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The Grantham Canal is a canal that runs for 33 miles (53 km) from Grantham, falling through 18 locks to West Bridgford where it joins the River Trent. It was built primarily to allow for the transportation of coal to Grantham. It opened in 1797, and its profitability steadily increased until 1841. It was then sold to a railway company, after which it declined, and was finally closed in 1936. Because it was used as a water supply for agriculture, most of the channel remained in water, although bridges were lowered. Since the 1970s, the Grantham Canal Society have been working towards its restoration, and two stretches are navigable to small vessels. Full restoration will require a new route where the canal joins the Trent, as road building has effectively severed the original route. ==History== The concept of a canal from the River Trent to Grantham was first raised on 27 August 1791, as a way of supplying the district with cheaper coal. The intent was for the navigation to join the Trent below Nottingham at Radcliffe-on-Trent. As William Jessop was surveying the Nottingham Canal at the time, he was aked to survey the Grantham route as well, and a bill was put before Parliament in 1792. It was defeated, as there was opposition from coal suppliers, who delivered coal by road to Grantham, and from those who thought that the River Witham would be damaged by the project. A revised route was developed, with the junction now at West Bridgford, and an additional branch to Bingham. A second bill was put forward and the act of Parliament received the Royal Assent on 30 April 1793. Building work on the canal started in 1793, with Jessop in overall charge, but with James Green and William King as resident engineers: Green, who was from Wollaton, was appointed engineer for the section of canal from the Trent to the Leicestershire border, while King, who was the agent for the Duke of Rutland, was responsible for the rest of the canal, including two reservoirs, one at Denton and the other at Knipton on the River Devon. The act authorised an initial £75,000 (£}} as of ), to be raised to pay for construction, together with an option to raise a further £30,000, of which £20,000 should be raised by shares of £100 each among the initial subscribers, and £10,000 by mortgaging the future income of the canal. However, this amount proved insufficient, and there was also disagreement between the shareholders as to their liability to raise the additional £20,000. As a result a second act was sought. This received the Royal Assent on 3 March 1797, and made clear the obligations of existing shareholders to pay the extra subscription, and also authorised an additional £24,000 to be raised. The second act also removed restrictions in the first act, and allowed the company to set whatever rates it chose for using the canal. The eastern section from the Leicestershire border was opened on 1 February 1797, with the rest of the canal later that year. The canal was built with locks , the same size as those on the Nottingham Canal to allow boats to use both. The branch to Bingham authorised by the first act was not built. The 18 locks raised the level of the canal by from the Trent to Grantham. Eleven of them were located in the first above the Trent, after which there was a level pound of around before a flight of seven locks at Woolsthorpe, and a much shorter upper pound to Grantham. At Harlaxton, the canal passed through a deep cutting (effectively crossing the watershed between the River Witham and the River Trent), which was only wide enough for a single boat, but this situation was partially rectified in 1801 when the cutting was widened in two places to allow boats travelling on opposite directions to cross. At Cropwell Bishop and Cropwell Butler, the route passed through gypsum beds, which resulted in problems with leakage. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Grantham Canal」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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