Researching the Archaeology and History of the First Industrial Canal Nevell, MD and Wyke, T

Bridgewater 250: Researching the archaeology and history of the first industrial canal Nevell, MD and Wyke, T

Title Bridgewater 250: Researching the archaeology and history of the first industrial canal Authors Nevell, MD and Wyke, T Type Book Section URL This version is available at: http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/22594/ Published Date 2012

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. Above all, it showed to n of the canal, discussed cks nor mountains, could stop Neither has any explanation been offered 1 When first built the canal, especially the aque- 2 duct, impressed, sending shivers of excitement through onlookers as they watched barges crossing the aqueduct at the same time as boats passed under- neath. For other visitors it was the coal mines that made the strongest impression, travelling through unearthly, spaces shadowy where they experienced a even the most sceptical of businessmen and investors that canals had distinct advantages in creating new markets as well as improving the efficiency of existing ones, especially when carrying heavy, bulky, low value goods such as coal. an integral element of an expanding industrial economy. It demonstrated that water transport no longer needed to be thought of in terms of improving the navigability of existing rivers At- as a Tourist The Bridgewater traction As soon as it opened, the Bridgewater Canal became a place to visit and admire.Numerous visitors recorded their impressions in letters and diaries, although, somewhat surprisingly, these contemporary accounts have not been studied systematically by historians. as to why the Duke, often depicted as a secretive person, allowed visitors inside the mine. Arthur Young’s detailed descriptio by John Aldred (Chapter 3) is one of the accounts most frequently quoted by contemporaries and historians. at neither hills nor dales, ro (Rochdale, 1816). July Sep- th th of the first section of history of the eighteenth A Treatise on Canals and Reservoirs.

their progress, and whether the country afforded water to supply them, or mines and minerals to feed them with tonnage, or whether it was populous or otherwise, all amounted to nothing, for in the end, they were all Bridgewater Canals. His Grace’s canal had operated on the minds of canal speculators, much in the same manner as a large lottery prize does upon the minds the inhabitantsof of a town, which has had the misfortune to be visited with such a calamity.” John Sutcliffe, “But so unbounded have the speculations in canalsbeen, th

tember 1830 but the opening the Bridgewater Canal, including the remarkable stone aqueduct across the River Irwell at Barton, can be regarded as a turning point in the transport history of Britain. By the beginningthe of nineteenth century the Bridgewater Canal was already recognised as one of the key developments in would what eventually be referred to as the Industrial Revolution. Bridgewater, the aristocratic entrepreneur, and Brindley, the empirical engineer, had demonstrated the potential of a new transport infrastructure in an increasingly industrial and urban economy. The Bridgewater Canal was to become as much a land- mark in the technological century as the spinning jenny and the steam engine, even though it relied on older proven technologies rather than modern ones. But familiar as Bridgewater and his canal are to archaeologists and historians – the literature on both is considerable (see the Biblio- graphical Note at the end of this volume) – there are still, as a number of the essays in this volume suggest, under-exploredaspectsindustrial of the archaeology and economic history of the canal. like Canals, the railways, have a long pre-industrial history but the significance of the Bridgewater Canal was that it transformed water carriage, making canals 1761 marked the beginning of the Canal Age. The 1761 marked the beginning of the date may not be as well remembered as the 15

Anniversaries an are occasion for reflection and re- assessment as well as celebration. Friday, 17

and History of First the Canal Industrial Bridgewater 250: Researching the Archaeology Researching 250: Bridgewater Wyke & Terry Nevell Michael

Introduction

Chapter 1 Chapter Salford Applied Archaeology Series, Volume 1 Salford Applied

Mé- Jo- 7 Foreigners found 6 to return a second time suspicion, and, perhaps, suspicion, and, a concern as new tech- ions of the collieries and e thrill and fear of travel- e canal, including one of reached Manchester in 1765 (Paris, 1842), one of the most

9 Salford Applied Archaeology Series, Volume 1 Salford Applied This interest of foreigners in the Worsley mines 8 (Fig 2.2) continued into the nineteenth century, and it was two French engineers, Henri Fournel and Isodore Dyévre, who were to provide in their moire sur les canaux souterrains et sur les houillères de Worsley prés Manchester complete published descript underground canals. When the canal finally it also attracted visitors. The bustling scene on the Duke’s Quay at Castlefield caused one unidentified visitor from Worcestershire Industrial espionage became nologies were innovated in eighteenth-century Brit- ain. The number of foreign visitors wishing to see the canalYoung. surprisedArthur hann Ludwig Hogrewe, a Germanhann engineercar- and tographer, was another conscientious observer who left a detailed record of th the earliest planstheand Castlefield Runcorn of ba- sins. themselves under particular not without reason. The investigations of the French mining engineer Gabriel Jars into European mining were supported by his government, keen to discover and innovate new technologies. Worsley was one of the collieries Jars visited in England, where he noted details of the galleries and coal seams that were not to be found in the descriptions left by ordinary visitors who tended to recall th ling underground with only the light of a taper to identify the shapes and sounds of their route.

3 Lateraqueducts – 4 d the Avon in Scotland – Fisher, son of a Philadel- a right Line and goes sev- Line and goes a right dley and Gilbert had dared the canal and mines more and mines canal the We got into a boat of great Length but narrow and ‘ closely (Fig 1.1). John Rennie was only one of a new generationof engineersso. to do Other visitors examined thrilling terror. Jabez Maud phian merchant family, travelled on the canal for the first time in October 1775. Having noted the industries clustered around the basin at Worsley and what was to him the novel method used to construct the mill dam, he entered the mine: went up a Passage above 1,000 yards cut out of solid Rock above below 100 feet the Surface of the Ground. In some places where the Rocks are loose they are supported by a Brick Arch just sufficient to let our heads go clear as we sat in the boat. After going up these 1,000 yards we got out of the boat and took a walk 160 yards to where the People were at work. This Passage is on eral Miles further than we chose to venture. We took Candles to light us up this dark and gloomy road as not a single ray comes from without.’ Fig 1.1: Fisher’s sketch of the Barton Aqueduct (courtesy of Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College). the Pontcysyllte in Wales an were to be longer and higher, but their construction depended upon what Brin to do at Barton. One visitor who described the canal basin at Worsley as ‘…like a little Amsterdam filled with barges, timber yards, and limestone which is brought from Wales…’, went on to note that ‘I saw a manufactory of machines, or buckets, which my modesty would not let me examine minutely, for the men stared as if they took forme a French spy…’.

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De- e The illustrationbook. on Behold my channel thronged with capa- ‘ (1795) is hardly surprising, given that ers to begin their visit goingby to see the canal basin at Castlefield. the canal That as a spur for was seen the region’s in John quickening growth Aikin’s scription of thescription of Country from Thirty to Forty Miles Round Manchester Ogden was responsible for themost of much-quoted Manchester section of th the title page arch aqueduct – a single spanning a river estuary – was a pictorial proclamation of the achievement that was the Barton Aqueductthe and possibilities it had unleashed. Not that Aikin needed to be convinced. Although no longer a Manchester 1770s he had written a moral resident, in the early fable prompted by the canal, which in he imagined the ‘Genius of the Canal’ bursting out theof cele- brated aqueduct, carrying surveying instruments and a pick-axe: cious vessels for the conveyance of merchandise, and g the two mine entrances (courtesy of Salford City Archive, The was strial tourist. In 1784 the strial tourist. In 1784 40 thousand of Bushels ingworks were built, the A Description of Manchester,A Description Its author, James Ogden, catching the .

