The Coalport Canal is an historic canal built to link several Coalport

Coalport

Coalport is a village in Shropshire, now part of the new town of Telford. It is located on the River Severn at , a mile downstream of Ironbridge...

 industries with the River Severn

River Severn

The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...

. The canal runs from the river past the Coalport China works, the 'Tar Tunnel

Tar Tunnel

The Tar Tunnel is located on the north bank of the River Severn in the Ironbridge Gorge at Coalport, England, and now forms part of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust....

' leading to the bitumen and coal mines, and up the Hay Inclined Plane

Hay Inclined Plane

The Hay Inclined Plane is a canal inclined plane in the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, with a height of 207 feet . It was located on a short stretch of the Shropshire Canal that linked the industrial area of Blists Hill with the River Severn. The inclined plane was in operation from 1792 to 1894...

, where it continues towards Blists Hill town. It terminates here. There is also another entrance to the mines from the top of the inclined plane at Blists Hill.

Today, the canal and inclined plane, along with the Coalport China works, mine, and Blists Hill town, are part of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust

Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust

Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust is an industrial heritage organisation which runs ten museums and manages 35 historic sites within the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, England, widely considered as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution....

. Currently, much of the stretch between Blists Hill and the Hay Inclined Plane

Hay Inclined Plane

The Hay Inclined Plane is a canal inclined plane in the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, with a height of 207 feet . It was located on a short stretch of the Shropshire Canal that linked the industrial area of Blists Hill with the River Severn. The inclined plane was in operation from 1792 to 1894...

 is overgrown and impassable.

The Coalport Canal is a part of the Shropshire Union Canal

Shropshire Union Canal

The Shropshire Union Canal is a navigable canal in England; the Llangollen and Montgomery canals are the modern names of branches of the Shropshire Union system and lie partially in Wales....

.

See also

• Canals of Great Britain
• History of the British canal system
  History of the British canal system
  The British canal system of water transport played a vital role in the United Kingdom's Industrial Revolution at a time when roads were only just emerging from the medieval mud and long trains of pack horses were the only means of "mass" transit by road of raw materials and finished products The...
  
  
• Rivers of the United Kingdom