The Portsmouth and Arundel Canal
The plan for the canal was completed in 1815 and on 7th July 1817 an Act of Parliament was passed “For making and maintaining a navigable canal from the River Arun to Chichester Harbour and from thence to Langston and Portsmouth Harbours with a branch to Chichester”.
The canal was to be made up of three sections: a pair of ship canals one on Portsea island and one to Chichester and a barge canal that ran from Ford on the Arun to Hunston where it was to be joined to the Chichester section of the canal. The Portsea section was to be connected to the rest via a 13 mile channel dredged through Chichester Harbour, across the bottom of Thorney Island and the top of Hayling Island and finally across Langstone Harbour.
Construction started on 20th August 1818 with the first sod being cut at Ford. Work also began at Merston on the Chichester section in September, and must have been considered of more importance, as the Ford to Hunston section was opened last. Chichester Canal basin was filled with water on 27 December 1821, and the Chichester Canal opened on 9 April 1822. Next came the Portsea Canal on 19
Seal of the Portsmouth and Arundel Navigation Company
Chichester Canal Basin: 2009
Ford canal Bridge at the entrance to the Portsmouth and Arundel Canal. It was demolished in 1935.
September 1822 and finally the 9.5 mile Ford to Hunston Section was opened on 26 May 1823. For a photographic trip down the Chichester Ship Canal click HERE.
There were four locks (2 at each end) and two pumping stations, one at Milton top lock and the other at Ford top lock, to provide water to the two summit levels. At Ford the enormous pump was housed in a building the size of a four storey house, it had a brick-built factory-style chimney in order to build up the necessary head of steam to lift 5,000 gallons
or 96 hogsheads of water per minute from the River Arun. Only fresh water was used, so pumping could only take place for an hour or so either side of low tide.
Bridges on the Portsmouth and Arundel Canal
Twenty swing bridges were installed to allow crossing of the canal. All the bridges were made to the same design by C & H Tickell of Southampton in 1820 and were mounted on a ring containing 4” ball bearings and when swung across the canal they rested in a curved iron rail set in the masonry of the opposite abutment. All have long since disappeared with the exception of the Poyntz Swing Bridge which was originally situated near the junction of the Chichester arm and the main canal. This has been subsequently moved onto the Chichester section of the canal.
Some of these bridges were given names such as the Poyntz Swing Bridge (Pictured left and right) which was named after W.S. Poyntz of Cowdray who was a prominent shareholder in the canal company, a friend of 3rd Earl of Egremont and M.P. for Chichester in 1826.
Between Barnham and Yapton there were
several of these bridges and some of these were named as well. There are still the excavated remains to be seen of Hollinsworth swingbridge, named after James Hollinsworth, a civil engineer, who worked on numerous great projects including the first Waterloo bridge across the river Thames in London. There is also the Stewart swing bridge about 300 yards (90m) west of it. Also to the east of these are the remains of Tilebarn Farm and Leys Lane swing bridges.
Remains of Hollinsworth Swing Bridge: 2009
Mounting Ring, Tilebarn Farm S.B: 2009
Remains of Hollinsworth Swing Bridge: 2009
Further east at Yapton a more conventional bridge, known as the Tack Lee bridge, still spans what was once the bed of the canal and would have carried a farm track over it. The old bed of the canal is now a road through a small housing estate.
Tack Lee Bridge, Yapton: 2009
Path Over Canal Bridge, Yapton: 2009
Tack Lee Bridge, Yapton: 2009
Cargoes on the Canal
Coal, iron, building materials and grain were transported along the canal routes but perhaps the most interesting cargo of all was gold and silver bullion. Every month until 1826, cargoes of bullion left Portsmouth bound for the Bank of England. 25 - 30 tonnes was the usual consignment but one day two barges, the ‘Union’ and ‘Portsea’ went through together with 72 tonnes on board. Armed guards stayed on board at all times and an old inhabitant of Birdham was reported to have remembered seeing redcoat soldiers on guard duty.
However the opening of the canal link to London was badly timed as the war with France had ended in 1815 with the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo and Britain was at peace with France. As a result cargo levels never achieved the levels predicted. Also, as early as 1825, plans for a Surrey and Hampshire Railway were published, an ominous development for the canal.
From the beginning the canal was plagued with various problems and in 1827 the Portsea section of the canal had to be drained, due to complaints about salt water contamination in some of Portsmouth's wells. In 1830 the Portsea Canal was formally closed and the Arundel to Portsmouth Canal Company opened their new Portsbridge Cut which gave direct access, across the top of Portsea Island, into Portsmouth Harbour.
Also in 1830 tolls were reduced and for a while traffic picked up with cargos including 20 tons of marble from the Mediterranean for the King. But the canal was unable to compete with the sea routes and by 1832 the canal company was being forced to do the carrying itself.
Pictured left is the Chichester arm of the canal.
Pictured right is the junction of the canal at Hunston. Here the canal runs west to Birdham and then through a dredged channel through Chichester Harbour. To the east are the remains of the old barge canal between Hunston and Ford.
Parts of the old barge canal between Colworth and Lidsey: 2009
Parts of the old barge canal between Barnham and Yapton: 2008/9
Acknowledgements
In researching this topic I have drawn information from several sources in order to draw the various threads together. So my heart felt thanks go out to:
Wikepedia: London to Portsmouth Canal
Wikepedia: Wey and Arun Canal
Wikepedia: Portsmouth and Arundel Canal
The Wey and Arun Canal Trust
West Sussex County Council: Canal Walks
Wikepedia: London to Portsmouth Canal
Wikepedia: Wey and Arun Canal
Wikepedia: Portsmouth and Arundel Canal
The Wey and Arun Canal Trust
West Sussex County Council: Canal Walks