10 Single-handedly, the Duke had put Manchester on the map. Long before the town’s steam-powered cotton mills and engineer the inducanal was attracting town’s first guidebook, published the place,spirit of change in to ignore chose the con- ventions of existing town guides and began with a paean to the Duke and his canal, encouraging strang- Fig 1.2: Early nineteenth-century sketch of Worsley Delph showin Corn in them at this time Corn in them at this & large quantities of flour &c.’ to confirm to confirm his initial impressions: it is aston- ‘…for for a personishing whosees anything never of the There’s going on here. the Business that’s kind to see such Quantities of Slate, Timber, Stone & merchan- sorts. The warehousesdise of all are very Extensive, but they are pretty filled with one thing other. or There’s not less or than 30 Mullineux Collection, T1682). T1682). Mullineux Collection, Salford Applied Archaeology Series, Volume 1 Salford Applied

But long 12 one such site, at Park rtance in the subsequent

e is much anecdotal evi- s at Norbury near Poyn- 13 ssenger boat (Young 1770). Key: A - River Salford Applied Archaeology Series, Volume 1 Salford Applied dence such as Eric Svedenstierna when who noted such a large de- visiting the town in 1802 that ‘With mand for coal,no small it is advantage that at even the present high prices, Manchester can have coal at cheaper50 per centabout thanlittlecoal the cost a over 40 years ago, before the Duke of Bridgewater’s Canal was finished, from whose coal mines practi- cally the whole of Manchester is supplied’. that Worsley coal had on the price of coal supplied from other local pits. Ther We do not know the extent to which Worsley coal was sold in Manchester before the building of the canal. Indeed, given its impo developmenttheknowledge town,size of of the our of the Manchester market and the number and loca- tion of collieries that supplied it is embarrassingly imperfect. Manchester newspaper advertisements in the 1760s mention collierie ton and around Ashton-under-Lyne for instance. A colliery pumping engine for Bridge north of Ashton-under-Lyne, was excavated in 1999. Fairbottom Bobs, was as it was known, working by 1776 on land owned by the Stamford estate and may have been in operation as early as 1765 when there is a manorial of a colliery record -run data on the price of the different types of coal sold in eighteenth-century Manchester is scarce. One information on prices to be still is suspects that there dug out of institutional newspapers archives, local and the Bridgewater accounts. There is work here for the economic historian, along similar lines to that undertaken by Roger Scola in his exemplary study of food supply in Manchester. l; F - barge (Courtesy of the Portico Library). Barton Aqueduct around 1769 showing a pa gh whether Bridgewater part in boosting the canal, canal, the boosting in part

11 The Press also played its the London papers re-circulating news from their provincial cousins. New developments on the canal – the introduction of a passenger boat service (Fig 1.3), the plan to use cast-iron barges, the experiments with steam power – were all reported, whilst any crumb of revenues and freight canal’s the about information was served up to an eager readership. The Bridgewater, Coal and The Bridgewater, Manchester A desire to exploit the coal deposits on his Worsley estate was the reason why Francis Egerton, third Duke of Bridgewater constructed what was to be the first arterial and the only eponymous canal of the Industrial Revolution. Coal had been mined at Worsley for centuries, thou had an accurate idea of the extent of the mineral wealth on his estate is doubtful (Fig 1.4). More important to the Duke was the existence of an urban market hungry for coal. That the Bridgewater Canal halved the price of coal in Manchester is one of the most repeated statements in the historiography of the industrial revolution. Yet, our knowledge of the Manchester coal market in the eighteenth century is slight, not least the impact splendid barges for theand pleasure use of travellers; my banks crowned with airy bridges and huge warehouses, and echoingfountsindustry.the busy of with Pay then the homage due from sloth and obscurity to grandeur and utility…’ Fig 1.3: Arthur Young’s drawing of the Irwell; B - cabin; C - weir; D - towpath; E - cana

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21 whilst its 19 Another response 20 er to communities and lliery north-east of Ard- lliery north-east of phasising that the town’s 1818, some thirteen years1818, some thirteen refine these estimatesrefine these and This shows a plan of the area , notably the 1737 Act to lford City Archive, T1702). improve Worsley Brook and the 1753-4 scheme to improve Worsley Brook and the 1753-4 build a canal linking Salford to Leigh and Wigan, were not realised. An important unanswered question More ambitious projects was the improvement of transport links between the town and local collieries. Investment in improving the roads linking Manchest coalfields to the north and east was taking place. corn branch supplying communities in north Chesh- research will ire. Further extend the data on the coal tonnage delivered to Manchester but what is clear is that the Bridgewater Canal was built with domestic not industrial consumers in mind. It em is worth first Boulton and Watt steam engineswere not in- stalled until 1789, Mill to power Piccadilly public gas works opened in public gas works opened after the installation of gas lighting in Phillips and mill. Lee’s Salford cotton The rising demand for coal in Manchester from the mid-eighteenth century prompted its businessmen to mine what were often difficult closer seams to the town, such as Bradford Co wick which was opened as late as Thisthe 1830s. appears to have been the case in the appropriately named Wet Earth Colliery at Clifton, the mining project which brought Brindley to the attention of local businessmen in the early 1750s.

to the Bridgewater Canal in 1851. guesses terminus (courtesy of Sa Statistics of coal car- 17 though interpreting the g and cooking. Industrial population in 1758 at population in 1758 18 suggests an annual demand in Man- 16

A companion study to Langton’s ex-rigorous

15 14 around the entrance to the mines at the Worsley Fig 1.4: Reverse of a ticket to Queen Victoria’s official visit Fig 1.4: Reverse of a ticket to amination ofthe development of the south-west coalfield is a significantLancashire in gap the literature. ried on the canal are incomplete but show an in- crease in 1766-85 to over from around 30,000 tons 90,000 tons in 1796-1805, chestertons at the of between 38,477 and 42,753 beingreliablewas planned. A more canal time the popu- local census in 1773-4 recorded the township’s of betweenlation at 24,386, a projected demand 54,869 tons and 60,965 tons. working in the Bardsley area (whichin the Bardsley area working included Park Manches- of part greater the ‘supplied that Bridge) ter’. figures of coal supplied to Manchester are difficult as they do not distinguish the coal carried on the Run- demand came as the metal from industries such trades, brick-making, glass-making brewing,and but these were small in number and size, and one In the 1750s households were the main consumers of coal, using it for heatin that they burned a small fraction of the total coal consumed in Manchester. contemporaryOne source numbered the township’s the largest 17,101 (making Manchester urban centre in the region), which, accepting Flinn’s estimate of annual per capita coal consumption in towns of 2.25 to 2.5 tons, Salford Applied Archaeology Series, Volume 1 Salford Applied

