Pocklington Canal - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Pocklington Canal is a broad canal which runs for 9.5 miles (15.3 km) through nine locks from the Canal Head near Pocklington

Pocklington

Pocklington is a small market town and civil parish situated at the foot of the Yorkshire Wolds in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, approximately east of York....

in the East Riding of Yorkshire

East Riding of Yorkshire

The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. For ceremonial purposes the county also includes the city of Kingston upon Hull, which is a separate unitary authority...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, to the River Derwent

River Derwent, Yorkshire

The Derwent is a river in Yorkshire in the north of England. It is used for water abstraction, leisure and sporting activities and effluent disposal as well as being of significant importance as the site of several nature reserves...

which it joins near East Cottingwith

East Cottingwith

East Cottingwith is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately north west of the market town of Howden and south west of the market town of Pocklington....

. Most of it lies within a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest.

History

The first proposals to build a canal to Pocklington were made in 1765, when there were plans for a canal from the Humber Estuary to Wholesea, with two branches from there, one to Weighton and the other to Pocklington. Wholesea is near to the site of Sod House Lock on the Market Weighton Canal

Market Weighton Canal

The Market Weighton canal ran from the Humber estuary to its terminus near Market Weighton. It gained its Act of Parliament in 1772 and opened in 1782. The closest to Market Weighton was abandoned in 1900 and the right of navigation through Weighton lock was lost in 1971...

. A second assessment of the project was made two years later, and a third in 1771, but by December of that year, the plan was for the Market Weighton Canal as built, and the branch to Pocklington had been dropped completely. In 1777, a new plan for a canal from the River Derwent

River Derwent, Yorkshire

to Pocklington was considered, and approval was obtained from Lord Rockingham

Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham

Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, KG, PC , styled The Hon. Charles Watson-Wentworth before 1733, Viscount Higham between 1733 and 1746, Earl of Malton between 1746 and 1750 and The Earl Malton in 1750, was a British Whig statesman, most notable for his two terms as Prime...

, but no further action was taken. Further debate occurred in 1801, when a public meeting was held at Pocklington. Some were in favour of a route to the River Ouse

River Ouse, Yorkshire

The River Ouse is a river in North Yorkshire, England. The river is formed from the River Ure at Cuddy Shaw Reach near Linton-on-Ouse, about 6 miles downstream of the confluence of the River Swale with the River Ure...

, but after due consideration, an engineer called Henry Eastburn was asked to make a survey of two possible routes to the Derwent. Eastburn had worked for John Rennie, but his whereabouts after 1801 are unknown, and when the report was presented, it had been produced by William Chapman

William Chapman (engineer)

William Chapman was an English engineer. Born in Whitby, he worked on the construction of the Old and Humber docks in Hull, as well as many drainage and canal projects. He is credited with the invention of the bogie and articulation for rail vehicles.-Personal life:William Chapman was born on 7...

. He suggested two routes, an 8 miles (12.9 km) route from East Cottingwith

East Cottingwith

and a 9.5 miles (15.3 km) one from Bubwith

Bubwith

Bubwith is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The village is situated about north east of Selby, and north of Goole. It is situated on the east bank of the River Derwent, west of which is the Selby district of North Yorkshire...

. He then recommended that they choose a third route, 13.5 miles (21.7 km) long, which would join the Ouse near Howden

Howden

Howden is a small market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies north of the M62, on the A614 road about north of Goole and south-west of York. William the Conqueror gave the town to the Bishops of Durham in 1080...

. Knowing that this was unlikely to meet the approval either of Lord Rockingham or of Lord Fitzwilliam, who owned the Derwent, the plan was dropped.

Finally, in 1812, Earl Fitzwilliam employed George Leather Jr., to survey a proposed route. At the time, both Leather and his father were working for the Earl on a navigation and drainage scheme for the upper Derwent. The suggested route started at Sutton Lock on the Derwent, presumably so that goods for the Pocklington Canal would have to travel a greater distance along the Derwent, and therefore the tolls would be greater, but Leather found this route to be problematic, and proposed an alternative route to East Cottingwith. Prior to actually conducting the survey, he estimated the cost at £43,630, for a route with 8 locks that stopped at the turnpike road to Hull. He also suggested that the canal could be continued into Pocklington, with an extra two locks, for an additional cost of £8,257. He calculated the probable revenue at £1,245.50 per year, which was surprisingly close to the actual figure once the canal was build. He started surveying in 1813, but became ill, and the work was not completed until June 1814.

