Wreake as they entered the district. Their word Wreake indicated that the river followed a tortuous, twisting and turning course. The river was canalised in the late 18th century, after the Wreak and Eye Navigation Act 1791 ( 31 Geo. 3 . c. 77) was passed, though after the building of the Syston and Peterborough railway in the mid 19th century,
520-412: The Syston and Peterborough Railway to be built, partly along its course. Most of it is infilled, although much of its route can still be seen in the landscape, and there are short sections which still hold water. From Melton Mowbray, the canal headed broadly eastwards, following the valley of the River Eye , keeping to its north and east bank to reach Wyfordby . The railway, when it was built, followed
560-649: The Leicester Navigation and the Melton Mowbray line were authorised by acts of Parliament , and new plans for the Oakham line were drawn up, following a meeting in April 1792. The Earls of Harborough and Winchilsea supported the navigation, and a bill was put before Parliament in September. In November, some £51,000 was promised towards the costs of construction, and on 7 May 1793, the Oakham Canal Act 1793 ( 33 Geo. 3 . c. 103)
600-524: The Melton line and the Oakham line was critical of him, and he resigned as engineer, to be replaced in late 1797 by William Dunn of Sheffield. Although Dunn had no previous experience at building canals, he saw the work through to a successful conclusion. Costs overran, and it was difficult to raise money due to the uncertainties caused by the French Revolutionary Wars , but a second act of Parliament
640-477: The People's Lottery Fund in 2008, to fund 79 projects, of which the bridge replacement was one. Work began on the new bridge, which provides 8 feet (2.4 m) of headroom, in late 2012, following lengthy discussions between the society, Sustrans, Leicestershire County Council and British Waterways , and it was completed in 2013. The demolished Syston Lock needs to be rebuilt to open up the first 1 mile (1.6 km) of
680-485: The bed for their line. The effect on the Melton Mowbray Navigation was dramatic. 1847 was its best year, for it carried 68,896 tons, of which 39,451 proceeded on to the Oakham canal. With the Oakham closed, traffic for the following year was less than half, at 30,879 tons, and had dropped to just 13,301 tons in 1850. Income fell even faster, from £4,830 in 1847 to £415 in 1849. The Canal company attempted to sell
720-679: The bridges were lowered while others were rebuilt. The towpaths, which were rented from the owners of the banks, reverted to their owners. Restoration of the navigation and the Oakham Canal was first proposed by the Leicester Branch of the Inland Waterways Association in 1997, and this led to the formation of the Melton & Oakham Waterways Society. Very few bridges have been lowered (the principal one being Lewin Bridge, which carries
760-581: The canal network were made in 1780, following on from the success achieved by the Loughborough Navigation and the Erewash Canal . The intent was to make the River Soar navigable to Leicester , and the River Wreake navigable to Melton. Although nothing came of these first proposals, public meetings were held in 1785, and the civil engineer William Jessop surveyed the route in October. Around £6,000
800-558: The canal was disused and fell into ruin. Many of the diversions made to the river in order to make the canal navigable are still visible, especially in the neighbourhood of Hoby with Rotherby , Frisby on the Wreake , Kirby Bellars and Asfordby. The Wreake is graded by the Environment Agency as "B" quality, which is excellent for a Midlands river. Biotic index surveys report mayfly and stonefly nymphs , caddis fly larvae , dragonfly and damselfly nymphs and crayfish . Among
840-409: The detailed plans, which included details of the lock sites and cuts necessary to build them, together with sites where the river would be straightened to aid navigation. Ten mills were in operation at the time, and so that determined the location and fall of ten of the locks. Although the plans showed lock cuts with a lock at the upper end of the cut, they were moved to the lower end, as Jessop's work on
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#1732844885622880-462: The fish are Perch , Chubb , Pike , Minnows , Miller's Thumb , and Trout . Otters are starting to repopulate the Wreake in its quieter stretches. [REDACTED] Media related to River Wreake at Wikimedia Commons 52°42′32″N 1°07′11″W / 52.7090°N 1.1198°W / 52.7090; -1.1198 This Leicestershire location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to
920-427: The railway was authorised by Parliament and a second act to allow the canal to be sold and abandoned was obtained on 27 July 1846. The railway from Syston to Melton Mowbray opened on 1 September 1846. It would be more than a year before the sale of the canal was finally completed, on 29 October 1847, but just six months after that, the line from Melton Mowbray to Oakham opened on 1 May 1848. The purchase price enabled
960-486: The road to Cottesmore , where there was another wharf, about 1 mile (1.6 km) from Cottesmore. Just before the road, the course is crossed by the former mineral railway to Cottesmore Iron Mines sidings, now occupied by the Rutland Railway Museum . The canal passes the site of the former Ashwell Prison , near which some of it is still in water, to arrive at Oakham, where there was a terminal wharf. Plans for
1000-431: The very successful Leicester Navigation. The Oakham canal had never been so profitable, paying dividends of around 3.8 per cent, and lack of water during the dry summer of 1844 resulted in it closing for five months. When the Midland Railway sought to build their Syston and Peterborough Railway , the Oakham company negotiated, and the railway bought the canal on 29 October 1847, with a view to closing it and using part of
1040-523: The waterway to Lewin Bridge and the Gate Hangs Well public house. Download coordinates as: [REDACTED] Media related to River Wreake at Wikimedia Commons 52°45′08″N 0°59′46″W / 52.75222°N 0.99611°W / 52.75222; -0.99611 River Wreake The River Wreake is a river in Leicestershire , England. It is a tributary of the River Soar . The river between Stapleford Park and Melton Mowbray