of the canal be- should an integral part of the the of part integral an truction and its efficient lving the Duke and the and Duke the lving That the canal was a high-risk un- 24 Salford Applied Archaeology Series, Volume 1 Salford Applied dertaking from the engineering is evident solutions its cons required to ensure operation. Crucially the canal became mining operations. The first and, perhaps, most as- tounding achievement of the of Bridgewater Duke was to build an underground canal at Worsley (Chapter 5; Fig 1.5). The of the existingwidening sough at Worsley to allow barges to enter the mine was a truly innovative strategy. There were few precedents. Anyclose study gin by recognising that much of the Worsley terminus is not visible above ground; the surviving dry docks, storehouse, granary and lime kiln (Chapter6) were part of a much bigger complex. Over the years tous decision to build a canal connectingdecisiona canal tous to build to Worsley Salford. The early eighteenth-century improvements made to rivers in the North notablyWest, Sankey the Cut, played a choosing part in water transport over improving road transport to move heavy but low originalone of the few Tomlinson in cost minerals. contributions about the canal has contextualised the Bridgewater’s origins and clarified its chronology, spiking popular tales invo Gunning sisters. ooking to lease collieries Coal, of course, was expensive to 22 The construction of a waggonway to 23 the river, similar to those operating in the collieries of the north-east, would have been another tried and tested way of transport reducing costs. haul over long distances but Manchester was relatively close to Worsley. An advertisement in a Man- chester newspaper of 1751 l mine withinin Worsley noted ‘This of Man- six miles chester, and lies extremely well for sale, and near a Great Road’. The Worsley Collieries The Worsley Yet, as every student of the Industrial Revolution knows, the Duke of Bridgewater took the momen-

concerns the condition of the roads between Worsley and the Irwell and their potential improvement. for The costs carriage of road and difficulties were said to be prohibitive, sufficientprompt to the search for improvements.However, the researches into road transport in the eighteenth century pioneered by Eric Pawson and North WestW. A. Albert, and in the more recently by Geoff Timmins, warn against us assuming that all roadtravel was inefficient and poorly organised. Fig 1.5: View of the main level of the Worsley coal mines, during a mid-twentieth century inspection. The boat being used is an inspection of Chetham’s boat (courtesy Library).

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29 n in Earl th Egerton, 28 ely. Writing in a sin- r the canal. The idea that lumeirregular to and too of the Worsley coalmines. felt it necessary to correct in his his in correct to necessary it felt 26 – Egerton argued that recent French 27 ‘defence of the public character’ of his remote cousin, the third Duke, in two letters published in Paris in 1818 and 1820 respectiv gularly unconventional style – memorably described by Tomlinson as anticipating James Joyce by over a hundred years who had visited the mine on at least three occasions and was the author of an article about the inclined plane published by the Society of Arts in 1800, pointed out that the water supply was one of the most remarkable features He asserted that the ground water in the mine was generally insufficient in vo supply the canal, and that contrary to what was to become the popular view, the Worsley mine was un- usual in that instead of having water drained out of it, water was brought in to ensure that there was sufficient to fill all of its canals. ‘What engineers has, ever, heard of flooding them, purposely?’ he asked principal supply of water fo the ground water from the mine fed the canal was one of a number of mistakes and misinterpretations about the canal that Francis Henry Egerton (8 and English publications had ascribed to the Duke ‘facts, which he never did, motives, which he never had, opinions which he never entertained’. of Bridgewater)

25 ided an ingenious solu- ter to fill the canal came earlier idea of loading the Worsley Delph. The total is subterranean canal sys- ed plane the royal prize.

the misty distance (courtesy of Chetham’s Library). Fig 1.6: Bridgewater coal boats at the Castlefield canal basin in the late nineteenth century. The Duke’s Warehouse can be see This research will also provide a clearer understanding issues surrounding ventilation of the and the control of water in the mine. Although it is widely believed that the wa directly from the mine, turning what was a familiar hindrance and heavy cost in mining operations into an asset, it should not be that assumed it was the tion to the problem of managing transhipment costs inside the mine, as did the coal directly into boxes in the barges. Although we lack a careful study of the three main types of barges used in the different levels of the mine, a subject which a detailed archaeological survey of the underground mines could be reasonably expected to add to early this admired have historians local 4), (Chapter example of containerisation on the waterways. Closed for many years, th the collierycanaltunnels were to become labyrin- thine seams as were exploited at different levels and ever greater distances from length of the underground canal system was in excesssystemlength of the underground in canal was of 52 miles. The construction of an underground inclined plane in 1795-7 prov tem remains one of a small number of majorof sites the world’s first Industrial Revolution that awaits examination by industrial archaeologistsdetailed – a study of the famous inclin Salford Applied Archaeology Series, Volume 1 Salford Applied

i- uded a new uded a new bridge linking Salford Applied Archaeology Series, Volume 1 Salford Applied adoption of the more circuitous route remains puz- zling if only because we have no evidence of whether estimates were made ofthe costs of establishing a canal basin on the Salford side of the Irwell(which presumably might have incl it to Manchester) compared to the construction costs of the eventual route. The answer to the question of what the were advantages of extending the length of the canal, including the many unknown factors associated with thebuilding of an aqueduct across a ma- framedjor river, is usually Liver- in terms that sees pool not Manchester as the Duke’s strategic goal. That the Duke wanted to capture trade from the Mersey and Irwell Navigation Company under- is standable, but what is unclear this is when became a priority. However, it not be forgotten should that the rangements at the Grocers’ Warehouse in the late eighteenth century (courtesy of M Reservoirs Walkden on were built 30 chael Nevell). Questions also remain over selection, route notably the factors behind the decision to abandon the original line of the canaldetailed in the 1759 act. The The Choice of Route Fig 1.7: A reconstruction of the internal ar rhetorically. Moor to supply whenthe upper level levelswater fell. No the drainage doubt, of the collieries changed over time but waterthe be high supply will list on the of questions that industrial archaeologists need to explore when they eventually gain access. This examination water will direct atten- of the underground tion towards those more important feeder streams above ground.