There was some debate as to whether the extension from the road into Pocklington should be built, but it was decided to include provision for it in the bill

Bill (proposed law)

A bill is a proposed law under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act or a statute....

to be put before Parliament, on the understanding that it would only be built if a majority of the shareholders approved. Leather estimated the cost for the section to the road, which included eight locks, at £32,032. The plan which accompanied the bill showed an extra five locks on the extension into Pocklington. The bill became an Act of Parliament

Act of Parliament

An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

on 25 May 1815, which authorised the newly-formed Pocklington Canal Company to raise £32,000 by issuing shares, and an extra £10,000 is required, either by subscriptions from the shareholders or by mortgaging the works. A management committee was elected at a shareholders meeting held on 19 June, and all the money had been pledged by 7 July. Leather acted as engineer, and his first job was to write to Earl Fitzwilliam's agent, to enquire whether the Earl would be building a lock on the Derwent at East Cottingwith. As he was not, an entrance lock had to be built, which had not been included in the original estimate.

The canal was started from the Derwent end, so that sections could be brought into use as they were completed. Work progressed quickly, and some of the shareholders protested at the frequency with which calls were made for the money, but a fast build reduced overheads. The section to Hagg Bridge opened in August 1816, and the head of navigation was extended to Walbut in the following spring. Bad weather prevented Leather from completing the work by the end of 1817, and the canal eventually opened on 30 July 1818. The final cost was £32,695, the excess over the original estimate being caused by some additional works which had to be done. £2,495 was borrowed to cover the shortfall, and Leather received a warm vote of thanks from the shareholders.

Operation

The canal was sized to allow keels

Humber Keel

The Humber Keel was a type of sail craft used for inshore and inland cargo transport around Hull and the Humber Estuary, in the United Kingdom, particularly through the late 19th and early 20th centuries....

which operated on the Derwent to use it, and so the locks were 58 feet (17.7 m) long by 14 in 3 in (4.34 m) wide. The canal rose by around 101 feet (30.8 m) as it travelled the 9.5 miles (15.3 km) from the Derwent to Pocklington, and so the locks were quite deep, with a rise of a little over 11 feet (3.4 m) each. Pocklington Beck supplies most of the water for the canal through a feeder at Canal Head. The paddle gear on the locks was fitted with fixed handles when the canal opened, but these were replaced by removable ones after incidents where the lock pounds were emptied by unauthorised people. A house was built for the lock-keeper and collector of tolls, and Mark Swann was appointed to the post. The house was located close to the top lock.

Tolls raised just £623 in 1820, as there was competition for goods travelling to Hull, Market Weighton and York

York

York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

from road transport. However, in 1822 a packet boat was bought as a joint venture by several tradesmen, and a weekly service to Hull began. Traffic consisted of coal, lime, manure and general merchandise travelling up the canal to Pocklington, while corn, flour and timber travelled in the opposite direction. Traffic rose gradually, enabling the debts to be repaid during the 1820s, and in 1830, a dividend of 3 per cent was paid to shareholders. Many of the committee who had steered the project from the beginning took the opportunity to stand down at this point, to allow younger men to take the canal forwards. Average receipts from tolls were around £1,400 per year, which allowed the dividend to be around 3 per cent until the late 1840s.

In 1845, the projected York & Hull East & West Junction Railway made an offer to purchase the canal, and the chairman of the Pocklington company, who was associated with the York and North Midland Railway

York and North Midland Railway

The York and North Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom which opened in 1839, connecting York, with the Leeds and Selby Railway and in 1840 with the North Midland Railway at Normanton near Leeds.-Origins:...

, made a counter offer for the same amount on behalf of his railway. The canal company accepted both offers, on the basis that the first railway to be authorised by an Act of Parliament could then buy the canal. The York and North Midland obtained its Act in 1846, and opened a line in October 1847 which linked Beverley

Beverley

Beverley is a market town, civil parish and the county town of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, located between the River Hull and the Westwood. The town is noted for Beverley Minster and architecturally-significant religious buildings along New Walk and other areas, as well as the Beverley...

, Market Weighton, Pocklington and York. They obtained another Act that year, which authorised them to buy the canal, as well as the Market Weighton Canal, the Leven Canal

Leven Canal

The Leven Canal canal runs for from the River Hull to the village of Leven, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was built for Mrs Charlotta Bethell in 1805, and remained in use until 1935. It is now a Site of Special Scientific Interest.-Location:...

and Vavasour's Canal. The total cost to the railway for the canal was £17,980, of which £4,587 was paid in cash and went to the smaller shareholders, while the rest was paid to the larger shareholders as debenture

Debenture

A debenture is a document that either creates a debt or acknowledges it. In corporate finance, the term is used for a medium- to long-term debt instrument used by large companies to borrow money. In some countries the term is used interchangeably with bond, loan stock or note...

s. The purchase was completed on 18 November 1848, and the railway had an obligation to keep the canal open. The Railway Commissioners could intervene if they failed to maintain the canal.

