The Wey and Arun Canal is a partially open, 23-mile-long (37 km) canal in the southeast of England. It runs southwards from the River Wey at Gunsmouth, Shalford, Surrey to the River Arun at Pallingham, in West Sussex. The canal comprises parts of two separate undertakings – the northern part of the Arun Navigation, opened in 1787 between Pallingham and Newbridge Wharf, and the Wey and Arun Junction Canal, opened in 1816, which connected the Arun at Newbridge to the Godalming Navigation near Shalford, south of Guildford. The Arun Navigation was built with three locks and one turf-sided flood lock. The Junction Canal was built with 23 locks
Passing through a rural landscape, there was little freight traffic to justify its continued existence – the canal was officially abandoned in 1871. Without maintenance, the canal gradually became derelict over much of its length.
However, since 1970, restoration by The Wey & Arun Canal Trust has led to several miles being restored to the standard navigable by narrowboats and small tour barges. Work is continuing, with the ultimate aim of reopening the entire canal to navigation.
The River Arun was used in an unimproved condition for centuries, but work was carried out on the river itself and the port of Arundel in the 16th century, which allowed boats to reach Pallingham Quay against the north of the parish of Pulborough by 1575. An Act of Parliament received the Royal Assent on 13 May 1785, entitled "An Act for amending and improving the Navigation of the River Arun, from Houghton Bridge, in the parish of Houghton, in the county of Sussex, to Pallenham Wharf, in the parish of Wisborough Green, in the said county; and for continuing and extending the Navigation of the said River Arun, from the said Wharf, called Pallenham Wharf, to a certain Bridge, called New Bridge, situate in the parishes of Pulborough and Wisborough Green, in the said county of Sussex.
Houghton Bridge was the absolute tidal limit; Newbridge lay much closer south-west of foundry-rich Billingshurst than to Pulborough. The route involved a new artificial cut of 4.5 miles (7.2 km) alongside the river, crossing the river by an aqueduct on three strong brick arches at Lordings Lock before its north end.
Completed in 1787, an undershot waterwheel of a design unique in British waterways was built into the aqueduct. Driven by the flow of the river this had scoops on the back of the blades which raised some water into the canal.
A shortcut cut was added in 1790 from Coldwaltham to Stopham, including a 375-yard (343 m) tunnel under Hardham Hill, which avoided the meander of the parish of Hardham (facing the south of Pulborough), saving 5 miles (8.0 km).[6]
The route from Newbridge down to Houghton became 13 miles (21 km) with six locks. The river continues a further 15.5 miles (24.9 km) to the sea at Littlehampton.
The last barge to ascend between Pallingham to Newbridge was recorded in 1888. Hardham tunnel closed in 1889. The cuts were officially abandoned in 1896, but some traffic continued on the old by-river cuts into the 20th century, notably bricks from Harwoods Green below Pallingham and chalk from Houghton Bridge; most south coastal traffic was stopped in 1938 by a new, fixed bridge on the Havant to Brighton railway line at Ford.
Wey and Arun Junction Canal
The first scheme to link the Wey and the Arun was proposed in 1641. Headwaters of the rivers were 2 miles (3.2 km) apart, and a canal to bridge them down to a navigable upper reach was submitted as a bill to Parliament, but was dropped when it reached the committee stage. Another scheme, to tie in, additionally, the Adur and Mole was suggested in 1663, but was not pursued.
In 1810, the 3rd Earl of Egremont began to promote the idea of a canal to link the Wey and Arun, the case being they were separated by 15 miles (24 km). Part of the justification for this canal through these overwhelmingly rural counties, with few of the cargoes which made canals profitable, was to provide an inland route from London to Portsmouth and the south coast of England, an important consideration as England was at war with France and thus coastal shipping at risk of attack.
Josias Jessop (son of the more well known William Jessop) was appointed consulting engineer in 1811. It was his first job as an independent consulting engineer since he had established his reputation constructing Bristol Harbour. He made an estimate of £72,217 for construction of the canal, which he increased to £86,132 in May 1812, when he re-surveyed the route and part of it was changed. A survey was carried out in 1811 by Francis and Netlam Giles for an alternative, 37 miles (60 km) long, from the Croydon, Merstham and Godstone Railway at Merstham to Newbridge, via Three Bridges, Crawley and Horsham. A petition was presented to Parliament, but the scheme got no further.
More information is available to add to this.