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36 given the alterna- 37 r the canal. Second, the s in the 1760 act restrict- act s in the 1760 g relatively easy di- access Though, it should not be 35 Castlefield the preferred (Fig 1.6) was not terminus for the canal but the clause be- land on the and Street in Quay development ing longing to Edward Byrom, both reflecting opposition from the Navigation, added to the problems the Duke faced in establishing a canal basin as close as possible to the built-up area of Manchester. Castle- field was a second-best and challenging site on which to build the terminus. A topography which had provided the Romans with a natural defensive position, on a sandstone escarpment up to 5m high overlook- Medlock, seemed River of the plain flood the ing hardly suitable for as use a canal basin. There were many problems. First, there was the need to control the Medlockto prevent the flooding, basin though it is not entirely clear just how essential the Medlock was as a source of water fo height of the escarpment coupled with the absence of relatively flat land at the level of the basin for warehouses which connected directly to the town’s road system meant that resources had to be devoted to the raising and lowering of goods and raw materi- als (Chapter 9). Wharf space required cutting away large quantities of the bedrock sandstone. The Duke’s Warehouse was built on the most convenient site in the basin, providin rectly on to Deansgate (Chapter 7), but other warehouses were located on less advantageous sites which involved transhipment problems. The Grocers’ Warehouse illustrates these (Chapter 9; Fig problems 1.8). It was probably Brindley who devised an elegant solution to the challenges of the terrain, but for all of technicalingenuityliftingits the of coal boxesfrom barges via a waterwheel could be viewed as a costly, indeed unnecessary, investment, tive of unloading the coal and loading the wagons directly on the wharf. Not for the first time our un- No arrests appear to have been made overinci- this dent, presumably at Barton Lane, so the identity and the nature of grievancesthe that prompted these canal breakersunknown. remains cir- Whateverthe cumstances are discovered to be, the attack stands in sharp contrast to those rosy descriptions of the pa- ternalistic moral economy at Castlefield, where ordinary workers came to have their baskets and aprons filled with cheap coal. forgotten that as with the Duke’s donating of monies to the Manchester Infirmary and the local overseers of the poor - monies that came from fines imposed because of damagedone to the canal - this generosity was a condition of the Bridgewater canal acts. liberately canal: ‘… some damaged the and wicked persons, atevil disposed present unknown, broke down the banks Grace of His the Bridge- Duke of Navigationwater’s at Bartonwhich … were made upon an Arch over a publick highway there;by waswhich means the water the said discharged from Navigation, and considerable damage done thereto.’ – meant that – meant announced that 31 This is not to sug- 33 4. It is also noteworthy e reward were available llivan has identified John . Surprisingly all for the ed only the Bollin Aque- the smaller aqueduct over London Gazette

Barton Lane was saved, an early example of industrial preservation (Chapter8).Others were also aware that a significant structure was being demolished. Bosdin Leech, who as a city councillor was closely involved in the building of the ship canal, saved some of the stones from Brindley’s aqueduct – ‘the mason’s marks on them just as fresh as when they were inscribed’. recognition the Barton Aqueduct has received as a symbol of the new industrial society (Chapter 8), there has not been a detailed modern study of the construction and engineering of the main and minor aqueducts at Barton. Inde duct has been examined in detail by industrial archaeologists (Chapter10). It is also not widely known, as Atkinson points out (Chapter 8), that the aqueduct was partially re-built in 1823- that although the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal necessitated the demolition main of the aqueduct in 1893, part of Worsleynot did have as large a share of the market as had been anticipated. The adoption of the longer route to Manchester brought with it another set of problems, notably the need to build an aqueduct Information is predictably scarce about the men who built the canal and their influence on the new occupation of navigator. Su Walker as the first knownfirst Walker as the canal navvy,of onethe first generation of navvies who learned their trade digging the Bridgewater Canal. price of coal was fixed under acts, the 1759 and 1760 the Worsley restricting the Duke’s revenues on branch. It may also have been the case that competi- tion from other collieries identified – Aikin those at Oldham, Ashton, Dukinfield, Hyde, Newton and Denton as supplying Manchester Fig 1.8: Hogrewe’s image of the Fig 1.8: Hogrewe’s image Grocers’ Warehouse in 1777 (courtesy of Chetham’s Library). gest that it was only engineering and labour problems with which the triumvirate had to contend. In early December 1760 the the King’s pardon and a larg to any person who could identify those who hadde- Salford Applied Archaeology Series, Volume 1 Salford Applied

ring the 1960s. The ware- the 1960s. ring of locks and the extension 40s and the new line being mpleted very quickly, the mpleted very quickly, s expansion produced one two years, 1771-3; this two years, 1771-3; was at the Salford Applied Archaeology Series, Volume 1 Salford Applied d-twentieth century (courtesy of Salford City Archive, The tion than on the Bridgewater’s access to the sea. Oc- sea. to the access the Bridgewater’s on than tion casional studies have looked at the history of the Hempstones complexnearby and the Sprinch Boat Yard above the top lock at Runcorn but as yet we lack a detailed archaeological and historical study of the western end of the Bridgewater Canal. Yet, this was just as big feat a of engineering as the Castlefield Worsleyand As with termini. the BartonAqueduct the initial works were co original flight of eight locks and their associated ba- Hogrewe and publishedsins, recorded by 1780, in being built in just time the longest run of locks in Britain. The success of this sea link in terms tradeof is shown by the flight building of a second 1820s, the linkage through the of the docks in the WestonCanal to the Trent and Mersey Canal, and the further expansion of the docks into the 1870s. A century of near-continuou of the most complex canal termini in Britain yet little is known historically about the operation of this canal port, and even less about its industrial archaeology. One reason for the lack of attention to this terminus might be the poor physical survival of the link to the River Mersey; down-graded in importance by the in 1894, it building and opening of the Ship Canal suffered a lingering death with the old line of docks 19 in the abandoned being abandoned and filled in du houses (Fig 1.10) have been demolished and most of Another Another 38 In spite of 39 rallels with Brindley’s s to be completed, it is it completed, be s to sses using the raw materi- consecrated in 1769. all these difficulties, busine als carried on the canal soon turned Castlefield into The Runcorn terminus has usually been over- an industrial complex. looked in both archaeological and historical studies of the canal. There is more material available on the developmentthe adjacent of Weston Pointdocks and the Old Quay of the Mersey and Irwell Naviga- point of interest in future research will be the reasons behind the construction of the tunnel to Bank Top in 1787-9, which has strong pa coaloriginal tunneldesign at Castlefield. Fig 1.9: The abandoned top locks at the Runcorn terminus, mi Mullineux Collection, T2740). T2740). Mullineux Collection, difficult to resist the conclusion that the challenges posed by the site were as formidable as thoseex- of tracting the coal at Worsley. is left One wondering, for example, why the Duke not was more determined in negotiatinga compromise agreement with the By- rom family – the did allowact him to build within 80 yards of Alport Lane – to develop a basin on a less demanding site closer to the centre of the town. By their own plans,the 1760s the Byroms were pursuing developing their estate into a residential suburb; St John’s church was derstanding, one is tempted to add admiration, of theofderstanding,admiration,is tempted one to add engineering principles on display and the elegance of the tunnel and hoist wellsis far in advance of our knowledge of the financialof transhipment. costs It interestingwould be and pertinent knowto how long coal was raised method. by this Yet, even though research aspects of the industrialisation on many key of Georgian Castlefield remain