Decline

In order to minimise costs little more than token maintenance was carried out by the railway company. In May 1850, Swann, who had been collecting tolls since the canal opened, was dismissed. Some of the locks were repaired in 1851, after which the railway company received a suggestion from landowners that the canal should become a drainage ditch, with a tramway running along the bank for the carriage of goods. Although the idea was well received, no further action was taken. When the York and North Midland Railway was taken over by the North Eastern Railway

North Eastern Railway (UK)

The North Eastern Railway , was an English railway company. It was incorporated in 1854, when four existing companies were combined, and was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923...

in 1854, the new owners of the canal followed a similar policy of low maintenance. Traffic declined, from 5,721 tons in 1858 to 901 tons in 1892, by which time most boats terminated at Melbourne, and could only be partially loaded, as the channel was badly silted. Despite the difficulties, trade on the canal continued until 1932 and the canal remained passable for a further two years. When the railways were nationalised in 1948 the largely derelict (although not abandoned) canal became the responsibility of the British Transport Commission

British Transport Commission

The British Transport Commission was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain...

and from 1962 the British Waterways Board, which subsequently became British Waterways

British Waterways

British Waterways is a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom, serving as the navigation authority in England, Scotland and Wales for the vast majority of the canals as well as a number of rivers and docks...

Restoration

In July 1958, the Bowes Committee published their Inquiry into Inland Waterways, which recommended that waterways should be classed as A, B or C, where class A and B would be retained for navigation, but class C would not. The Pocklington Canal was in class C, and the newly-formed Inland Waterways Protection Society carried out a survey of it in 1959, so that they had evidence of its condition. A government White Paper

White paper

A white paper is an authoritative report or guide that helps solve a problem. White papers are used to educate readers and help people make decisions, and are often requested and used in politics, policy, business, and technical fields. In commercial use, the term has also come to refer to...

followed the Bowes Report in February 1959, which recommended that an Inland Waterways Redevelopment Advisory Committee should assist schemes to regenerate canals which were no longer commercially viable. The evidence collected by the Protection Society was presented to the Redevelopment Advisory Committee in June 1959, when the Committee were examining a proposal to close the canal and fill it with sludge from a water treatment plant.

In the 1960s consideration was given to the possibility of restoring the canal, and in 1969 the Pocklington Canal Amenity Society was formed. Restoration began in 1971 with the repair of the entrance lock near East Cottingwith. In 1980, the Shell Oil Company funded a new set of gates for Thornton Lock, under an awards scheme. Further assistance was provided in 1986 when Pocklington Canal Amenity Society provided two swing bridges and East Yorkshire Borough Council

East Yorkshire (district)

The Borough of East Yorkshire was one of nine local government districts of the county of Humberside, England from April 1, 1974 to April 1, 1996....

funded the work to fit them. The canal as far as the Melbourne Arm was formally opened on 19 July 1987 by Brian Dice, Chief Executive of the British Waterways Board. Restoration is still ongoing and about half the canal has currently been restored. The section from the River Derwent to the Melbourne Arm is navigable, and four of the remaining seven locks have been renovated. Three sections of the canal, covering most of its route, have been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest

Site of Special Scientific Interest

A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...

, and consequently, all restoration and activity has to be by agreement between British Waterways and Natural England

Natural England

Natural England is the non-departmental public body of the UK government responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, freshwater and marine environments, geology and soils, are protected and improved...

. Negotiations to restore Walbut lock took months to complete, but permission was finally granted in 1992. In 1995, the Pocklington Canal Amenity Society launched an appeal to fund new gates for Coates lock, and these were fitted in 2000. The section nearest to Pocklington benefitted from a new set of bottom gates on the Top lock in 2002, and dredging of the pound above the lock by British Waterways. Further negotiation with English Nature

English Nature

English Nature was the United Kingdom government agency that promoted the conservation of wildlife, geology and wild places throughout England between 1990 and 2006...

resulted in permission to submit a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund

Heritage Lottery Fund

The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...

for completion of the restoration work.

The canal society own a trip boat called New Horizons, which is based at Melbourne

Melbourne, East Riding of Yorkshire

Melbourne is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately west of the market town of Market Weighton and south west of the market town of Pocklington. It lies just to the south of the Pocklington Canal...

, and used to enable the public to experience a cruise on the canal during the summer months.
The canal is also noted for its wide variety of fish stocks, including tench, bream, perch and roach.

History

Operation

Decline

Restoration

Coordinates

See also