1080-562: The waterway to the Loughborough Navigation in the 1860s, and then to the Midland Railway Company, but neither were interested. It struggled on until closure on 1 August 1877. The act of Abandonment required the structures of the canal to be put into good order before they were abandoned, and this process was overseen by the engineer A.W. Dalton. Crescent shaped weirs were built in place of the upper lock gates, and some of
1120-484: The work and the navigation was open by 1797. A second act of Parliament ( 39 & 40 Geo. 3 . c. lv) was obtained to resolve a number of financial issues, and it seems that the total cost of the project was around £45,000. The navigation was 14.75 miles (23.74 km) long, with twelve broad locks, which raise the canal by 71 feet (22 m) between the Soar and Melton. The canal served a mainly rural area, and traffic levels reflected this. The population of Melton Mowbray
1160-430: Was another wharf, on its way to Station Cottages, which was the location of Whissendine railway station , although it was some distance from the village. Beyond the station, the railway abandoned the course of the canal, heading south-eastwards to Ashwell and then south to Oakham. The canal headed east to Edmondthorpe and on to Market Overton , where a third wharf served the village. Proceeding southwards, it reaches
1200-578: Was built during the time of the French Wars , and inflation was a problem, resulting in costs over-running. In March 1795, a special meeting was held to consider how to raise more money, while in July, Staveley was 'voted out', to be replaced by William Green, who had been involved in the construction of the Grantham Canal . Although he declared that the workmanship and the materials used were very bad, he completed
1240-410: Was defeated, and the Wreake bill was shelved. A single bill combining both of the previous two plans was submitted in 1789, but was again defeated, due to opposition from the Leicestershire coalfields. The proponents worked hard to win over those opposing the scheme, which was split into two again, and both bills were re-submitted in early 1791. The Leicester Navigation bill faced limited opposition, but
Melton Mowbray Navigation - Misplaced Pages Continue
1280-401: Was granted on 13 May 1791, while the Melton Mowbray Navigation faced no opposition, and was authorised by its act of Parliament on 6 June 1791. The act allowed the proprietors to raise £25,000 by issuing shares, with an additional £5,000 if required. Many of the shareholders lived locally, though there were some from further afield. William Jessop's assistant, Christopher Staveley had drawn up
1320-536: Was granted, authorising the Oakham Canal Company to raise £56,000 by issuing shares, with an additional £20,000 if required. The new route had been surveyed by William Jessop, but the detailed design was done by Christopher Staveley junior, who then became the engineer. Staveley was also involved with the Leicester and the Melton navigations, but was sacked by the Melton company in 1795. A report into his work on
1360-478: Was necessary to maintain the water levels for an adjacent mill. With railway competition, and the closure of the Oakham Canal , to which it was connected, decline was rapid, and the canal closed in 1877. Two hundred years after it was opened, the Melton & Oakham Waterways Society was formed, with the aim of returning the navigation to a navigable waterway once more. The first proposals to link Melton Mowbray to
1400-415: Was never a success financially, but generated extra traffic for the Melton Mowbray Navigation, with around half of the coal passing up the canal continuing on to Oakham, and agricultural produce passing down on its way to Leicester. The main wharves were at Melton Basin and Rearsby, although the figures for the period between 1839 and 1842 record nine other wharves, although the precise location of most of them
1440-428: Was not a financial success. Those who had invested in the canal had paid £130 for their shares, and the first dividend of £2 was paid in 1814. £3 was paid the following year, but there were no further payments until 1827, when another £2 was paid. The most profitable year was 1840, when the dividend reached £5. The idea of a link from Oakham to Stamford, 11 miles (18 km) due east, was revived in 1809, with plans for
1480-464: Was obtained in 1800, allowing the company to raise another £30,000. The final cost of construction was between £65,000 and £70,000. The canal opened in stages, reaching Saxby in November 1800, and was declared to be completed in June 1802, but the water supply was inadequate, and it was probably not usable to Oakham until January 1803. The canal connected Oakham to the Melton Mowbray Navigation , and hence to
1520-413: Was recorded as 1730 in the census of 1801. The main cargoes were coal, supplemented by barley, oats and wheat, granite, lime, wool and manure. Coal traffic amounted to 16,781 tons in 1797, although of this, 77 per cent was carried up the canal, and the rest was carried down the canal, so it appears that coal was resold to the Leicester market when prices fluctuated. The Oakham Canal , when it opened in 1802,
1560-477: Was struck, with the Midland Railway paying £26,000 and 200 fully paid up £40 shares for the canal. In 1844, the canal had carried 31,182 tons of goods upwards, with around 72 per cent of it being coal, and grain and wool amounting to 4,120 tons had passed down the canal. The lack of a proper water supply had resulted in the canal being closed for nearly five months during the dry summer of 1844. The construction of
1600-483: Was subscribed to fund the scheme, and thoughts of upgrading the River Eye to enable boats to reach Oakham , and of cutting a canal to Stamford were also voiced. When the opportunity came to submit the bill to Parliament in March 1786, two bills were submitted, one for the Soar from Loughborough to Leicester, and a second for the Soar from Loughborough to the mouth of the Wreake, and up the Wreake to Melton. The main Soar bill
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