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43 , drew heavily on on , drew heavily n and were demolished uential biography of merely from a Sort of chaeological excavation canal in 1776, three years Lives of the Engineers hern side of the old basi Samuel Smiles’ infl 42 Even so, one can argue that a more critical assessment of those much-admired engineering solutions cen- twenty-first early the in is required canal the on tury. Archaeological survey could amplify the historical record for the rebuilding of the embankment at Bar- ar ton in the 1820s, just as has highlighted the problems associated with managing the excess water from the Medlock. The latter required the rebuilding of the clover-leaf weir, which archaeological excavation has shown was rapidly silted, and the construction longof a overflow tunnel 1790s; the early in around the Castlefield basin though even this did not solve all of the problems associated with what was becoming more a sewer than a river. The original design of the Bridgewater Canal was therefore not perfect and in order for this linear machine to continue to function, new engineering solutions had to be found by subsequent generations. There are important issues to be interro- gated here. A more critical and contextualised assessment of Brindley’s and Gilbert’s working methods on the Bridgewater Canal There is required. is, after Brindley in his theseearliertraditions, presenting him asan exem- plar of those disadvantaged working men who owed their success to their own industry and application. want of words as to be able to communicate his his Jacob Fisher visited the communicate after Brindley’s death, Brindley was already identified to as ‘the principal Contriver’ of the project, depicted as able be ‘a poor illiterate Man, who to as Hydraulics couldinnate knowledge of Mechanics and words at once contriveand execute, yet was in so much of want Ideas…’ orn terminus in 1943. This range lay on the nort ich has yet to be fully ded by early twenty-first

40 but his role as ‘resident engi- 41

in the 1960s (courtesy of John Aldred). Fig 1.10: Warehouses at the Runc Thanks to the researches of Hugh Malet and Frank Mullineux we have a clearer idea of the roles of James Brindley and John Gilbert in the project. Gil- bert’s contribution had begun to be recognised in the nineteenth century Brindley and Gilbert the docks have been filled so that only Bridgewater House, briefly home to the Duke in the 1770s when visiting this end of the canal and later offices for the canal, now survives surroun century redevelopment. In hindsight the extension towards the estuary at Runcorn proved to be commercially a winning strategy, the revenues on this section soon overtaking those on the Worsley arm. hadIt also a wider, longer -term, landscape impact wh explored by archaeologists; the link to the Trent and Mersey was to be crucial in the development of a canal network in central and northern England, whilst the aqueducts, embankments, tunnel and warehouses alongCheshire the branchallwere quickly copied along the growing network. The Bridgewater Canal also was to have an impact on Liverpool where the fear of Worsley coal being landed on Mersey Flats sailing from the canal port at Runcorn helped to keep prices low. The construction of the Duke’s dock and its massive warehouse were the obvious signs of the stimulus provided by the canal towards the greater economic integration of the port and Manchester. neer’ is now more widely acknowledged. Even so, Brindley’s achievements remain considerable if no longer on the scale popularised at the time. When Salford Applied Archaeology Series, Volume 1 Salford Applied

The 52 anniversary of the th , hardly the action of a ect must be the goal of ster came from coal car- will renew interest in the cultural improvements or cultural improvements arify questions concerning detailed financial informa- detailed financial cognise that we still have a That his canal was important to 50 engineeringThe problems at Worsley 49 Salford Applied Archaeology Series, Volume 1 Salford Applied Significant as schemes such as the Sankey 51 tron of horse racing. More tron of horse tionmight alter the conclusion but itis difficult not to regardhis canal projectas anything a long but shot. The Duke’s to risk was exemplified approach in his attitude towards insurance, an attitude that was painfully revealed when his Castlefield warehouse was gutted by fire, leaving him with losses estimated at £40,000. growth of its industrial sector – cotton, iron-making, engineering, chemicals – would have been checked had coal not been so readily available. It is to be hoped that the 250 and Castlefield, let alone those associated with carrying the canal over the Irwell, the river Mersey and the terminus atRuncorn were formidable. Yet he continued with the scheme, when presumably he might less risky re- certainly and a reasonable found have turn on his capital in agri turnpikes. Fortunately for him and the region’s economy his gamble paid off. to re Above all we need largely one-dimensional view of the ‘Canal Duke’. In addition to the need to cl his wealth, a fuller and more nuanced picture of the Duke’s personality and intell his next biographer. Bridgewater did not spend all his adult life brooding in remote Worsley. Many aspects of his life warrant further investigation, not least for what they might tell us about the management of his estates. His politics, for example, are often glossed over. Yet, in the political crisis of 1783 it was reported that Bridgewater went to the King and offered to lead the government detached and withdrawn aristocrat with little involve- politics. in ment him is evident from his extraordinary will, even but, so, Francis Egerton was more than the ‘Father of Inland Navigation’. the wishstill to argue over whether Historians may Bridgewater Canal was the country’s first true canal but what cannot be disputed is that it was the Bridge- water which rooted the idea of canals in the public and commercial consciousness of the eighteenth century. canal and the current essays Brook navigation were, they were the overture before the main performance. Foreign royalty did not visit them. CanalIt was the Duke’s which demonstrated that canals could open up new markets, make existing ones more efficient, and, most importantly, be profitable. Part of the smoke that became such a powerful symbol of industrial Manche ried on the Bridgewater 1.11). Canal (Fig Worsley helped provide Manchester with a reliable and cheap supply of coal at the very time when industrial demand was increasing. Manchester did not experience a fuel crisis in the Industrial Revolution. His 48 whilst his The frag- 47 44 An essential 46 Important data can 45 e Loyalty Loan in 1796 the Duke on spend the ips on his Norfolkips onestate. ield and have sug- Biddle neration discovering that that discovering neration l project in the 1760s and lines of credit. wine cellar was said to be large enough to provide him with a bottle a day for years. a hundred £100,000 contribution to th confirmed his position among the super rich. He also found the majority of the £43,000 to acquire the Ital- ian paintings that had belonged to the guillotined Duke of Orleans, one of the most renowned art pur- chases in the eighteenth century. That some of these expenditures came after the canal was profitable does not necessarily help us understand the financial pres- sures exerted by the cana 1770s. What is indisputable is that as an entrepreneur Bridgewater was willing to take high risks. Eighteenth -century aristocrats gambled away fortunes playing cards, and the Duke himself was a well-known pa- gested £77,500, Ward prefers £301,300. But how much money did canal? Estimates vary. Hadf The Duke of Bridgewater notwas the first landed gentleman to take on the financing of a large transport undertaking. A number of river improvement schemes in the previous century – Sir Richard Wes- ton on the Wey Navigation financed in Surrey – were landowners.principally by individual Neither was Bridgewater the first eighteenth-century aristocrat to ‘retire’ to his estates. Charles Townsend is remem- the intriguesbered for leaving to of high politics spend his time growing turn Cost The all, nothing all, nothing new in one ge the heroes of a previous one had feet of clay. mentary nature of Bridgewater’s accounts means that we cannot expect a study comparable to Mather’s examination of the of the finances Bridgewater Trust, but perhaps a clearer picture is possible. Edith Malley’s pioneering work is the starting point, all the more important because some of the documents she consulted are no longer extant. When and on what the apparently frugal Duke spent his money is also only a partially answered question. He did spend money on his London man- sion, and plans for building a new house at Ashridge were underway before his death in 1803, partnew study of the canal must of any include a more careful analysisof the and revenues expenditures from all of the Duke’s estates,to if we are provide a clearer idea of the depth of his different pock- ets. Worsley, we should remind ourselves, only was one of Bridgewater’s twelve estates. No suchdoubt an investigation will also reveal more about the Duke’s all-important be squeezed, as Chaloner’s examination of Thomas Kent’s ‘General Account’ of 1791 indicates, from other documents that have survived.

12 Bridgewater 250 Bridgewater 250 13

Bridgewater appears 53 54 in the economic history ssibilities of engineering, – was shrewd and sincere, al- 55 later railway viaducts and urbanisation of to have taken some remarkable decisions and spent extraordinary sums of money in constructing his canal, decisions that most other businessmen would have never considered sensible. In doing so, he transformed more than Manchester. The scholarly first Earl of Ellesmere’s assessment of his relative – ‘the history of Francis Duke of Bridgewater is engraved in intaglio on the face of the country he helped to civilise and enrich’ cohort of canal whose navvies anonymity has frus- trated generations of historians. of this country contemporaries is long overdue. For it came to symbolize the po making it seem that there was no challenge that the new generation of engineers could not meet. Even the EnglishChannelGeorge bridged. might Brad- be shaw’s canal maps of the late 1820s capture as neatly as any documents can, the extent of the transport revolution begun by the Duke. The Bridgewater Canal remains one of the iconic iconic of the one remains Canal Bridgewater The structures of the industrial revolution and a re- assessment of its importance though, curiously, neither he nor the wider business and political communities in the city chose to raise a public monument to the first Manchester Man 11). (Chapter anniversary th nal basin in 2009 looking west showing the into the public realm, asinto the public all of the extant manu- aeologists and historians

of the canal which displayed a number of rarely seen items. Many were from the archives of the Bridge- water Canal Company, held by the Peel Group, but some are now in private hands. This included a pre- viously unknown account book of Brindley’s which contained, among other data, details of the names of, and wages paid to, masons and labourers employed in the months during and after the construction of the Barton Aqueduct (1760-62). A close analysis of this data should provide a clearer picture of that first the area (copyright GMAU). Fig 1.11 Aerial view of the Castelfield ca Duke of Bridgewater and his canal, stimulating research that will enable arch to judge whether he still warrants a place to judge whether he still warrants a in the pan- theon of industrialists and entrepreneurs who made a decisive contribution to the world’s first Industrial To do this,Revolution. old evidence will need to be re- examined, not least in the light of the recent research conductedindustrial archaeologists. by doubt, No new evidence, will also come occurred following the publication of Malet’s biography in 1961. By no means scripts and other documents relating to the canal are in public archives. The potential of such new material was highlighted at a recent exhibition marking the 250 Salford Applied Archaeology Series, Volume 1 Salford Applied

58 60 . Journal of Journal of , the interest in the canal e Portico Library, will Whether this event, event, this Whether t into their histories and 61 continued, leading to many Yet, at the end of the con- 59 Industrial ArchaeologyReview and and the investigation of the wider im- 57 Salford Applied Archaeology Series, Volume 1 Salford Applied year as a local history subject and as an th pact of canals as landscape and transport features. As one speaker commented ‘canals provide local communities with an insigh local people be should encouraged to take an active interest in canal history’. of several in been highlighted has archaeology Canal the recent Archaeological Regional Research Frame- works promoted by English Heritage, and canal res- toration work has continued. Redevelopment of ca- locations has also nal-side developer-funded archaeological investigations and surveys of canal fabric (see Bibliographical Note). Whilst there is no single national canal research agenda a variety of approaches, some old and some new, have been used since 1997, all of which might be applicable to the Bridgewater Canal. Another conference, this time on the archaeology of the Bridge- water Canal held at Worsley House Court in October 2011, emphasised the continuing in its 250 Fig 1.13: The northern elevation of the New Warehouse at the Broadheath Quay (1833), as recorded by the South Traf- ford Archaeology Group (copyright Michael Nevell). of existing structures to the investigation of lost ones, the linking of canal history localto history and archaeology, along with two exhibitions on the Bridgewaterat Salford Art Gallery and th mark a revival in the research interest of the canal itself remains to be seen. As discussions at the 2011 conference and this introduction indicate, many questions still remain about the construction and archaeological monument. ference doubts were expressed about the vibrancy of canal history given the lack of published academic studies, post-graduateresearch and enquiries into local canal archives in record offices. Since this conference there has beenre- a modest vival in serious of canal history and academic studies archaeology, asthe reportedof in the pages the Railway and Canal Historical Society Transport History story Conference, held al archaeology since the ural and economic impact 1997 – entitled ‘Defining 1997 – entitled ‘Defining a desire to move from the conservation 56 Fig 1.12: Excavations at Worsley in Delph 2004 by the of Manchester representedUniversity rareto a opportunity study the Delph archaeologically. As a whole, the Bridgewater Canal remains under-researched by industrial archaeologists and economic historians (copyright GMAU). In seeking to study of promote further the archaeological and historical development of the Bridgewater Canal we need to bear in the widermind context of inland waterways that studies. This is a field has de- industri veloped alongside 1950s. The first Waterways Hi in Manchester in October, a New Research Agenda for Waterways History’ – was organised North by the Western Group of the Railway and Canal Historical Society with the sup- port of the National Waterways Museum in Glouces- ter and the Newcomen Society. It explored a variety of archaeological and historical research topics on a subject already forty years old. The aim was to stimu- late new research and debate and to foster a ‘positive move forward the research in and promotion of waterways history’. Amongst the themes to emerge was the need to broaden research from the factual and technical cult to include the of canals, Towards a Research Agenda for Agenda a Research Towards Canal the Bridgewater

14 Bridgewater 250 Bridgewater 250 15 Industrial Innocent Es- David and David and a defence of the ... Hannover, Hannover, ... in Aikin, J and

J. Johnson, London. London. Johnson, J. CambridgeUniver- Vol. 26.2, p. 85. p. 85. 26.2, Vol. Piccadilly Place. Uncover- The second part of a letter, The second part of a letter, ClarendonPress, Ox- erton, late Duke of Bridgewater... of Bridgewater... late Duke erton, Manchester and the Canal Age and Manchester ke Roads of Eighteenth-Century ke Roads of Eighteenth-Century vigation, containing 39 no. 4, pp. 300-13. 39 no. 4, ampness B, 2004, ‘Excavating . He dedicated histo the book David and Charles, Newton David and of His Grace Francis Egerton, late Greater Manchester’s Past Re- Leading the Way. A History of Lanca- of Leading the Way. A History The first Parisians, part to the of a letter, 17 July 1936, p. 13. ‘Salford activities connected with the activities connected with the ‘Salford Observations on the various systems of canal of canal on the various systems Observations Manchester University Press, 1977, pp. Press, University Manchester The History of the British Coal Industry Vol- Beschreibung seit 1759 angeleg- der in England Land, Labour and Agriculture, 1700-1920,Land, Labour and Agriculture, vollendeten schiffbaren Kanäle schiffbaren vollendeten Geographical Revolution. Change and Industrial , Svedenstierna’s Tour of Great Britain 1802-3. Great Tour of , Svedenstierna’s , 12 March 1751, p. 4. The TurnpikeEngland, 1630- Road System in Feeding the Victorian City. The Food Supply of The Feeding the Victorian City. Manchester University Press. Press. University Manchester Rediscovering Bradford: Archaeology in the Engine Bradford: Archaeology in the Rediscovering Transactions of Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquar- Lancashire and Cheshire Transactions of (Paris, 1820). Local Historian, Historian, Local Industrial Archaeology Review Industrial Archaeology Miscellaneous Pieces, in Prose, in Pieces, Miscellaneous Greater Manchester’s Past Revealed 4. Oxford vol. 25.2, pp. 97-118. Lancashire County Books, Preston; Timmins G, G, Timmins Preston; Books, County Lancashire I. and J. Taylor, London, 1797 included a detailed vol. 66, pp.vol. 54-7. Manchester Guardian, Academic Press, London. On road transport in Lanca- in transport road On London. Press, Academic Brindley at Wet Earth Colliery: An engineering study, Colliery: Wet Earth Brindley at Canals to Manchester, (Cambridge: Cambridge University1977, Press;Pawson,E, Manchester Magazine 8) Hogrewe 1780, J L, 9) The importance of thiswas work recognised by David Owen 10) Extract from the diary of a visitor in to 1792 Manchester Apologue’ An Brook. and the Canal ‘The 11) 12) Flinn M W, 1973 13) Scola R, 1992, 14) Nevell M, Roberts R and Ch 21) Tomlinson V I, 1956, 21) Tomlinson V I, 15) Langton1979, J, 16) Flinn1984, M W, 22) Albert W, 1967, 23) 24) Tomlinson 1956. 25) William Chapman’s 26) On the Duke’s fortune1803 see Turner, after M, ‘Land, 27) Tomlinson p. 52. 1956, 28) Francis Henry Egerton, 17) Powell M and Hunwick C, 2009, ‘The Manchester Cathedral 18) Figures from Peter Maw, R, 2010, 19) Miller I, and Gregory Wild C 20) Miller I, 2011, for pleasure must have been difficult, see Scarfe, N, TourRochefoucauld Brothers’ England in 1785, of pionage. The La Press. Boydell Woodbridge: jetzt gröstentheils ten, und VIII. and Tables VII in his overdue. long is A translation 42-6. quoted in L., 1773, Aikin, A spy, industrial an diary of Travel The Abbot. Manchester 1770-1870, Room of Manchester. R B, Schofield, G and A Banks, Lancaster. North, Archaeology 1968, Abbot. Charles, Newton the iconic: The Rediscovery of the FairbottomBobs Colliery Pumping Engine’, Coalmining in South-West 1590-1799, Lancashire Press. sity Bridgewater Canal’, ian Society, 1840 Transport and Economy. The Turnpi Britain, shire see Crosby, A, ed., 1998, shire’s Roads, 2003, ‘Techniquesthe Indus- of Road Easing Gradients during Lancashire’, Textile of study A case Revolution: trial Archaeology Review, navigation… descriptionthe Worsley of colliery Duke of Bridgewater ‘to whose great example the canals of these of much resulted have which from origins, their owe kingdoms the commercial and political importance of the empire’. industry andBridgewater inheritance’ theA, and in Holderness B Turner M, eds., 1991, London. Press, Hambledon upon inland na and, the French Nation, His Grace Francis Eg public character of (Paris, 1818) p. 8; Francis Henry Egerton, contain- navigation, upon inland Nation, French the and, Parisians, to the public character the of ing a defence Duke of Bridgewater... ume 2 1700-1830: The Industrial Revolution, ford, 232. p. Registers’, Sextons' (forthcoming Manchester University Press, 2012). ing Manchester’s Industrial Origins. 17-18. pp. Lancaster, North, Archaeology Oxford 1. vealed . British Academy chnology transfer. Britain Extracts from Mr Young’s Young’s Mr from Extracts vol. 1 p. 151. On Jars John Murray, London, London, Murray, John sed to be just another on Magazine for October, 1772, on on Magazine for October, 1772, on ley who were travelling simply d to the Right Honourable the Lord the Right Honourable d to Ashgate,Aldershot, 222-37. still remain to be investi- Journeys on the underground canal, 1765- born in the same year as theborn Barton same year as in the An American Quaker in the British Isles.An American Quaker in Industrial espionage and te Lives of the Engineers, the Engineers, Lives of A six months’ tour through the north of England… Voyages Métallurgiques, , 25 July 1780. 62

Understanding the termini Later historical and archaeological development and eventual decline Business history the of canal Landscape Impact Transporting goods, peopleideas and The canal as a machine: technological inno- vation and parallels Salford City Council Heritage Service.

· · · · · · 2) See, for instance, Sharp, James, 1774, 1774, James, 2) See, forSharp, instance, 1) MonaghanA, ed., 1999, 4) Smiles, S, 1904, 6) Young A, 1770, 6) Young A, 1770, 7) Jars, A G, 1774, 3) Morgan K, ed., 1992, 3) Morgan K, ed., opened. Aqueduct 5) London Courant and France in the eighteenth century, eighteenth and France in the Wors Identifying those visitors to 1998, Notes of an letter the from and of England, North the through tour months Six unknown author, published in the Lond navigations addresse canal of the subject

Mayor, Alderman and Common Council of the City of London of the City Council of Common Mayor, Alderman and The travel journals of Jabez Maud Fisher, 1775-1779,The travel journals 83. p. Press, University Oxford by W. Strachan, London,Letter XIX. vol. 3, see Harris J R, 1998,

impact of the canal, as well as the role of the Duke. in the current day and the essays From that volume have emerged for future investigation six areas that would help to set the Bridgewater Canal in a wider national and international context. gated shows the lack of serious research activity on the Bridgewater Canal, maintained in recent years by the local historians John Aldred and Glen Atkinson and the occasional postgraduate thesis, since Hugh Malet published the secondhis study of edition of the Canal Duke archaeologists and in 1977. Industrial economic historians still answershave to provide to many questions about the canal (Figs 1.12 & 1.13). Sharing the documentary and physical evidence, their ultimate objective must be to provide a more precise assessment of the long history of the canal, and, more narrowly, its contribution to the quickening of growth in Manchester and the broader development and integration of the region’s economy, in those decades when Manchester cea The fact that these areas Lancashire market town and became the first the world’s and became town market Lancashire industrial city. vol. 1, p. 129. Rennie p. 129. vol. was 1, Salford Applied Archaeology Series, Volume 1 Salford Applied

, Vol. Vol. Defining a Railway & Phillimore, 22 October 22 October (forthcoming, (forthcoming, vol. 73 Marchvol. Argus, People and Industries People , vol. 123,pp.374- Railway & Canal His- r Waterways History.r Waterways Proceed- Digital Archives, Warring- Journal of Transport History rsary of the Ca- Bridgewater

rtico Library, 6-20 Decemeber Quarterly Review, , 11 March1. 1783, p., 11

Century, Ashridge. A Living History, Ashridge. A Railway & Canal Historical Society, th Waterways Histioy Conference, Conference, Histioy Waterways Manchester and the Canal Age Canal and the Manchester , 6 October 1789, p.4; ays Histioy Conference, re of the field’, Journal of the Royal Society of Arts Journal of the Royal Society p. 7. 7. p. Manchester Mercury Manchester

Salford Applied Archaeology Series, Volume 1 Salford Applied 2 January 1796, p. 2. Defining a New Research Agenda fo Agenda Defining a New Research Proceedings Defining a New Research Agenda for Waterways His- Waterways for Agenda Research New Defining a Proceedings Canal Maps from the 19 from Canal Maps Manchester Mercury Oracle, 48) 49) 50) Report in 51) Ward 1984, pp. 151-2. Bridgewater and52) Malet H, 1975, ‘The the Duke of 18th Cen- 54) 55) ‘Aqueducts and canals’, 56) BougheyJ, 1998, ‘The end of waterways history?’, 53) The exhibition,Annive '250th the tow- archivesonto the and57) Billingham,N, 1998, ‘Out of 58) Clarke M, 1998, ‘British canal history: a European perspec- a European history: canal ‘British M, 1998, Clarke 58) 59) Billingham 1998. 60) The trends in transport history analysed were by Gijs Mom 61) This conference was organised by the Manchester Region Region Manchester the by organised was conference This 61) 62) See Peter Maw, 47) Sanecki, K N, 1996, 47) Sanecki,K 46) Chaloner W H, 1963, ‘The Canal Duke Francis Egerton

Chichester, 5, p. 28. Chichester, 5, p. 1789. tury fuel crisis’, 2011. ton, 2005. (1844), p. 324. of the First History. Proceedings Waterways for Agenda New Research Waterways HistoryConference, 7. nal, 1761-201', was held at the Po pp. 2-6. path’, Waterw First the of ings torical Society, tive’, First the tory. Proceedings of pp. 14-17. Society, Historical Canal in an article instudy capturing this 2003, the decline in interest in Mom G, revival. modest this of beginning the and history canal 2003, ‘What of kind transporthistoryHalf a century did we get? futu ofthe JTH and 24.2, pp. 121-32. Industrial ArchaeologyNorth Society CBA the and West Indus- Archaeology Applied for Centre the with Panel Archaeology trial at the University of Salford andby was attended 100 participants. Frank Cass, London, p. 37. 37. p. Cass, London, Frank Manchester. Manchester. (1736-1803)’Bridgewater ThirdDuke of in Manchester University Press, 2012).

, held up The past to to The past Transactions of Transactions Transactions of the The Builder The Canal from its inception , vol.127 pp., vol.127 18-28; , sub-titled ‘ Sherratt and Hughes, Hughes, Sherratt and vol.133, pp. 47-70. Canals of north west England, Edward Arnold, London, London, Arnold, Edward archaeology of industrialisa- It was clause XV of the It was clauseof XV act s not to be sold to the inhabi- to the sold be to s not d Watt, as encouraging exam- hieve by hard work and determi- Coracle, London. Coracle, vol. 6 (21 January 1865) 562-7. , vol. 125, pp. 43-55. , vol. (1818) p. 28 & p. 32. (1818) p. 34. Abbot, vol. 1, pp. 33. The Provincial Towns of Georgian England. England. Georgian of Towns Provincial The Manchester Memoirs The Finance of Canal Building in Eighteenth- Canal The Finance of vol. 34, pp. vol. 142-83. 34, The Financial Administration of the Bridgewater Administration of The Financial Memorials of Workers Memorials of Navvyman, unpublished MA thesis, University of thesis, unpublished MA A Description the countryof for thirty miles round History of Manchester Ship Lancashire and Cheshire, Cheshire, Lancashire and , 13 December 1760. First Letter Letter First First Letter First , George Godwin, editor of of editor Godwin, , George Oxford University Press, pp. 27-8. pp. Press, University Oxford vol. 18, pp. 265-79. It was written without the 18, pp. 265-79.the vol. without It was written All The Year Round, J. Stockdale, London,p. 205. Industrial Archaeology Review Industrial Archaeology North British Review, London Gazette London 30) Egerton F H, 31) Aikin J, 1795, 31) Aikin J, 1795, 32) Leech B, 1907, 29) Egerton F H, 1800, ‘The plane’, inclined 29) Egerton F 33) Sullivan 1983, D, 44) Ward J R, 1974, 44) Ward J R, 45) Malley E, 1929, 34) 35) Egerton F H, 36) 32 Geo II cap 2, clause XLI. 36) 32 Geo II 41) Bridgewater, Brindley andGilbert were depicted discussing 42) Morgan 234. 1992, p. popular numerous of foundation was the account Smiles’s 43) 38) Chalklin C W, 1974, 39) Hadfield C and G, 1970, Biddle 37) Boucher C T G, 1987-8 ‘The restorationmills two of water 40) Little L, 1983,‘The Duke’s Dock at Liverpool’, 40) Little L, 1983,‘The Duke’s Dock at Liverpool’, Society of Arts, Society of Duke’s permission. Manchester, to its completion, with personal reminiscences, with personal reminiscences, completion, to its 17. 1, p. Manchester, vol. nation. nation. century England, Brindley, alongside Arkwright an could ac ples of what individuals Estate, 1780–1800,Estate, the problems of the canal ‘round the humble hearth of the black black the of hearth humble the ‘round canal the of problems the and white timbered manor-houseof Worsley, or the still humbler village inn’. See David Brewster, 1861, ‘Engineers and Engineer- ing’, articles about Brindley, see, for example, ‘The modern genius of streams’, the In his 1860 lecture, encourage the present’ Nevell2003 M, ‘The archaeology ofthe warehouses canal of social the and England North-West tion’, A study of the building process 1740-1820, pp. 90-1. in Greater Manchester’, in Greater Manchester’, that detailed that Worsley coal wa that detailed that per pence four than more for Salford and Manchester of tants Lancashire hundredweight (120lbs) for forty years. David and Charles, Newton the Historic Society of Society Historic the

16 Bridgewater 250

University of Salford

Applied Archaeology Series 1 of Bridgewater Archaeology 250:The

he Bridgewater Canal was first opened on 17th July T 1761. 2011 marked the 250th anniversary of this momentous event. It was affectionately known as the

Bridgewater 250 ‘Duke’s Cut’, and was viewed by contemporaries as one the the World’s IndustrialCanal First The Archaeology of the World’s most influential transport monuments of the Industrial Age. The papers in this monograph take a fresh look at the First Industrial Canal archaeological and historical importance of the 41 mile (66 km) long canal. They range from studies of the Worsley canal village, the underground canals accessing the coal mines, and the barges using the canal, to the Castlefield Edited by canal basin, Runcorn terminus and the warehouses along Michael Nevell and Terry Wyke the route. The monograph also summarises archaeological and historical work on the canal over the last 20 years, as well as suggesting a research strategy for the future. From canal boats and aqueducts, to embankments, warehouses and water‐management, the Bridgewater Canal was the fore‐runner of many of the innovations in transport during the Industrial Revolution, making it a monument of world significance.

Front Cover (top to bottom): Boothstown barges; Broadheath New Warehouse

in 1943; Worsley lime kiln excavation; The Barton Swing Aqueduct; Runcorn Wyke &Terry Nevell Michael Edited by terminus in 1785; Bridgewater House, Runcorn. Back Cover: Portrait of the Duke of Bridgewater in later life. An engraving by C Picart from a painting by J M Craig (courtesy of Salford City Archive, The Mullineux Collection, T1647).

£10